It was a proud evening for Wolves and Wales goalkeeper Tom King on Thursday as the goalkeeper became the latest Old Gold player to make his senior international debut.
The 29-year-old has been part of dozens of Welsh senior squads after representing England at youth level, but having waited five years for the opportunity to make his first-team bow, it finally came last night in Gibraltar.
King wasn’t the only member of Gary O’Neil’s Wolves squad to feature for their countries yesterday, and wolves.co.uk rounds up the action which took place featuring the Old Gold internationals, as well as previews this weekend’s fixtures.
Tom King | Gibraltar 0-0 Wales
Having first been called up for Wales in November 2019, King finally made his debut in the friendly draw with Gibraltar on Thursday evening, coming on as a half-time substitute for Sheffield United’s Adam Davies. Wolves’ number three stopper produced an assured display between the sticks to keep Gibraltar out in the international friendly. A first senior cap was a proud moment for King and his family, despite the result being disappointing for Wales, who were expected to claim a win over one of the lowest ranked team in international football. King could earn his second cap as Wales head to Slovakia for another friendly on Sunday (9th June) evening.
Jose Sa, Nelson Semedo, Pedro Neto | Portugal 4-2 Finland
Another Wolves goalkeeper was in action for his country this week, with Jose Sa claiming just his second cap for Portugal in their Euro 2024 warm-up friendly against Finland on Tuesday. Sa played the full 90 minutes in which the hosts took a two-goal lead into the break in Lisbon, after Ruben Dias and former Wolves forward Diogo Jota found the net. Old Gold teammate Pedro Neto entered the fray at half-time and although Sa was beaten twice by ex-Norwich City striker Teemu Pukki in the second-half, a pair of Bruno Fernandes strikes gave Portugal the win. Nelson Semedo wasn’t part of the squad on Tuesday night, but all three could be back on the pitch this weekend as Portugal host Croatia in a friendly on Saturday (8th June).
Hee Chan Hwang | Singapore 0-7 South Korea
Hee Chan Hwang enjoyed another goal on the international stage on Thursday afternoon, with the forward netting the seventh and final goal in South Korea’s romp of Singapore as they continued their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign. The Wolves forward came on just before the hour mark with his country already five goals to the good, and added a seventh with a powerful strike into the roof of the net from close range. The win sees Korea top AFC qualification Group C, ahead of China, Thailand and Singapore, and Hwang will be hoping to add more goals to his tally when Korea face China in their next qualifier on Tuesday (11th June) lunchtime.
Hee Chan on the scoresheet 🫡pic.twitter.com/uWpXtK3FQ8
— Wolves (@Wolves) June 6, 2024
Rayan Ait-Nouri | Algeria 1-2 Guinea
Rayan Ait-Nouri is also helping his country in their World Cup qualification campaign this week as he played the full 90 minutes of Algeria’s 2-1 loss to Guinea on Thursday evening. After winning their opening two qualifiers – off the back of a shock Africa Cup of Nations group stage elimination earlier this year – Algeria suffered another disappointing result in Algiers, allowing Guinea to close the gap at the top of CAF qualification Group G. The teams are now tied on six points each after three matches, with Uganda being Algeria’s next opponent on Monday (10th June).
Elsewhere
Hugo Bueno made his first unofficial senior international appearance for Galicia – who aren’t affiliated with FIFA or UEFA – in their 2-0 friendly defeat to Panama. After finding themselves two goals behind at the break, the northern Spanish side turned to the Wolves left-back, who came on to help shore up the defence. Matt Doherty also played 45 minutes in Republic of Ireland’s 2-1 friendly win over Hungary, beginning the game at wing-back before being replaced at the break by Jake O’Brien. Fellow right-back Dexter Lembikisa was not part of Jamaica’s selected 23 as they got their World Cup qualification campaign off to a winning start against the Dominican Republic. Jamaica travel to Dominica for another qualifier on Sunday.
Coming up…
King is not the only Wolves international who could make his senior debut this week, with Tawanda Chirewa called up by Zimbabwe for the first time for their World Cup qualification clash against Lesotho, with kick-off at 2pm this afternoon (7th June), while Noha Lemina could join big brother Mario as part of the Gabon side who face Ivory Coast at 8pm.
Joe Hodge is with Republic of Ireland’s under-21s for their friendly match against Croatia at 5pm today, while Two Wolves players are preparing for this summer’s Olympic Games with warm-up friendlies. Boubacar Traore will wear the captain's armband for Mali under-23s in their game against Uzbekistan from 3pm today, while Enso Gonzalez has been called up by Paraguay under-23s for their friendly with Argentina on Saturday (7pm).
Later this weekend, Yerson Mosquera is with Colombia as they face United States on Saturday in a Copa America warm-up fixture (10.30pm) before Joao Gomes could earn another Brazil cap in the early hours of Sunday morning as his country take on Mexico in Texas (1.30am).
