GMB airs Michael Sheen speech to Wales ahead of England match tonight: ‘Never been more proud to be Welsh’

Wales will face England in Qatar tonight 29 November

Good Morning Britain has aired Michael Sheen’s rousing speech to the Wales squad ahead of their match against England.

Wales will be playing England on Tuesday night (29 November) in the group stages of the World Cup for the first-ever home nations clash at the tournament.

On Tuesday’s episode of GMB, the programme broadcasted footage of Sheen’s address to the Welsh squad from earlier this year.

In September, the Damned United star gave an impassioned speech to the football team during a visit to their training facility.

Sheen’s visit followed after his impromptu monologue on Sky’s A League of their Own went viral. Host Romesh Ranganathan had asked the actor to improvise the sort of message he would give to the Wales squad.

Wales manager Rob Page praised the on-air moment and said that the Wales squad would like to meet Sheen in person.

The speech, which was circulated widely on social media, included references to the late Gary Speed, manager Rob Page, and the “red wall” of Wales fans.

Sheen – who was born in Newport, Wales – began his speech in Welsh, saying: “Yma o hyd. Yma o hyd. [We are still here, we are still here].”

You can see the speech in full here.

GMB viewers praised the speech, with one person writing on Twitter that they have “never been more proud to be Welsh”.

Sheen recently criticised Prince William, the Prince of Wales, after the England squad tweeted a video of him giving the team a royal send-off.

Hollywood actor Michael Sheen has visited the Wales squad after his impassioned speech on television (Steve Parsons/PA) (PA Archive)

This is the country’s first World Cup tournament in 64 years. They last competed in 1958.

In its first game of the competition, Wales drew against the USA one-one on 21 November. Wales lost its next game against Iran two-nil on 25 November.

Meanwhile, England won six-two against Iran in their first match on 21 November. Gareth Southgate’s team, however, also drew against the USA nil-nil.

The Three Lions are top of the group and need only a draw to secure their passage to the knockout stages.

Wales – captained by former Tottenham player Gareth Bale – are on the verge of elimination and must beat England for the first time since 1984 in order to advance, along with hoping that Iran and the USA draw.

Bale now plays in the US league for Los Angeles FC.

You can find more information about England vs Wales at The Independent’s live blog, including kick-off time, how to watch, and other updates.