Wales fans loudly boo “God Save The King” before their international friendly match with Northern Ireland on Tuesday night.
As the teams lined up before kick off, the national anthem was drowned out with chants of ‘Wales, Wales!’ before the 1-1 draw at the Cardiff City Stadium.
This isn’t the first time Welsh football fans have booed the anthem, with it also happening at the 2022 World Cup group fixture against England.
Wales fans loudly booed “God Save The King” before their match with Northern Ireland tonight.
They drowned out the anthem with chants of “Wales, Wales”…😬🫣
pic.twitter.com/2WBSey7oWn— Football Away Days (@FBAwayDays) March 31, 2026
The game itself saw Sorba Thomas snatch a draw for Wales after Jamie Donley gave Northern Ireland the lead.
Sorba Thomas speaking on Match of the Day Wales:
“We all know what Thursday meant for us, we were devastated.
“Northern Ireland were in the same boat as us so it was a perfect match to play.
“We needed to get our heads out of Thursday, we can’t keep dwelling on the past.
“We’ve got Nations League and friendlies too look forward too.
“I’ve seen [David] Brooks come on the rebound, I knew I had to sit and trust that the ball will come.
“I want to be the player that gives the manager a headache, I want to make a difference and hopefully I’ve done that.”
Craig Bellamy on Match of the Day Wales:
“It’s the first time in 18 games that I had to have a go. I didn’t like that I had to do that.
“We were passive in the first half, passing side to side, that was not us.
“We needed to make a change, nothing on the lads that came off but we need that little movement. Still needed more but we’ll take that after that first half. We caused our own problems.
“We cannot waste a game, it can be a reminder to them on if they want to feel sorry for themselves they can play like this.
“We can’t keep dwelling on last week, it’s as simple as that. In life you have to let go and if they don’t, I’ve not done my job properly.
“I’ll take a good week and a bit off. This was hard to take and hurts a lot.
“The supporters were amazing tonight, they turned up tonight so thank you. It was really appreciated.”
Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill said, per BBC Sport: “The team has good resilience because at the end of the day, as much as we sat deep and it was difficult for us to get out in the last 20 minutes, we still had an opportunity to win the game.
“To come away, with the age profile of the team and where the team is at this minute at time, and not be beaten here was a real positive.”
O’Neill said it was “a good night’s work for us” as he “asked a huge amount” of young players in a second half, a debut for 19-year-old defender Tom Atcheson, but Liverpool’s Kieran Morrison didn’t feature.
“He’s a very young player. I think he’s shown up well in the camp all week,” O’Neill said on Atcheson.
“We would have liked to have got Kieran Morrison on the pitch as well at some point, but you wouldn’t have been able to do it without having to take a sub that you put on, off again, without asking someone to play in a position which was totally alien to them.
“Given the number of substitutions we made, we’re pleased with the response we got from the players.”
O’Neill also responded to clubs raising concerns about his dual role with Blackburn: “I was a little bit disappointed with that because I didn’t get a phone call from any of the managers.
“I didn’t get a phone call from anyone from their respective clubs.
“They felt whatever they decided to do, or what avenue they took to raise their concerns, it’s disappointing given that I’ve managed over 100 international games, and I’ve always put the players first.”
As reported by BBC Radio Oxford, Oxford United raised concerns with the EFL, of the four players from the club that were in the Northern Ireland squad, Brodie Spencer came on for fellow club team-mate Ciaron Brown 64 minutes in while goalscorer Jamie Donley was subbed off at the same time, and Jamie McDonnell didn’t feature.
Of Oxford’s other relegation rivals, Isaac Price of West Brom played 45 minutes, Pompey’s Terry Devlin was taken off with 10 minutes left on the clock.
O’Neill said he “doesn’t have a relationship” with the managers at other clubs that needed to be ironed out, said he would “always try to protect the players”.
“If I’m honest, I’m a little bit disappointed,” O’Neill added, who said he would never want Northern Ireland’s players to “affect their club situation”.
“These clubs, they ask for references on players, they ask for character references, level of performance from us and our staff when they want to sign these players.
“They were international players when they signed them. Now suddenly it becomes a bit of an issue that they’re international players.”
Joe Rodon speaking to Match of the Day Wales:
“We didn’t start the way we wanted to, that doesn’t represent us. The second half was more us.
“It’s best I don’t say what exactly was said [at half-time], there were strong words and that wasn’t us first half.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen Bellamy like that, but it’s to be expected as we didn’t play like we know we can.
“The manager has instilled that belief in us and we know we can do that.”
David Brooks speaking on Match of the Day Wales:
“The second half was a lot more like us. The first half summed up the mood over the past four days. It’s a massive blow, this was meant to be a bigger game.
“We know we didn’t do our job and we needed to put a performance in.
“The first half was flat, no excuses but there is a reason for that.
“Bellamy was not happy with us, I saw it going into the tunnel. That’s the first time he’s flipped his switch with us, but it was needed.
“We’ve done our job, but when you give those types of teams that goal to cling on too we needed to respond.
“We’ve got to a stage where were bitterly disappointed, and guys like Ashley Williams paved that path for us. It’s disappointing.
“It’s our own fault we didn’t qualify.
“I feel like there is progress, it’s the set-piece that let us down. We need to fine tune those elements.
“It would have been so special to make the World Cup – I was ill the last campaign. I don’t know what my body will be like at 32 but I’ll fight to be there.”
Harry Wilson speaking on S4C:
“We approached it like we do every game. Some people said that this was a dead rubber match but it wasn’t for us.
“We always try and play with that pace and tempo that the manager wants, and we did that in the second half.
“There’s no getting away from the disappointment of not reaching a World Cup.
“We now look forward, play these next Nations League games and show what we can do.”
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