Gareth Bale has dismissed suggestions that Wales’ clash against England will be his last match for his country.
The 33-year-old has won 110 caps for his nation since making his debut in 2006.
The Los Angeles FC forward has appeared for his country at three major tournaments, and played a key role in their run to the semi-finals of Euro 2016.
Bale, who is Wales’ all-time leading goalscorer, netted their first goal at a World Cup since 1958 in their draw to the USA.
Their chances of advancing to the last 16 are looking slim to say the least ahead of their clash against England, live on talkSPORT, on Tuesday night as they must win to stand any chance of going through.
At 33 years old, Bale is in the twilight years of his career and the former Real Madrid and Tottenham star struggled against Iran – leading to suggestions his Wales career could be coming to an end.
Ahead of the clash with England, Bale was asked whether it could be his last international game for Wales and if it makes him extra motivated, and he emphatically replied: “Nope.”
The No.11 also denied that he felt an added responsibility to deliver for his nation as the marquee player of the side.
He added: “We’re a nation and we work hard for each other. We need to deliver as a team, it’s not one person that needs to do anything.
“Of course we’d have loved everything to be winning and doing a lot better but the reality is, football is hard.
“If it was that easy we’d be favourites to win the World Cup. We need to stick together and we’ll give 100 per cent tomorrow like we always do.”
Wales must beat England for the first time since 1984 on Tuesday to be in with a chance of making the knockout stages.
Even then, unless England are beaten by a four-goal margin, Wales need Iran and USA to draw their final match to make the round of 16 in Qatar.
But Bale is refusing to give up hope, declaring: “There’s been a few shocks in the tournament already and there’s no reason why we can’t do the same.
“Everyone has weaknesses. We’ve done our homework and had meetings, and I’m sure they’ve done the same with us.
“We know how difficult it will be. England are a very good team, They’re one of the favourites to win the tournament.
“We are under no illusions it will be hard, we’re going to give everything like we always do.”
talkSPORT World Cup 2022 Coverage
talkSPORT is bringing you wall-to-wall coverage of the 2022 World Cup.
We are broadcasting all 64 games in the tournament live, with over 600 hours of coverage across our network.
You can tune in to talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2 via our free online streaming service at talkSPORT.com.
talkSPORT is widely available across the UK via DAB digital radio and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
You can also download the talkSPORT app, or ask your smart speaker to play talkSPORT.
