UEFA Nations League A, Group 4
Cardiff City Stadium
1st October 2026
Attendance 32,076
The third match of this four-match international break and the one that, let’s be honest, we were dreading the most, knowing Cymru would be facing a certain Mr Haaland. The Norwegian goal machine has now scored 65 goals in 57 appearances for his country. Many of us feared what that goal total would be after his 58th appearance!
Cymru, who are 38th in the world rankings, made five changes to the side that lost on Sunday to Denmark. Ben Cabango, Jay Dasilva, Jordan James, Liam Cullen and Lewis Koumas came in for Chris Mepham, Connor Roberts, Charlie Savage, Brennan Johnson and Kieffer Moore. Norway made just the two changes to the side that lost to Portugal; Oscar Bobb and David Møller Wolfe came in for Antonio Nusa and Patrick Berg.
There is something special about watching Cymru at the Cardiff City Stadium under the lights. The light show that accompanies Zombie Nation warms everyone up before one of the most spine-tingling moments in sports or even life: Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau sung by 32,000+ a cappella. It gets the heart pounding before the match kicks off. No matter the doubts anyone has before the match, after singing our hearts out we feel we can take on the world.
Then it was time for the match. We may not have been taking on the world, but we were playing one of the best teams in it. Now ranked 19th, it was going to be a tough night, and it was made tougher after eleven minutes.
Having won the ball about 30 yards out from the Cymru goal, the ball made its way to Oscar Bobb, who played a lovely one-two with Martin Ødegaard, who sent Bobb into the box with a defence-splitting pass. Bobb took three touches and, while almost stumbling, he slid the ball past Danny Ward at his near post.
Not the start Y Wal Goch wanted, but kind of expected. What we didn’t expect was what happened next. Despite coming into the game more in the next 15 minutes, Cymru failed to take their chances. Then in the 38th minute, a bit of magic from the excellent Sorba Thomas lifted the roof off the stadium.
Embed from Getty ImagesLiam Cullen won the ball in the midfield and gave the ball to the battling Lewis Koumas. He set Sorba off into the penalty area and, with an inch-perfect cross into the six-yard box, it was met by Dan James, who was there to tuck the ball away. 1–1.
For the rest of the first half, Cymru looked the better side. Haaland was kept really quiet thanks to the excellent work of Ben Cabango and Ben Davies, and at times was walking around the pitch with his head down. The ball rarely came his way, and he ended the match with just the two shots.
Embed from Getty ImagesThen came the most incident-packed start to a second half we have seen in a long time, before most of Y Wal Goch had even settled back in their seats after the break. Liam Cullen launched the ball from well inside the Cymru half for the lightning-fast Dan James to run onto. As the ball bounced, the two covering Norwegian defenders seemed to have it covered. Then, to the surprise of Torbjørn Heggem, Dan James was alongside him. Heggem panicked and brought James down just outside the box. Straight red and a free kick to Cymru.
Unfortunately, Harry Wilson, who would normally take and score from free kicks in these positions, has missed this international break. So, after a committee meeting on the edge of the area, Liam Cullen stepped over the ball, leaving it for Neco Williams, who fired the ball into the opposite bottom corner, sending everyone into raptures.
Now with the entire second half to hold on to the lead up against a ten-man team still capable of coming back and winning. But this wasn’t one of those nights. With Jay Dasilva and Sorba Thomas ruling the left-hand side and Dan James flying down the right wing, Norway were restricted in their attacks as they had to defend more. Even when they did go forward, the heroic Cymru defence were first to every ball.
The longer the match went on, the more confident the Cymru players became as the Norwegian players’ heads dropped. When the final whistle was blown and the celebrations started in the stands and on the pitch, it was Cymru’s first win for almost a year and Craig Bellamy’s first win against a team ranked above Cymru.
Another memorable night, with one more home game to go with Denmark visiting on Sunday. Will there be more changes to the team? Every player tonight played out of their skin, but how much do they have left in the tank after two away games and this epic night? I would like to see Cameron Congreve getting some time; having settled in well at Westerlo in Belgium. He’s currently fourth in the assist charts there with three in six games and two promising performances off the bench in the friendlies, it will be good to see him and Sorba on the wings.
Now on to Denmark!
Thanks To Stephen for the words, and Rhys & James for video and photos.