Twelve months ago, Joel Colwill was lining up against then uncapped Icelandic midfielder Benony Breki Andresson as Cardiff City drew 1-1 at Stockport. Now the 21-year-old Welsh midfielder has been included in Craig Bellamy’s 28-man squad for Wales’ Nations League A campaign against Portugal, Norway and Denmark, and is allowing himself to think about facing two of the biggest names in the game.
“Hopefully if I get the opportunity to play against both of those players, it’ll be pretty surreal, especially Ronaldo, one of the greatest players of all time,” Colwill said. “If I find myself on the same pitch as him, I’ll be in shock. It would be a pretty surreal moment, if it happens. Fingers crossed it does.”
Wales, promoted back to the top flight of the Nations League, begin their daunting fixture list against Portugal in Lisbon on Thursday, 24 September. Ronaldo is in line to face Bellamy’s side after being named in the first squad selected by new Portugal coach Jorge Jesus. Following the Selecao’s last-16 World Cup exit, the 41-year-old former Manchester United and Real Madrid star said he would speak to his family before deciding whether to carry on playing for his country, meaning his inclusion for the Wales fixture will delay his following of great rival Lionel Messi into international retirement. Asked which of the pair deserves the title of football’s greatest, Colwill is undecided. “It’s a tough one because Ronaldo is one of the best goalscorers of all time, but in terms of play-making, Messi is one of the best,” he added. “They both have their own different ways to impress and had moments in history where they were the best.”
Colwill’s own boyhood hero was much closer to home. Raised on recordings of Steven Gerrard, he has long aimed to emulate the Liverpool great. “My old man had DVDs and I used to watch loads of Liverpool games of [Gerrard] playing when he was scoring goals,” said the Neath-born midfielder. “So, he’s a player, especially when I was younger, I used to try and model my game on.”
He may not yet have reached the Premier League stage Gerrard graced, but Colwill — the younger brother of Cardiff and Wales team-mate Rubin — broke into Bellamy’s squad in September 2025, making his debut in a friendly against Canada. His second cap arrived six months later against Northern Ireland, taking him to two senior appearances for his country. “When I go on [Wales] camps, I’m trying to learn as much as I can off Craig and the top talent they have there,” Colwill said. “There’s some top players there, like Harry Wilson and David Brooks, with a lot of them playing in the Premier League, which is every player’s aspiration one day — to play in what some would say is the best league in the world.”