Wales banished the memory of a winless start to their UEFA Nations League campaign in stirring fashion on Thursday night, fighting back from a goal down to beat Erling Haaland and ten-man Norway 2-1 at the Cardiff City Stadium and claim the first victory in their history in League A.

Goals from Daniel James and Neco Williams turned the game on its head after Oscar Bobb's early opener, with Torbjorn Heggem's dismissal seconds into the second half proving the pivotal moment of a feverish evening in Cardiff. For Craig Bellamy, it was a statement result: Wales had arrived rooted to the bottom of Group A4 without a point or a goal after back-to-back away defeats to Portugal (1-0 in Lisbon) and Denmark (2-0 in Copenhagen on Sunday) — a display that reportedly left the manager "really hurting" — and they had failed to win any of their first six matches of 2026, drawing three and losing three.

Bellamy had insisted before kick-off that his side belonged in the continent's top tier despite those defeats, and his players vindicated him against a Norway team that had been the surprise package of this summer's World Cup.

Early blow, but the hosts respond

The big pre-match news surrounded Haaland, who started for the visitors in his first game since Manchester City were found guilty of all charges relating to serious breaches of Premier League financial rules by an independent commission. Despite five goals in five Premier League appearances this season, the striker endured a largely anonymous night.

It was another former City man, though, who made the early running. Arsenal playmaker Martin Odegaard was passed fit to start despite a rough challenge from Bernardo Silva against Portugal on Sunday, and he was involved within 11 minutes: Bobb played a quick give-and-go with his captain near the right corner of the box, wriggled beyond Ben Davies and finished past Danny Ward to give Norway the lead.

The setback galvanised the hosts. Norway lost Julian Ryerson to injury soon afterwards, and Sorba Thomas — who looked unstoppable down the left-hand side — tormented his replacement Marcus Holmgren Pedersen for the remainder of the half. A wicked Thomas cross was almost turned into his own net by Kristoffer Ajer, and in the 36th minute only a lucky bounce off Ben Cabango that carried the ball into Ward's arms spared Norway a second goal.

Wales made the most of that reprieve two minutes later, with the ever-dangerous Thomas sliding a great ball into the six-yard box for James to slide home an equaliser. Ten of James' 11 goals for Wales have now come at the Cardiff City Stadium, including each of his last six.

Red card turns the tie

James was at the heart of a chaotic opening to the second half. Just 21 seconds after the restart, he darted in front of the hesitant Heggem and was pushed to the ground, with the Norway centre-back shown a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.

From the resulting free-kick, Williams whipped an inch-perfect effort low to Orjan Nyland's right and into the bottom corner, sparking wild celebrations among the home fans. It was Wales' first goal directly from a free-kick since Harry Wilson netted against North Macedonia in a 7-1 World Cup qualifying win last November, and only their second such strike in the Nations League after Wilson's effort in a 1-0 win over the Republic of Ireland in October 2018.

Wales had chances to put the game to bed — Nyland produced a fine save to deny Lewis Koumas and Thomas dragged a shot wide in the 71st minute in search of a deserved goal — but the failure to add a third made for a nervy finale. Haaland, quiet all evening, headed over from close range just before the hour and then straight at Ward on 81 minutes, Cabango was arguably fortunate to escape a penalty for handball, and Jorgen Strand Larsen went close from distance as Norway pushed hard for an equaliser. It was not enough to prevent Stale Solbakken's side suffering a second straight Nations League defeat.

The numbers behind the win

Wales' defensive discipline was central to keeping Haaland quiet: the striker was restricted to two shots, only one on target, and 0.35 expected goals. Norway actually finished with the higher team expected-goals tally, 1.3 to 1.05, but Bellamy will not care — this was his first win over a side ranked above Wales in the FIFA World Rankings.

Williams: "The first two games wasn't us — we put it right today"

Williams, speaking to BBC Sport, revealed how Wales had dissected their poor start to the campaign: "We knew the first two games wasn't us. The principles, the standards. We knew we had to put it right today. We analysed, we were looking at what went wrong in the first two games. We worked in training and we had to put that right. Obviously that worked. Going 1-0 down early, it is easy for heads to drop. How we felt in the last two games, it was easy to do that again. But we never did. We kept going and we deserved to win in the end."

On his match-winning set piece, the defender explained: "I think it was more instinct. Looking at the goalkeeper's position and where the wall is. You just decide what's best. Going across the goalkeeper was the best tonight."

"It's massive for us. Everyone saw how well they played at the World Cup and how good they are as a nation. They've got world-class players. We can do it against these top nations. We have to look forward now until the next game," Williams added.

While Williams stole the headlines, James' role in the turnaround cannot be overstated: he scored the equaliser, forced Heggem's red card and, in the process, won the free-kick from which Wales went ahead.

The result breathes life into Wales' Group A4 campaign at the third attempt — little more than four days after Gustav Isaksen and Denmark had left them pointless and goalless in Copenhagen. Next up for Bellamy's side is the challenge of building on a night when, for the first time in League A, they proved they belong.