Wales national football team

This article is about the men's senior team. For the women's senior team, see Wales women's national football team. For other national football teams, see Wales football team.

Wales

Nickname(s)	The Dragons (Welsh: Y Dreigiau)
Association	Football Association of Wales (FAW)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Chris Coleman
Captain	Ashley Williams
Most caps	Neville Southall (92)
Top scorer	Ian Rush (28)
Home stadium	Millennium Stadium , Cardiff
FIFA code	WAL
FIFA ranking	49
Highest FIFA ranking	27 (August 1993)
Lowest FIFA ranking	117 (August 2011)
Elo ranking	63
Highest Elo ranking	3 (1876–1885)
Lowest Elo ranking	88 (25 May 2011)
First colours Second colours
First international
Scotland 4–0 Wales (Glasgow; 26 March 1876)
Biggest win
Wales 11–0 Ireland (Wrexham; 3 March 1888)
Biggest defeat
Scotland 9–0 Wales (Glasgow; 23 March 1878)
World Cup
Appearances	1 (First in 1958)
Best result	Quarter-finals, 1958

The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales (FAW), the governing body for football in Wales and the third-oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international tournament once in their history, when Wales qualified for the 1958 FIFA World Cup. However, Wales did progress through UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying to the quarter-final, which was played on a home and away leg basis.

Although part of the United Kingdom, Wales has always had a representative side that plays in all the major professional tournaments, though not in the Olympic Games, as the IOC has always recognised United Kingdom representative sides.

Wales were placed in Group A for qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament alongside Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland and Macedonia.

History

The early years

Wales played its first competitive match on 25 March 1876 against Scotland in Glasgow, making it the third oldest international football team in the world.

Although the Scots won the first fixture 4–0, a return match was planned in Wales the following year, and so it was that the first international football match on Welsh soil took place at The Racecourse Ground, Wrexham on 5 March 1877. Scotland took the spoils winning 2–0.

Wales' first match against England came in 1879 – a 2–1 defeat at the Kennington Oval, London and in 1882 Wales faced Ireland for the first time, winning 7–1 in Wrexham.

The associations of the four Home Nations met in Manchester on 6 December 1882 to set down a set of worldwide rules. This meeting saw the establishment of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) to approve changes to the rules, a task the four associations still perform to this day.

The 1883–84 season saw the formation of the British Home Championship, a tournament which was played annually between England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, until 1983–84. Wales were champions on 12 occasions, winning outright seven times whilst sharing the title five times.

The FAW became members of FIFA, world football's governing body, in 1906, but the relationship between FIFA and the British associations was fraught and the British nations withdrew from FIFA in 1928 in a dispute over payments to amateur players. As a result, Wales did not enter the first three World Cups.

In 1932 Wales played host to the Republic of Ireland, the first time they played against a side from outside the four home nations. A year later, Wales played a match outside the United Kingdom for the first time when they travelled to Paris to take on France in a match which was drawn 1–1.

After World War II Wales, along with the other four home nations, rejoined FIFA in 1946 and took part in the qualifying rounds for the 1950 World Cup, the 1949–50 Home Championships being designated as a qualifying group. The top two teams were to qualify for the finals in Brazil, but Wales finished bottom of the group.

John Charles on international duty for Wales, against Scotland, 1954

The 1950s were a golden age for Welsh football with stars such as Ivor Allchurch, Cliff Jones, Alf Sherwood, Jack Kelsey, Trevor Ford, Ronnie Burgess, Terry Medwin and, of course, John Charles.

1958 World Cup

Wales made its only World Cup finals tournament appearance in the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden. However, their path to qualification was unusual. Having finished second to Czechoslovakia in qualifying Group 4 the golden generation of Welsh football managed by Jimmy Murphy seemed to have missed out on qualification but the politics of the Middle East subsequently intervened.

In the Asian/African qualifying zone Egypt and Sudan had refused to play against Israel whilst Indonesia had insisted on meeting Israel on neutral ground. As a result FIFA proclaimed Israel winners of their respective group. However, FIFA did not want a team to qualify for the World Cup finals without actually playing a match and so lots were drawn of all the second placed teams in UEFA. Belgium were drawn out first but they refused to participate and so then Wales was drawn out and awarded a two-legged play-off match against Israel with a place in Sweden for the winners.

Having beaten Israel 2–0 at the Ramat Gan Stadium and 2–0 at Ninian Park, Cardiff, Wales went through to a World Cup Finals tournament for the first and, so far, only time.

