Bellamy's Wales bid to upset wounded Denmark and preserve Nations League status

Back down to business. That is the mood inside the Wales camp after a 1-0 defeat to Portugal in Lisbon, with head coach Craig Bellamy turning his focus immediately to Sunday's Nations League Group A4 clash with Denmark in Copenhagen (17:00 BST).

Wales are winless in their five matches of 2026 and badly need a positive result as they attempt to defy the odds and preserve their Nations League A status. But if anyone knows how to get a result against the Danes, it is Bellamy.

A dream fit against Denmark

When Wales have needed a result, Bellamy and Denmark have proved a surprising dream fit. In 1998, a 19-year-old Bellamy came off the bench to score an 87th-minute winner - his first competitive international goal - as Wales came from behind to stun Denmark in Euro 2000 qualifying.

It ended Wales' seven-game winless run in competitive matches and, according to former striker Iwan Roberts, rescued then-boss Bobby Gould. Roberts, an unused substitute that night, told the BBC's Feast of Football podcast: "It was a magnificent header and probably saved Gould."

Gould himself said at the time: "All I saw was 14 fantastic Welshmen out there giving everything. When Craig scored the winner we were all sitting on the bench blowing it over the line."

Bellamy's own recollection is rather different - and rather more mischievous. Some members of the squad were less than pleased that Gould had been handed a shock lifeline.

"I got loads of stick for it after the game as well, from the players in the changing room, and they weren't too happy," the Wales boss recalled. "For me it was one of the happiest moments of my career at 19 years of age, and the players looked at me with such disgust."

Of the game itself, he added: "The kit was awful; I looked awful. I was a young kid coming through at the time, scoring a lot of goals in the Championship. I was 19; everything was going in at that moment. The actual reflection of the game, they battered us. To come on, and it was the furthest thought from my mind that I was going to get a winner. It was crazy."

A decade on, more Danish misery

A decade later, Bellamy inflicted maximum damage on Denmark once again. Approximately 15 miles southwest of Parken Stadium, Wales faced Denmark in a November 2008 friendly in which Aaron Ramsey made his senior international debut. Bellamy drilled beyond goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen from around 20 yards in the 77th minute to earn John Toshack's side a surprise victory.

"I asked him to play deeper and go behind, and he still got his chances in the first half and scored the winning goal as well," Toshack said afterwards.

From pitch to dugout

Now leading Wales from the sidelines rather than on the pitch, Bellamy faces the tough task of toppling Denmark as a coach. Jay Dasilva, the Coventry City left-back born just six months before Bellamy's moment of magic in Copenhagen, revealed the head coach had not mentioned that goal to the squad - but vowed to "pull him up on it" after facing the media on the eve of the contest.

Like Wales, Brian Riemer's Denmark lost their opening Nations League A game on Thursday night, beaten 3-2 by Norway in Oslo. Denmark also failed to qualify for this year's World Cup, as did Bellamy's men after penalty shootout heartache against Czechia in the play-offs.

With Wales winless since beating North Macedonia in November last year, and Denmark without a victory since overcoming the same opponents in the World Cup play-off semi-finals in March, both sides are bidding to end long waits for a win.

Riemer labelled the fixture with Wales a "must-win", with Bellamy saying he could "understand the frustrations" of the Danish supporters. The Wales head coach wisely opted not to "poke the bear" when it came to predictions about the contest with the wounded Danes - but he will be quietly confident his side can write yet more positive history against Denmark.

Denmark v Wales, Nations League Group A4, Sunday 27 September, 17:00 BST, Parken Stadium, Copenhagen. Live on BBC iPlayer, BBC One Wales, BBC Sounds, BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru and 5 Live, the BBC Sport website and app, plus live text commentary.