A narrow defeat in Lisbon for Wales in their opening game of the 2026 Nations League campaign, with a first-half Joao Felix goal the only difference between the two sides.

Despite no goals in the second half, we saw some key moments that defined the game, including a huge miss followed by an offside goal for Cristiano Ronaldo, who was unable to add to his tally on the way to 1,000 goals, as well as a moment of madness for Wales, who failed to capitalise on a chance created out of nothing by Brennan Johnson.

Wales can be proud of the performance with a depleted squad, but there are potentially more injury worries coming out of the match.

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Portugal take the lead through Felix

Portugal broke the deadlock through Joao Felix, who unleashed a shot from the edge of the box that just slid past Ward and into the Wales net.

The goal was set up by Nuno Mendes, arguably the ‘poster boy’ of Portugal’s last Nations League success, who drove forward with the ball from the left side, wriggled away from the Welsh midfield and laid it into Felix, who took full advantage.

Despite his up-and-down career so far, Felix has always been a player favoured in the international setup and scored his 13th goal for his country.

Wales were unlucky to go behind in that fashion after nullifying the Portuguese attack for the opening stages of the game.

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The world against Ronaldo

Early into the second half, Portugal must have thought they had doubled their lead.

The ball cut across to the man you would want on an open-goal chance, Cristiano Ronaldo, with plenty of time to adjust and get a shot away.

That shot would be blazed over the bar, with Ronaldo devastated not to have scored his goal. Then, five minutes later, he does score.

A run off the shoulder of Cabango and a subtle finish appeared to surely make it two.

However, after the celebrations, the referee was informed that the goal was OFFSIDE, again denying Ronaldo of his goal.

No matter what Portugal tried, Ronaldo just had everything going against him in front of goal, eventually being taken off in the 67th minute.

Wales’ moment of madness

With 15 minutes left of normal time to play, Brennan Johnson broke the Portuguese defensive line for one of the first times in the evening.

What at first looked like him running out of room to create something, he lofted the ball over Diogo Costa on the right-hand side just before the end line of the pitch, with the ball hitting the top of the bar and falling into the path of…

In a moment of madness, with neither player expecting anything to come of the chance, both took a swing at the ball and ended up in each other’s paths, allowing Portugal to recover and clear the ball to safety.

It was Wales’ first shot on target of the game and, while it is harsh to say it should have been a goal, to have a mishap like that and not profit from it is cruel luck.

Another defensive blow for Wales

With usual centre-back pairing Joe Rodon and Dylan Lawlor out injured for this stretch of games, Wales would have a makeshift defence to play the four games with.

Ben Cabango started alongside Ben Davies after starting the season well with a high-flying Swansea in the Championship.

Unfortunately, it looks like the worries will continue, as Cabango was seemingly forced off with just 20 minutes to play.

Chris Mepham replaced him and, while it is too early to suggest anything, it could see him starting some of the other fixtures to come, or even force a change of setup to face Denmark on Sunday.

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Post-game thoughts

Raw but ruthless Koumas

There’s a lot of hype around Lewis Koumas at the moment, with Liverpool fans seemingly loving his energetic style and Welsh fans having wanted to see that on the international stage.

While he didn’t get a contribution in the game, he worked tirelessly for the 76 minutes he was on the pitch, drifting into different areas to allow for some chances on the break for himself and the other Wales attackers.

His versatility may play a massive part in the run of games to come. He had a strong battle centrally with Renato Veiga at times in the game and looked sharp when getting chances on the flanks.

He’s a type of player we haven’t seen a lot of for Wales, but he certainly looks like someone who can solidify himself in the starting selection for many years to come.

Transitional play – defensively

Despite Bellamy openly saying that Wales have ‘never scored through a transitional play goal’, with the focus more so on aggressive attacking pressure and having a lot of the ball, defensively the setup for Wales saw Ampadu dropping deep, as expected.

This showed that, while it can be an attacking focus to play transitionally, defensively it helps to stop any counters and can allow for comfortable play out from the back.

This style might be something to get used to over the course of these next three Nations League games in particular, with the defensive ranks currently weakened in this selection.

Portugal ‘victims of their own success’?

An unconventional first lineup for Jorge Jesus and his Portugal side, who played predominantly in a traditional 4-4-2.

This approach seemed to ‘shoehorn’ certain players in, in particular Bruno Fernandes, who looked lost at left wing.

Whether Jesus plans to have wing partnerships with strong attacking full-backs at his disposal, it still left the Manchester United star isolated, knowing how much he thrives in a central position.

This setup realistically helped Wales, who didn’t have to soak up the attacking pressure most would have thought they may have faced.

Despite the goal coming from an edge-of-the-box shot, the Welsh defence limited Portugal to having to make long-distance efforts or deep crosses into the box.