Ødegaard and Norway Prepare for Wales Rematch in Nations League

Norway’s week has been as much about shovels as it has been about shape.

Snow swept across Oslo and forced Stale Solbakken’s side indoors on Thursday, disrupting preparations for Saturday’s Nations League meeting with Wales at Ullevaal Stadion – a game that already carried a raw edge after last month’s defeat in Cardiff.

The pitch, heavily criticised earlier in the year before its summer repair, disappeared again under a white blanket. Only on Friday did groundstaff finally clear it, allowing Norway a full outdoor session on the surface where they now have to save their campaign.

Martin Ødegaard did not try to dress it up.

“Obviously we wanted to train yesterday, so it’s not ideal,” the Arsenal captain said, “but you have to adapt to the situation, and I think it’s not the end of the world.”

The conditions are an annoyance. The real irritation lies in the reverse fixture.

A rare off-night to erase

Wales’ 2-1 win in Cardiff remains their only victory of the campaign, yet it cut deep in the Norway camp. Solbakken called that first half their worst performance in two years; Ødegaard sounded no less blunt.

“Our level was not where it should be,” he admitted. “I think it’s probably the only game for a long time where we haven’t been playing to our standards.”

Norway had arrived in this Nations League buoyed by an unbeaten 2025 and a stirring run to the World Cup quarter-finals in the summer. Momentum looked real, their identity clear. Then came a jarring three-game skid: 2-1 to Portugal, 2-1 to Wales, 2-1 to Portugal again.

From quarter-finalists to a team staring at the bottom of Group A4.

Wales and Norway now sit on three points from four matches, level on paper but separated by the head-to-head defeat that leaves Solbakken’s side propping up the section. Both can still chase down second place behind leaders Portugal. Both, just as urgently, are trying to dodge the trapdoor of relegation from the Nations League’s top tier.

It feels less like a mid-group fixture and more like a reckoning.

Boxing match in the cold

Solbakken chose his metaphor carefully.

“It’s like a boxing game, going head-to-head, fist-to-fist,” he said, framing the contest as a straight trade rather than a tactical chess match.

He has seen enough of Craig Bellamy’s Wales to know where the punches come from. The Norwegian coach spoke with respect about an opponent whose identity has sharpened under their new boss.

“I think Wales has always been a very attacking team under Bellamy. They’ve had great progress with the ball,” Solbakken said.

The threats are obvious: pace on the wings, Harry Wilson restored to the side, and Lewis Koumas edging into the Liverpool picture and growing in confidence. Bellamy has leaned into those weapons, pushing his team higher, asking them to attack with aggression and run at back lines.

“I think it suits the team with the offensive players they have, the speed on the wings and Harry Wilson back. And Koumas getting more minutes for Liverpool, so I think that suits them,” Solbakken added. “I’m not surprised that they will go all in.”

Norway expect Wales to come forward again. The difference this time? Ullevaal, and a crowd that has watched this group rise on the global stage and will not easily accept a slide.

“It’s our home game so obviously I think they will also have their struggles with us. Let’s see,” Solbakken said, leaving the last words hanging in the cold Oslo air.

Norway’s response

For Ødegaard, the script is simple: standards, then revenge.

“Wales is a good team, a competitive team, lots of good players in big leagues and a physical team as well, and we were prepared for that,” he said of the loss in Cardiff. “But I think on the day we were just not showing up to our standards and that’s something we want to show tomorrow, and we can do a lot better. We want to show a different version tomorrow.”

Norway do not need reinvention. They need restoration. The side that went toe-to-toe with the world’s best in the summer has shrunk into narrow defeats, each one a reminder of how fine the margins are at this level.

Snow has already been cleared from the Ullevaal turf. On Saturday night, Norway will try to do the same with the doubt that has settled over their campaign – and with the memory of Cardiff still stinging, Wales are exactly the kind of opponent who will reveal whether this team is still climbing or starting to fall.