Wales have 'puncher's chance' against Portugal and 'alien' Ronaldo, says James

Wales have a "puncher's chance" of upsetting Portugal in their Nations League opener on Thursday, even if the Selecao can still call upon an "alien" in Cristiano Ronaldo. 

That is the view of midfielder Jordan James, as Craig Bellamy's side prepare for their League A campaign following promotion from the second tier in 2024-25.

Wales topped Group B4 in the last edition of the Nations League, ahead of Turkiye, Iceland and Montenegro, and their reward is a place in Group A4 this time around, with Portugal, Denmark and Norway. 

While Wales went unbeaten in the 2024-25 Nations League (W3 D3), their last campaign in the top tier saw them go winless and earn the fewest points of any nation (D1 L5).

Portugal are, of course, the reigning Nations League holders, having beaten Spain on penalties in the 2024-25 final to win the competition for the second time.

And ahead of Thursday's matchup at Sporting CP's Estadio Jose Alvalade, they have won 11 of their 14 home matches in the competition overall (D1 L2), only losing to France (in November 2020) and Spain (September 2022).

But James – who has helped Wolves make a strong start in the Championship after arriving in a loan-to-buy deal from Rennes – says that fixture will hold no fear for Wales.

"Obviously, they're the best players in the world at the end of the day, you can't really sugarcoat it," James said, as quoted by BBC Sport. 

"They've got Champions League winners, they've got these kinds of things. I think we're always underdogs. We're used to it, so hopefully we can use that to benefit ourselves.

"You can't count us out. We've got a puncher's chance at the end of the day and we're going there to cause an upset."

Thursday's game will be Portugal's first under Jorge Jesus, who succeeded Roberto Martinez following their round-of-16 exit from the World Cup.

Jesus previously managed Ronaldo at Al-Nassr last season, with the five-time Ballon d'Or winner scoring 29 goals in 33 appearances under him, hitting the net once every 99 minutes on average. 

Ronaldo opted against following Lionel Messi's example and retiring from international football following the World Cup, with the 41-year-old set to continue representing his country for the time being.

Asked about Ronaldo's quality, James said: "We're all trying to achieve the same thing, to be the best player in the world. But you get those aliens that don't seem human.

"You look at Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo – they've just got that extra little quality where, in big moments, they turn up and can do it again and again and again. I think that's the main thing. The longevity of how they're able to do it is unbelievable."

Wales missed out on the World Cup after losing on penalties to Bosnia-Herzegovina in a play-off semi-final in March, and their current four-match winless run (D3 L1) is both their worst under Bellamy and their worst start to a calendar year since 2012 (five straight losses).