Wales suffered a 3-1 defeat to Norway in Oslo despite a spirited performance, as the threat of relegation to the second tier of the Nations League now looms over Craig Bellamy's side.

Wales looked the better side in the first half and had chances to take the lead, most notably through Daniel James on three occasions, before they unravelled after half-time.

• How the teams lined up | Match stats
• Got Sky? Watch LIVE football on your phone📱
• Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW

Antonio Nusa showed why he is often referred to as the Norwegian Neymar as he broke the deadlock with his fine strike into the bottom left corner before substitute Andreas Schjelderup tapped home Erling Haaland's pass to give the hosts a commanding lead.

David Brooks' sublime chipped finish sparked hopes of a comeback but Haaland's penalty, after Connor Roberts pushed Schjelderup down in the box, punctured the late momentum they had gathered.

Wales are now guaranteed to finish bottom of Group A4 with a worse head-to-head record against Denmark and Norway - the two teams they could have potentially drawn level with on six points by beating Portugal in their final group game in Cardiff.

A draw against Portugal on Tuesday would guarantee Wales a Nations League relegation play-off in March against a League B runner-up.

Wales knew finishing in the top three of their Nations League group would see them join Europe's heavyweights in pot one at next month's Euros draw in Belfast.

"We wanted to be in pot one. That was the drive," Wales boss Bellamy said of missing out on top seed status in Euro 2028 qualifying.

"Some people might say, 'What makes you think you should be in pot one?'. But I do.

"Maybe I'm naive. I see in big parts of that game today that we can be in pot one.

"Let's take the good bits from the game, definitely improve on certain moments of the game and just keep pushing."

Wales will be Euro 2028 co-hosts alongside England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland - and actually get the tournament under way in Cardiff should they qualify.

Bellamy wants improvements but praises performance vs Norway

Wales boss Craig Bellamy:

"There is loads for us to improve on but I've liked a lot of it, I have to be honest.

"It's not that we want to sit in, we always look at the pressure on the ball and I thought at times first half we did that really well.

"When we tried to trigger, we were able to move the ball well, and then turn into attack for us even from deep areas.

"So it was a lot of good things, but in the second half I just felt we lost a bit of momentum. We lost a bit of energy and that was a difficult period."

Wales were energised by their substitutions as Bournemouth forward Brooks and Cardiff playmaker Rubin Colwill brought new life to the attack.

Bellamy said: "I thought Rubin and Broosky were top and 'Sparky' (Mark Harris) brought the energy and the intensity he's going to give you.

"I thought the subs really gave us that push again and we got it to 2-1.

"But we made a mistake and it falls to a player who was offside, but then he isn't offside by the time he hits the ball."

What next for Wales?

Sky Sports' Peter Smith:

"A reminder Wales have Portugal in their final group game on Tuesday.

"Even a win won't be enough to get off bottom spot due to head-to-head records with Denmark and Norway.

"They will avoid automatic relegation to tier B, though, if they don't finish as one of the two worst bottom-placed sides in tier A.

"Wales are on three points, with the other bottom sides in tier A currently on 0 points.

"A relegation play-off against a side from tier B would be the alternative."

Play Super 6 to win £1m!

Play Super 6 for a chance to win £1m! Enter for free.