Wales out to derail Norway's repair job in Oslo

As the first snow of the season falls in Oslo, the clean-up operation at Norway's home stadium is in full swing – tractors on the pitch, Norwegian Football Federation staff getting stuck in with their shovels.

This has been a problematic pitch in the past, with even the great Erling Haaland questioning its condition, external back in March, before it was fixed during the summer.

By their recent, historic high standards, Norway need something of a repair job themselves.

Having gone through 2025 unbeaten and then soared to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, Norway have lost three games in a row for the first time in a decade.

Granted, two of those were against Portugal, whereas their losing run in 2016 included defeats in Azerbaijan and Belarus.

But this is Norway's golden generation. With Haaland, Martin Odegaard and a glut of other elite talents at their disposal, expectations are greater than ever.

Thumping Italy twice on their way to World Cup qualification was one thing – their first major tournament since 1998 – but beating Brazil in their last-16 tie in New Jersey underlined their credentials as an emerging force in international football.

So, when this Nations League campaign came around, Stale Solbakken's men were expected to be jostling with Portugal for top spot.

Instead, they find themselves at the bottom of Group A4 with just one win from four games, level with third-placed Wales on three points but below them because of their head-to-head record.

Wales' only victory of the campaign so far was against Norway in Cardiff a month ago, and on Saturday they are bidding to join Portugal and world champions Spain as the only teams to win competitive matches in Oslo over the past three years.

"The way we look at it is this is the type of game we want to be playing in," Wales head coach Craig Bellamy tells BBC Sport Wales.

"I see a collective team that you have to like but, individually, very much so as well. So that's a good challenge.

"We've all been aware of their threat. The World Cup proved that. And I just don't see them going anywhere for the next five, 10 years either."

There is much on the line for Wales and Norway in Oslo.

While either team could still reach the Nations League quarter-finals, the priority is to avoid relegation from the top tier.

Finishing third or higher would also guarantee top seeding for Euro 2028 qualifying, enabling them to avoid being drawn alongside the continent's heavyweights.

"It'll go a long way to us having an opportunity of being seeded one, which is huge for us, but it isn't going to be given to us," Bellamy adds.

"We have to go out there tomorrow and try and take it. So, for me, it's fight fire with fire. I'm expecting them to really come with big intensity and it's up to us to match it.

"So, to me, it's a shootout."

If you want to stretch the analogy to tenuous lengths, you could also note that the two teams were built around the heroics of hitherto ponytailed forwards (Bale and Haaland) and the creativity of Arsenal playmakers (Ramsey and Odegaard).

Few remain of that Welsh vintage by now, though captain Ben Davies is one.

"They've got players now performing at the highest level in world football and starring in that as well," the Tottenham Hotspur defender says.

"Great for Norwegian football, a challenge for us, but one we're looking forward to."

Davies played an important role in Wales' win over Norway last month, at the heart of a defence which managed to contain Haaland.

The 33-year-old has also been part of a Spurs backline which denied the Norwegian a goal in a 4-0 win at Manchester City two years ago.

Not that Davies is going to mention that in Oslo.

"He's a world-class player," he says. "Maybe he had an off-night [in Cardiff] but we worked hard, stuck to our job and we defended really well. Hopefully we'll do that again."