Wales vs Norway Preview

A winless Wales side meets a Norway team who have blown hot and cold when the sides meet at Cardiff City Stadium on Thursday. Wales’ run has turned sour, losing 2-0 at home to Denmark in their most recent Nations League outing. Before that, a 1-0 away defeat to Portugal made it back-to-back losses, following a 2-1 away defeat to Romania the game before — three straight losses. Further back, Wales drew 1-1 at home with Ghana and 1-1 at home with Northern Ireland to open the sample. Across these five matches Wales have taken two draws and three losses, without a win anywhere in the run.

Norway’s form has swung between extremes, losing 2-1 at home to Portugal in their most recent outing. Before that, a 3-2 home win over Denmark had continued a mixed run, following a 2-1 home defeat to England after extra time the game before. Further back, Norway won 2-1 away at Brazil and 2-1 away at Ivory Coast to open the sample. Across these five matches Norway have taken three wins and two losses, with the England game their toughest moment.

This fixture has been fairly even historically, with Wales winning two of the last five meetings to Norway’s one, and two draws completing the sample. The most recent meeting finished 4-1 to Wales at home in November 2011, following a 3-0 home win in February 2008 — back-to-back Wales wins in this sample. Cardiff City Stadium has treated the hosts well in this rivalry, and while Norway’s only win came 3-2 at home in 2001, the two sides have also drawn 0-0 in Norway and 1-1 in Wales.

Norway sit second in Group 4 on three points, with Wales bottom on zero points after two defeats. A win for Wales at Cardiff City Stadium would move them to three points, still needing goal difference to climb off the bottom.

Wales’ home clash with Norway will be shown in the UK on BBC Two, BBC Sport Web, S4C, S4C Clic, BBC iPlayer and BBC Radio 5 Live, with the same channels also covering it in Ireland. Norwegian viewers can watch via TV 2 Direkte and TV 2 Play, and it’s also available in the US on Fox Sports 2, fuboTV, ViX and FOX One.

Possible Lineups

Wales — Form

Norway — Form

Head-to-Head

Where to Watch

Table

Group 4 Standings