Last season, Bodø/Glimt made a miraculous run through the Champions League in their tournament debut, ousting Manchester City, Atlético Madrid, and Inter Milan before eventually falling to Sporting CP in the Round of 16 after collapsing in Lisbon.
One season later, Bodø is just one round away from advancing to the League Phase again, as it’ll play a two-legged tie against Dutch side NEC Nijmegen, with the winner advancing to the Champions League League Phase and the loser falling into the Europa League. It would be De Enige Echte’s first appearance in the competition.
The first leg is set to begin on Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET (9 p.m. local) in Nijmegen, with the return leg scheduled for next Tuesday in Bodø at the same time.
Glimt is a +145 favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook, and Nijmegen is +155. There are +290 odds that the teams will draw and head back to the Arctic Circle with all to play for.
Below, I’ll break down this do-or-die affair and provide my favorite bet.
NEC Nijmegen vs. Bodo Glimt Best Bet:
- Bodo Glimt Win and O2.5 (+185): Bodø/Glimt made a tremendous run through the Champions League last season, and World Cup starting midfielder Patrick Berg should easily be the most talented player on the pitch. De Enige Echte have some talented forwards, including Dušan Tadić, but Glimt’s experience and all-out attack should win out.
NEC Nijmegen vs. Bodo Glimt prediction, pick
Bodø qualified for this season only after heartbreak, as it finished second in the Eliteserien behind Viking in 2025, its first time failing to win Norway’s top flight since 2022. As a result, it entered qualifying in the third round, needing to outlast fellow 2025/26 Champions League participants Royal Union Saint-Gilloise in a 6-5 aggregate thriller. De Enige Echte, meanwhile, had their best-ever Eredivisie finish (third), and despite facing a difficult challenge in 2025/26 participants Olympiacos, they managed a 2-1 aggregate victory to guarantee a place in one of the top two continental competitions for just the third time. Nijmegen also participated in the UEFA Cup (now known as the Europa League) in 2003-04 and 2008-09.
De Enige Echte had a pretty well-rounded effort last season in the Netherlands’ top flight, as five different players each contributed seven or more goals and six had at least 10 goal contributions. Of the six, four are still on the roster, as Kodai Sano and Basar Onal moved on to bigger gigs with more prestigious clubs, but Nijmegen has brought in some big names, including former Ajax man Dušan Tadić. With Tadić now on the squad, De Enige Echte should still have plenty of attacking production, and given that they scored more goals than any team in the Netherlands besides champions PSV, that powerful front line should be able to translate against Glimt. However, they were more mediocre defensively, ranking near the middle of the pack in goals conceded, and they allowed merely the eighth-fewest shots on target per 90 minutes, the highest shot-on-target percentage, and the second-most goals per shot in the Eredivisie. Gonzalo Crettaz, who’s still between the sticks for Nijmegen this season, ranked seventh-to-last among 18 qualified goalkeepers in the division in save percentage.
Tadić aside, Bodø has the bigger names. It currently sits first in the 2026 Eliteserien, just ahead of Viking, and although Kasper Waarst Høgh, a hero last season against both the Sky Blues and Los Colchoneros, now plays for Scottish Premiership side Celtic, midfielder Patrick Berg was a regular starter at the World Cup during Norway’s run to the quarterfinals. Eight different Glimt players have found the back of the net multiple times in the first 17 games of the league season, and much of the core of a team that averaged the 13th-most expected goals per match in the 2025/26 Champions League is still around. Bodø also ranked near the middle of the pack last season in shots and shots on target per 90 minutes, and it paced all teams in expected goals per shot. Glimt wasn’t so good defensively, allowing the third-most expected goals and shots on target per match while losing a majority of both their ground and aerial duels, but Nikita Haikin has long been one of the Eliteserien’s best shot-stoppers, and he’s in the middle of his best season. Bodø has been Norway’s best defensive team this season, allowing just 12 goals in 17 matches, and new arrival Joshua Kitolano was a regular starter as a defensive midfielder in the Eredivisie last season, so he should be able to help stabilize the middle.
De Enige Echte’s attack is legitimate, and any team capable of scoring more than two goals per match in the Dutch top flight and putting two past a fairly experienced Champions League side in Olympiacos should find the back of the net, even past a goalkeeper as good as Haikin. However, I’d still prefer St. Gilloise to Nijmegen, and Bodø just out-lasted the Belgian side across two legs, smashing goals past Vic Chambaere for fun. I don’t trust Crettaz, and De Enige Echte’s allowing five goals to PSV isn’t promising either. I’ll take the Norwegians to claim a high-scoring affair.