The strong Welsh squad made their mark in Sweden, drawing all the matches in their group against Hungary, Mexico and Sweden before defeating Hungary in a play off match to reach the quarter-finals against Brazil. However, Wales' chances of victory against Brazil were hampered by an injury to John Charles that ruled him out of the match. Wales lost 1–0 with 17-year-old Pelé scoring his first international goal. The goal made Pelé the youngest ever World Cup goalscorer and Brazil went on to win the tournament.

Wales' remarkable campaign in Sweden was the subject of the best-selling book When Pele Broke Our Hearts: Wales and the 1958 World Cup (by Mario Risoli, St David's Press) which was published on the 40th anniversary of the World Cup and was also the inspiration for a Bafta Cymru-nominated documentary.

1970s

Wales has never qualified for the finals tournament of the European Championships since its inception in 1960. However, in 1976 the team managed by Mike Smith reached the last eight of the competition, having finished top of qualifying group 2 ahead of Hungary, Austria and Luxembourg. Prior to 1980 only four countries qualified for the finals tournament and Wales were drawn to play against the winners of group 3 Yugoslavia on a home and away basis match. Wales lost the first leg 2–0 in Zagreb and were knocked out of the competition having only managed a 1–1 draw in a bad-tempered return leg at Ninian Park, Cardiff which was marred by crowd trouble. This led to Wales initially being banned from the 1980 tournament, subsequently reduced on appeal to a ban on qualifying games being played within 100 miles of Cardiff for four years.

The following year Wales defeated England on English soil for the first time in 42 years and secured their only victory to date at Wembley thanks to a Leighton James penalty. Another notable achievement came in the 1980 British Home Championship, as Wales comprehensively defeated England at The Racecourse Ground, Wrexham. Goals from Mickey Thomas, Ian Walsh, Leighton James and an own goal by Phil Thompson saw Wales beat England 4–1 just four days after England had beaten the then-world champions, Argentina.

1980s

In the 1982 World Cup qualifiers the Wales team managed by Mike England came extremely close to qualification, a 3–0 defeat against the USSR in their final game meant they missed out on goal difference, but the real damage had been done by their failure to beat Iceland in their last home game, the match eventually finishing 2–2 after several hold-ups due to floodlight failures.

Mark Hughes marked his debut for Wales by scoring the only goal of the game as England were defeated once again in 1984. The following season, Hughes was again on target, scoring a wonder goal as Wales thrashed Spain 3–0 at The Racecourse during qualification for the 1986 World Cup. However, despite beating Scotland 1–0 at Hampden Park, it was again Iceland that wrecked Welsh hopes by beating Wales 1–0 in Reykjavik and for the second World Cup in a row Wales missed out on goal difference. Wales had to win their last match at home to Scotland to be guaranteed at least a play-off, but were held to a 1–1 draw in a match marred by the death of Scotland manager Jock Stein who collapsed from a heart attack at the end of the game.

1990–2000

Under Terry Yorath Wales attained their highest ever FIFA ranking of 27th in August 1993.

Wales came close, once again, to qualifying for a major championship when they came within a whisker of reaching the 1994 World Cup. Needing to win the final game of the group at home to Romania, Paul Bodin missed a penalty when the scores were level 1–1; Romania went on to win 2–1.

Following the failure to qualify Yorath's contract as manager of the national side was not renewed by the FAW and John Toshack, then manager of Real Sociedad, was appointed as a part-time manager. However, Toshack resigned after just one game – a 3–1 defeat to Norway – citing problems with the FAW as his reason for leaving, although he was sure to have been shocked at being booed off the pitch at Ninian Park by the Welsh fans still reeling from the dismissal of Yorath. Mike Smith took the Wales manager role for the second time at the start of the Euro 96 qualifiers but Wales slipped to embarrassing defeats against Moldova and Georgia before Bobby Gould was appointed in June 1995.

Gould's time in charge of Wales is seen as a dark period by Welsh football fans. His questionable tactics and public fallings-out with players such as Nathan Blake, Robbie Savage and Mark Hughes, coupled with embarrassing defeats to club side Leyton Orient and a 7–1 thrashing by the Netherlands in 1996 did not make him a popular figure within Wales. Gould finally resigned following a 4–0 defeat to Italy in 1999, and the FAW turned to two legends of the national team, Neville Southall and Mark Hughes to take temporary charge of the game against Denmark four days later, with Hughes later being appointed on a permanent basis.

2000–2010

Carl Fletcher playing for Wales in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 4

Under Mark Hughes, Wales came close to qualifying for a place at UEFA Euro 2004 in Portugal, being narrowly defeated by Russia in the play-offs. The defeat, however, was not without its controversy as Russian midfield player, Yegor Titov, tested positive for the use of a banned substance after the first qualifying leg, a scoreless draw in Moscow. However, the sport's governing body decided to take no action against the Football Union of Russia (Российский Футбольный Союз) other than instructing them not to play Titov again, and the Russian team went on to beat Wales in Cardiff 1–0 to qualify for UEFA Euro 2004.

