Wales Faces Tough Nations League Challenge Without Rodon
Craig Bellamy has turned to fresh blood and familiar scars as Wales step back into the deep end of the Nations League.
The national team boss has handed a first senior call-up to Cardiff City forward Cian Ashford, but will have to face Erling Haaland and Cristiano Ronaldo without his defensive linchpin Joe Rodon.
Rodon blow as Wales return to the elite
Wales are back in League A and immediately thrown into a brutal section with Portugal, Denmark and Norway. They will do it without first-choice centre-back Rodon, ruled out by a hamstring injury.
The problems at the back do not stop there. Dylan Lawlor, Rodon’s regular partner, is also missing from the 28-man squad as he continues to battle a knee issue that has kept him out all season. Cardiff defender Ronan Kpakio is absent too, stripping Bellamy of three key options in one department.
Captain Ben Davies stays in, and this time he is ready to play. The 33-year-old was named in the summer squad but never featured as he recovered from a serious ankle injury suffered with Tottenham in January. He has since returned to action for Spurs and is in contention for his first Wales appearance since October 2025, when he won his 100th cap.
New faces, old hands
Ashford’s inclusion is the headline call. The 21-year-old has forced his way in after an eye-catching start to the Championship season with Cardiff, joining an attacking group that also includes Liverpool forward Lewis Koumas.
Cardiff’s other young forwards, Isaak Davies and Rubin Colwill, are unavailable through injury. Kai Andrews misses out despite an impressive start on loan at Aaron Ramsey’s Oxford United from Coventry City, underlining the competition for places in Bellamy’s evolving squad.
There is better news in midfield and attack. Leeds United’s Harry Wilson and Wolves midfielder Jordan James both return after injuries kept them out of June friendlies against Ghana and Romania. Swansea City defender Ben Cabango is also back.
Up front, Mark Harris and Liam Cullen are recalled, while Wes Burns – now with Leicester City – could pull on a Wales shirt for the first time since 2024. The 10-cap winger offers direct running and experience at a time when Bellamy is reshaping his wide options.
Haaland, Ronaldo and a brutal run
The schedule is unforgiving. Wales open away to current Nations League holders Portugal on 24 September, the first of four fixtures in an extended international window.
Ronaldo is expected to be named in Portugal’s squad for their first matches under Jorge Jesus, his former boss in the Saudi Pro League. Haaland waits with Norway, who come to Cardiff on 1 October as World Cup quarter-finalists. Between those games, Wales travel to Copenhagen to face Denmark, ranked 21st in the world, before hosting the Danes again on 4 October.
Wales sit 38th in the FIFA rankings – their lowest position since August 2014 – and the numbers tell a story. They are without a win in four matches. They have not beaten a top-20 side since a 2-1 victory over Croatia in October 2023. Under Bellamy, they are yet to defeat a team ranked above them.
All of that now collides with a run of fixtures against three nations who expect to qualify, compete and win at the very highest level.
Bellamy’s crossroads
These games arrive at a delicate moment for the manager himself. Bellamy recently came close to walking away from the national job after talks with Championship club Burnley. He stayed, but his backroom team has been shaken up.
Assistant Piet Cremers has left for a role in Belgium, while James Rowberry has stepped aside to concentrate on his club duties as assistant manager at Stoke City. In their place come two powerful Welsh voices: former captain Ashley Williams and ex-Swansea City boss Alan Sheehan.
They join at a time when the scars of March still sting. Wales have not played a competitive match since a penalty shoot-out defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina in the World Cup play-offs ended their hopes of reaching the tournament.
Now comes a different kind of test. A wounded squad, a manager who has already stared at the exit door, a reshaped staff and a brutal Nations League group.
Portugal away. Denmark home and away. Norway in Cardiff. Haaland and Ronaldo looming.
For Ashford, it is the start of an international journey. For Bellamy and Wales, it feels like a defining one.
