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Wales fans boo God Save The King anthem before Northern Ireland match
Apr 01 2026 09:10 · Por Chris Davie · 23 Leituras
Wales supporters made their feelings clear towards the God Save The King anthem (Alamy Live News)
Wales fans booed God Save The King before their friendly against Northern Ireland on Tuesday night.
The two home nations played at the Cardiff City Stadium after their defeats in the World Cup play-offs last week.
Wales were beaten on penalties by Bosnia and Herzegovina , while Northern Ireland lost to Italy .
As both teams lined up for the national anthems, Wales supporters began to boo and jeer as God Save the King was played inside the stadium.
Wales supporters were also chanting ‘Wales, Wales, Wales’ during the anthem.
When Northern Ireland sang God Save the King tonight in Cardiff, some Wales fans boo’d and chanted “Wales! Wales!” trying to drown it out. pic.twitter.com/jpncfw9SBJ — Peter Gillibrand (@GillibrandPeter) March 31, 2026
The game ended up as a 1-1 draw as Jamie Donley opened the scoring for Northern Ireland before Sorba Thomas netted the equaliser for Wales.
It is not the first time Wales supporters have booed the anthem after God Save The King was jeered before their game against England at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
God Save The King was jeered as Northern Ireland’s players lined up for the anthem (Getty)
While representing Team GB at the 2012 Olympics , Craig Bellamy, who is now Wales’ head coach, had called for the national anthem to be respected ahead of a game that was due to be played at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.
‘I definitely expect it to be respected, I am not a big fan of that [booing], with any nation their national anthems should be respected all around,’ said Bellamy.
‘I dislike it immensely as a player [when fans boo an anthem], even when it’s my own supporters who dislike a certain group or boo a national anthem, it leaves me very disappointed. I am not into that in any sport, not just football.
‘Every national anthem, it doesn’t matter if it is your worst enemy, it’s just one or two minutes and you should be quiet and respect it and that should be the same for everyone.’