Portugal Begins Nations League Defence Against Wales with Ronaldo
The Nations League’s most decorated side is back on centre stage. On Thursday night in Lisbon, defending champions Portugal launch their 2026-27 campaign against a depleted Wales, with a new coach on the touchline and a very familiar figure leading the line.
New era, same expectations
Jorge Jesus has barely had time to hang his jacket in the national-team office. Appointed on July 10 after Roberto Martinez’s departure following the 2026 World Cup, he walks straight into a competition Portugal know how to win.
They lifted the inaugural Nations League in 2019, edging Netherlands 1-0 in the final, then did it again in 2025, beating Spain on penalties. No country has a better relationship with this tournament.
That pedigree brings pressure. Portugal’s last competitive outing ended in pain: a 1-0 defeat to eventual world champions Spain in the last 16 of the 2026 World Cup, their first loss since November 2025. That exit sparked questions about the squad’s future, the coach’s future – and, most loudly, Cristiano Ronaldo’s.
The answer on Ronaldo was emphatic.
Ronaldo still at the heart of it
Jesus named the 41-year-old in his first squad and is expected to start him from the opening whistle, Ronaldo chasing yet more history on 146 international goals. His international career looked in serious doubt after that World Cup loss to Spain. It isn’t over.
Around him, the structure feels stable. Diogo Costa should start in goal. At the back, Joao Cancelo, Ruben Dias, Antonio Silva Veiga and Nuno Mendes bring a mix of experience and energy. In midfield, Vitinha, Joao Neves and Bruno Fernandes are set to control the tempo and supply the front line.
Ahead of them, Pedro Neto and Joao Felix offer pace and invention either side of Ronaldo. It is a side built to dominate the ball and punish mistakes, exactly what a home opener in League A, Group 4 demands.
Portugal’s task across this group is clear: finish ahead of Wales, Denmark and Norway to reach the quarter-finals and keep their grip on a trophy they have come to regard as their own. After Wales, Jesus’s team travel to Norway before October dates with Denmark away and Norway at home. The schedule is unforgiving. So is the expectation.
Wales step back into the top tier
For Wales, this is a return to the elite. Craig Bellamy’s team climbed out of League B in 2024-25, earning promotion back to League A and a shot at the continent’s heavyweights. Their Nations League record is respectable: 10 wins, five draws and seven defeats from 22 matches.
The wider picture, though, is less encouraging. Wales missed out on the 2026 World Cup, falling to Bosnia-Herzegovina in the playoff semi-finals in March. Since then, they have drawn friendlies with Northern Ireland and Ghana before a 2-1 defeat to Romania. Competitive scars remain.
Now they open a brutal run: Portugal away, Denmark away on September 27, Norway at home on October 1, and Denmark at home on October 4. Survival in this group would be an achievement.
History does not offer much comfort either. The nations have met only four times, with Wales winning just once – a friendly back in May 1951. Their only competitive clash came in the Euro 2016 semi-final, when Portugal won 2-0 thanks to goals from Ronaldo and Nani. That night felt like a high-water mark for Wales. This one feels like a different kind of test.
Bellamy’s headache: injuries and absences
As if an opener away to the holders wasn’t hard enough, Wales arrive weakened. Harry Wilson, Nathan Broadhead and Karl Darlow have all withdrawn injured, forcing late call-ups for David Cornell, Joe Taylor and Charlie Savage.
They are not the only absentees. Joe Rodon, Dylan Lawlor, Rubin Colwill and Isaak Davies are also missing, stripping depth from a squad that can ill afford it.
Bellamy is expected to stick with Danny Ward in goal, protected by a back line of Neco Williams, Ben Cabango, Rhys Norrington-Davies and Jay Dasilva. Ethan Ampadu and Jordan James should anchor midfield, tasked with screening the defence and trying to disrupt Portugal’s rhythm.
Ahead of them, David Brooks, Luke Thomas and Brennan Johnson are set to support Daniel James, who may operate through the middle. It is a front four with pace and a counter-attacking threat, but they are likely to spend long spells without the ball, chasing shadows and waiting for a breakaway.
Styles, stakes and a prediction
Form lines underline the contrast. Portugal come in with a recent run of WDWDWL, a single defeat in a long stretch and that loss coming against the world champions. Wales’s sequence of WWLDDL tells a different story: bright moments, but a struggle to turn performances into consistent results.
On paper, Portugal’s XI looks too strong, too settled, too deep. At home, with Ronaldo still hunting goals and a midfield stacked with technicians, they should control the game and create chances.
Wales will have to be perfect defensively and ruthless on the counter. With so many key players missing, that feels a huge ask.
The expectation is clear: Portugal to win, and win with something to spare. A 3-1 home victory looks a fair call.
If Jesus’s side deliver that kind of statement on opening night, the question won’t be whether they can defend their Nations League crown – it will be who can realistically stop them.