Following a disappointing start to 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 6, Hughes left his role with the national team to take over as manager of English Premier League outfit Blackburn Rovers. On 12 November 2004, John Toshack was appointed manager for the second time.

In UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying, Wales were drawn in Group D alongside Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus and San Marino. The team's performance was disappointing, finishing fifth in the group with expected defeat at home to Germany yet an unexpected draw away, a loss away and a goalless draw at home to the Czech Republic, a loss away and 2–2 draw at home to the Republic of Ireland, a 3–0 home win and uninspiring 2–1 away win against minnows San Marino, a 3–1 home win and 3–1 away defeat against Cyprus, and a spectacularly mixed performance against Slovakia, losing 5–1 at home and winning 5–2 away. However, better performances towards the end of the competition by a team containing, of necessity because of injuries and suspensions of senior players, no fewer than five players who were eligible for selection for the Under-21 squad was viewed as a hopeful sign of future progress for the team.

In 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 4, Wales made a promising start, winning 1–0 and 2–0 against Azerbaijan and Liechtenstein, respectively. However, they lost their next game against Russia in Moscow, 2–1, after Joe Ledley had briefly drawn them level. The qualifying campaign showed signs of promise when the team managed to prevent Germany from scoring for 74 minutes of their match in Mönchengladbach, but the match eventually finished 1–0 to Germany. Two 2–0 home defeats by Finland and Germany in Spring 2009 effectively put paid to Wales' hopes of qualification.

Wales were drawn in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group G with Montenegro, Bulgaria, Switzerland and close rivals England. Wales lost 1–0 away to Montenegro in their opening game and, on 9 September 2010, John Toshack stood down as manager after being disappointed at previous results in 2010 against Croatia and the opening UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier.

The Wales Under-21 coach Brian Flynn took over from Toshack as caretaker manager with a view to a possible permanent appointment but a 1–0 home defeat to Bulgaria and 4–1 away loss to Switzerland meant that the FAW passed over Flynn.

2010s

The Wales national football team photographed on 11 October 2011 ahead of Bulgaria versus Wales in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying at Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia

Gary Speed was appointed as permanent manager on 14 December 2010. Speed's first game as Wales manager was 8 February 2011 in the inaugural Nations Cup, which the Republic of Ireland won 3–0. Speed's first competitive match was the Euro 2012 qualifier at home to England 26 March 2011 and Speed appointed twenty-year-old Aaron Ramsey captain, making Ramsey the youngest ever Wales captain. Wales lost to England 2–0 and in August 2011 Wales attained their lowest ever FIFA world ranking of 117th. This was followed by a 2–1 home win against Montenegro, a 1–0 away loss to England, a 2–0 home win against Switzerland and a 1–0 away win against Bulgaria. Consequently in October 2011, Wales had rapidly risen to 45th in the FIFA rankings. A 4–1 home win in a friendly match versus Norway on 12 November 2011 proved to be Speed's last match in charge of Wales. The match was a culmination of Speed's efforts which led Wales to receive the unofficial award for biggest mover of 2011 in the FIFA rankings. His tenure as manager ended in tragic circumstances two weeks later when he was found dead at his home on 27 November, having apparently committed suicide.

Chris Coleman was appointed Wales team manager on 19 January 2012. For 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, Wales were placed in the sixth pot and drawn in Group A with Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland and Macedonia. They lost their first game 2-0, against Belgium. Their second game, against Serbia, was even worse - finishing 6-1 - Wales's worst defeat since the 7-1 reversal to Holland in 1996. In October 2012 Ashley Williams was appointed captain of Wales by Coleman, replacing Aaron Ramsey. Wales won at home against Scotland 2-1, lost away to Croatia 2-0, and won away against Scotland 2-1 but a 2-1 loss at home to Croatia ended Wales hopes of qualifying.

In April 2013 Dragon Park, the Wales National Football Development Centre, was opened in Newport.

2012 Summer Olympics

Due to London's successful bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics, a Great Britain team would qualify as of right of being the host nation. However, the FAW stressed it was strongly against the proposal. Despite this, Welsh players Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale expressed their interest in representing the Great Britain Olympic football team. Bale was ultimately omitted due to injury, but Ramsey was joined by four other Welshmen in Stuart Pearce's 18-man squad; Swansea City's Joe Allen and Neil Taylor, as well as Manchester United's Ryan Giggs and Liverpool's Craig Bellamy, who were included as over-age players.

