Karl Darlow made his debut for Wales on Monday night as Leeds United’s back-up goalkeeper helped Craig Bellamy’s side pick up a 2-1 win over Montenegro in the Nations League.
Previously, 33-year-old Darlow had turned down Wales’ advances to call him up. The former Nottingham Forest and Newcastle man had harboured hopes of playing for England at some point in his career.
But now playing back-up to Illan Meslier at Leeds, Darlow has finally accepted Wales’ calls to bring him into the squad alongside fellow Leeds players Ethan Ampadu, Joe Rodon, Dan James and Charlie Crew.
Darlow remained an unused substitute in Wales’ first game of the international break, a 0-0 draw with Turkey. Then on Monday, Bellamy chose to play Darlow away at Montenegro and Wales won 2-1.
Leeds fans praise Darlow for Wales debut in Montenegro
Darlow might have hoped for a quiet night on debut. But the Leeds star was in the thick of the action with the conditions playing a big role. The rain lashed down, making the pitch almost completely unplayable.
The Leeds man made a number of saves to deny Montenegro, one save which rebounded to an opposing player only for Ben Davies to clear off the line. He could do very little to stop Montenegro’s only goal.
He did get lucky when former Man City striker Stefan Jovetic struck the bar from the halfway line. But overall a solid display and Leeds fans were delighted for their new Wales star on social media.
How Welsh media reacted to Leeds star Darlow’s debut
Considering Darlow has only played five times for Leeds since joining the club from Newcastle in the summer of 2023, and his only outing in 2024 coming in the 3-0 loss to Middlesbrough, he looked sharp.
His double save was absolutely fantastic even if he had to rely on Tottenham’s Davies to make a block on the line. Wales Online handed the Leeds stopper a rating of 7/10, pointing out Jovetic’s halfway effort.
They said: “Nearly caught out by Jovetic in the first half and was saved by the crossbar, but made some smart saves to keep Montenegro at bay.” Darlow will be back on the bench on Saturday against Burnley.
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