Craig Bellamy has unfinished business in Copenhagen, and it is the good kind. Wales go to Parken on Sunday evening needing a result to keep their Nations League A status alive, and their head coach happens to have a personal history with Denmark that reads like a highlight reel.
Back in 1998 he came off the bench and headed an 87th-minute winner as Wales came from behind to beat the Danes in Euro 2000 qualifying. It was his first competitive international goal, he was 19, and it ended a seven-game winless run in competitive matches. Iwan Roberts, an unused substitute that night, told the BBC's Feast of Football podcast the goal "probably saved" manager Bobby Gould. Gould's own line afterwards was that he had watched "14 fantastic Welshmen out there giving everything", and that when the winner went in the bench were "all sitting on the bench blowing it over the line".
The changing room was not thrilled
Bellamy remembers it differently, and he is honest about why. Some of the squad were not especially keen on Gould being handed a 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," he said. "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."
His verdict on the match itself is blunt. "The kit was awful; I looked awful," he said, before adding that Denmark "battered us" and that a winner had been the furthest thing from his mind when he came on. Ten years later he did it again, drilling past Thomas Sorensen from around 20 yards in the 77th minute of a November 2008 friendly — the night Aaron Ramsey made his senior debut — to give John Toshack's side a surprise win.
Jay Dasilva, who was born six months before that 1998 header, says Bellamy has not mentioned the goal to the current squad. The Coventry City left-back promised to "pull him up on it" after facing the media on Saturday.
Two wounded teams, one must-win
The nostalgia is pleasant. The table is not. Wales have not won any of their five matches in 2026 and arrive off a 1-0 defeat in Lisbon against Portugal. Their last victory came against North Macedonia in November last year. Denmark are in a similar hole: Brian Riemer's side lost 3-2 in Oslo to Norway on Thursday in their own Nations League A opener, and their last win came against North Macedonia in the World Cup play-off semi-final in March. Both countries missed this year's World Cup, Denmark going out on penalties to Czechia in the play-offs.
Riemer has called the fixture a must-win. Bellamy, sensibly, said he could understand the frustration of Danish supporters and declined to "poke the bear" with any predictions of his own.
Prediction
Wales have been better than their results in 2026 without finding a way to turn performances into points, and Denmark are a wounded side under pressure at home, which tends to produce either a rout or a stalemate. Copenhagen has been kind to Bellamy twice. A 1-1 draw feels like the likeliest way this one goes, with Wales taking the point that keeps their survival hopes alive.
Preview facts: Denmark v Wales, Uefa Nations League Group A4, Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Sunday 27 September 2026, 17:00 BST. Wales are winless in five matches in 2026 and lost 1-0 to Portugal in Lisbon on Thursday. Denmark lost 3-2 to Norway in Oslo the same night. Bellamy scored against Denmark as a player in 1998 (87th minute, Euro 2000 qualifier) and in November 2008 (77th minute, friendly). Coverage on BBC iPlayer, BBC One Wales, BBC Sounds, BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru and 5 Live.
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