Stadium

The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff

During the period 2000–2010, Wales played most of their home matches at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. The stadium was built in 1999 on the site of the old National Stadium, known as Cardiff Arms Park, as the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) had been chosen to host the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Prior to 1989, Wales played their home games at the grounds of Cardiff City F.C., Swansea City A.F.C. and Wrexham F.C., but then came to an agreement with the WRU to use Cardiff Arms Park and, subsequently, the Millennium Stadium.

Wales' first football match at the Millennium Stadium was against Finland on 29 March 2000. The Finns won the match 2–1, with Jari Litmanen becoming the first player to score a goal at the stadium. Ryan Giggs scored Wales' goal in the match, becoming the first Welshman to score at the stadium.

In recent seasons, most home friendlies have been played at Cardiff City Stadium, the Liberty Stadium and the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham. However, qualifying matches continued to be played at the 74,500 capacity Millennium Stadium, which was typically only around 20–40% full, leading to calls from fans and players alike for international matches to be held at these smaller stadiums with capacities of 15,500–27,000. Thus, the FAW finally decided that for the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, Wales would play all of their home ties at either the Cardiff City Stadium or the Liberty Stadium, with the exception of the home tie against England, which was played at the Millennium Stadium.

Players

Latest squad

Wales named the following squad for the 2014 World Cup qualifying matches against Scotland on 22 March 2013 and Croatia on 26 March 2013. Jermaine Easter, Lewin Nyatanga and Owain Tudor Jones were subsequently added to the squad.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club 1GK Boaz Myhill (1982-11-09) 9 November 1982 14 0 West Bromwich Albion 1GK Lewis Price (1984-07-19) 19 July 1984 11 0 Crystal Palace 1GK Owain Fôn Williams (1987-03-17) 17 March 1987 0 0 Tranmere Rovers 2DF James Collins (1983-08-23) 23 August 1983 40 2 West Ham United 2DF Ben Davies (1993-04-24) 24 April 1993 3 0 Swansea City 2DF Chris Gunter (1989-07-21) 21 July 1989 43 0 Reading 2DF Joel Lynch (1987-10-03) 3 October 1987 1 0 Huddersfield Town 2DF Lewin Nyatanga (1988-08-18) 18 August 1988 34 0 Bristol City 2DF Ashley Richards (1991-04-12) 12 April 1991 1 0 Crystal Palace (loan) 2DF Sam Ricketts (1981-10-11) 11 October 1981 47 0 Bolton Wanderers 2DF Ashley Williams (c) (1984-08-23) 23 August 1984 39 1 Swansea City 3MF Joe Allen* (1990-03-14) 14 March 1990 13 0 Liverpool 3MF Jack Collison (1988-10-02) 2 October 1988 12 0 West Ham United 3MF Owain Tudor Jones (1984-10-15) 15 October 1984 6 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3MF Andy King (1988-10-29) 29 October 1988 15 1 Leicester City 3MF Joe Ledley (1987-01-23) 23 January 1987 44 3 Celtic 3MF Aaron Ramsey (1990-12-26) 26 December 1990 25 5 Arsenal 3MF David Vaughan (1983-02-18) 18 February 1983 33 1 Sunderland 3MF Jonathan Williams (1993-10-09) 9 October 1993 0 0 Crystal Palace 4FW Gareth Bale (1989-07-16) 16 July 1989 41 11 Tottenham Hotspur 4FW Craig Bellamy (1979-07-13) 13 July 1979 71 19 Cardiff City 4FW Simon Church (1988-12-10) 10 December 1988 20 1 Reading 4FW Jermaine Easter (1982-01-15) 15 January 1982 10 0 Millwall (loan) 4FW Steve Morison* (1983-08-29) 29 August 1983 20 1 Leeds United 4FW Hal Robson-Kanu (1989-05-21) 21 May 1989 12 0 Reading 4FW Sam Vokes (1989-10-21) 21 October 1989 25 5 Burnley

• * Withdrew from squad

Most-capped players

As of 27 Mar 2013, (players still active in bold):

#	Name	First Cap-Latest Cap	Caps	Goals
1	Neville Southall	1982–1998	92	0
2	Gary Speed	1990–2004	85	7
3	Dean Saunders	1986–2001	75	22
4	Peter Nicholas	1979–1991	73	2
	Craig Bellamy	1998–2013		19
	Ian Rush	1980–1996		28
7	Mark Hughes	1984–1999	72	16
	Joey Jones	1975–1986		1
9	Ivor Allchurch	1950–1966	68	23
10	Brian Flynn	1974–1984	66	7

Other players with 50 or more caps

Note: players still available for international selection in bold:

Dai Davies Simon Davies Robert Earnshaw Ryan Giggs John Hartson Barry Horne Leighton James Cliff Jones Paul Jones John Mahoney

Andy Melville Mark Pembridge David Phillips Leighton Phillips Kevin Ratcliffe Carl Robinson Mickey Thomas Rod Thomas Terry Yorath

Top goalscorers

As of 27 Mar 2013 (players still active in bold):

#	Name	Goals	Caps
1	Ian Rush	28	73
2	Trevor Ford	23	38
	Ivor Allchurch		68
4	Dean Saunders	22	75
5	Craig Bellamy	19	73
6	Robert Earnshaw	16	58
	Cliff Jones		59
	Mark Hughes		72
9	John Charles	15	38
10	John Hartson	14	51

Notable former players

See Wales international footballers for all Welsh internationals with a Wikipedia article and List of Wales international footballers for a list of Welsh internationals in sortable-table format. Also see List of Wales international footballers with 25 or more caps.

Welsh Sports Hall of Fame inductees

Ivor Allchurch Horace Blew Ronnie Burgess John Charles Trevor Ford Mark Hughes Bryn Jones Cliff Jones Fred Keenor

Jack Kelsey George Latham Billy Meredith Jimmy Murphy Ivor Powell Ian Rush Alf Sherwood John Toshack

Welsh inductees to the English Football Hall of Fame

• 2002 John Charles
• 2005 Ryan Giggs
• 2006 Ian Rush
• 2007 Mark Hughes, Billy Meredith

Welsh inductees to the Football League 100 Legends

Ivor Allchurch John Charles Trevor Ford Ryan Giggs

Cliff Jones Billy Meredith Ian Rush Neville Southall

Welsh winners of the Football Writers' Footballer of the Year

• Ian Rush (1984)
• Neville Southall (1985)
• Gareth Bale (2013)

Welsh winners of the PFA Players' Player of the Year

• Ian Rush (1984)
• Mark Hughes (1989, 1991)
• Ryan Giggs (2009)
• Gareth Bale (2011, 2013)

Welsh Inductee to the PFA Team of the Year (Top Division)

• Leighton James (1975)
• John Toshack (1976)
• Ian Rush (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1991)
• Kevin Ratcliffe (1985)
• Mark Hughes (1986, 1989, 1991, 1992)
• Neville Southall (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990)
• Gary Speed (1993)
• Ryan Giggs (1993, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009)
• Gareth Bale (2011, 2012, 2013)

Managers

See also Wales national football team managers

Prior to 1954 the Welsh team was chosen by a panel of selectors with the team captain fulfilling the role of coach.

Name	Career
Walley Barnes	1954–1955
Jimmy Murphy	1956–1964
Dave Bowen	1964–1974
Ronnie Burgess	1965 (caretaker manager for one match due to unavailability of Dave Bowen)
Mike Smith	1974–1979
Mike England	1979–1987
David Williams	1988 (caretaker manager for one match)
Terry Yorath	1988–1993
John Toshack	1994
Mike Smith	1994–1995
Bobby Gould	1995–1999
Mark Hughes	1999–2004
John Toshack	2004–2010
Brian Flynn	2010 (caretaker manager for 2 matches)
Gary Speed	2010–2011
Chris Coleman	2012–Present

Manager

• Chris Coleman

Backroom staff

Position	Name
Assistant Manager	Kit Symons
Coaches	Osian Roberts, Ryland Morgans and John Hartson
Goalkeeping Coach	Martyn Margetson
Team Doctors	Dr. Mark Ridgewell and Dr. Mark Davies
Physiotherapists	Mel Pejic, Sean Connelly and Dyfri Owen
Masseur	David Rowe
Opposition Analyst	Martin Hodge

Records

Main article: Welsh national football team records

Competition history

FIFA World Cup finals tournament record

• 1930–1938 – Did not enter
• 1950–1954 – Did not qualify
• 1958 – Quarter-finals
• 1962–2010 – Did not qualify

UEFA European Football Championship finals tournament record

• 1960 – Did not enter
• 1964–1972 – Did not qualify
• 1976 – Quarter-Final (played on home-and-away-leg basis)
• 1980–2012 – Did not qualify

See also

• 1958 FIFA World Cup

External links

• Football Association of Wales
• Football Association of Wales Trust
• International results of Wales
• Welsh Football Online
• Welsh Football Data Archive
• Dragon Soccer
• Sports Council of Wales Welsh Sports Hall of Fame
• RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers