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WAL
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The Dragons
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Football Association Of Wales
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UEFA ( Europe )
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John Toshack , (2004-)
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Roy Evans , (2004-)<br /> Dean Saunders , (2007-)<br /> Brian Flynn , (2004-)
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Craig Bellamy (2007-)
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Neville Southall (92)
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Ian Rush (28)
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Millennium Stadium
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WAL
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74
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August 1993
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27
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August 1993
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113
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September 2000
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71
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3
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1876-1885
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75
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September 2000
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4 - 0 Wales <br/>( Glasgow , Scotland 26 March , 1876 )
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Wales 11 - 0 <br/>( Wrexham , Wales 3 March , 1888 )
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9 - 0 Wales <br/>( Glasgow , Scotland 23 March , 1878 )
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1
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1958
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Quarter-finals, 1958
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European Championship
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Quarter-finals, 1976 (in Qualifying)
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The represents
Wales in international men's
Football . Controlled by the
Football Association Of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, they are one of the oldest national teams in the world. Although not a major force in world football, Wales constantly punches above its weight and has regularly beaten some of the best teams in the world.
Although part of the
United Kingdom ,
Wales has always had its own representative side that plays in all the major professional tournaments, though not in the
Olympic Games as the
IOC only recognises the United Kingdom.
In the qualification for
Euro 2008 , Wales has been drawn in
Group D alongside
Germany ,
The Czech Republic ,
Slovakia ,
Republic Of Ireland ,
Cyprus and
San Marino .
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
December 6 , 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
History of the Irish FA at ''www.irishfa.com'' and Wales, until 1983/84. Wales were champions on 12 occasions - winning outright 7 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 Cup s.
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.
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.
The 1950s were undoubtedly a golden age for Welsh football with stars such as
Ivor Allchurch ,
Alf Sherwood ,
Jack Kelsey and, of course,
John Charles , pulling on the famous red shirt and Wales made its only
World Cup appearance in
1958 , however, their qualification was fortunate to say the least. Having finished second to
Czechoslovakia in qualifying Group 4, the Welsh thought their chances of appearing in Sweden were over. But the golden generation of Welsh football had reckoned without the politics of the
Middle East .
Egypt and
Sudan had refused to play against
Israel whilst
Indonesia had insisted on meeting Israel on neutral ground. As a result Israel were proclaimed winners of their respective group in the Asian/African zone.
Fifa were understandably reluctant to allow 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 the
Uefa qualifying groups. Wales were drawn out of the hat and awarded a two-legged play-off match against Israel with a place in Sweden for the winners
Qualification for 1958 World Cup at ''RSSSF''.
Having beaten Israel 2–0 in
Tel Aviv and 2–0 at
Ninian Park , Cardiff, Wales went through to the World Cup Finals for the first, and so far, only time.
The Welsh side made their mark in Sweden, drawing all the matches in their group against
Hungary ,
Mexico , and
Sweden before defeating the Hungarians in a play off match to reach the Quarter finals. There the Welsh lost 1–0 to eventual champions
Brazil , with 17-year-old
Pelé grabbing the only goal of the game for the South American side. However, Wales's chances of victory were hampered by the injury of John Charles.
Wales have never actually qualified for the final stages of the
European Championship , however in 1976 they did reach 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 final stages of the competition, and Wales were drawn to play against the winners of group 3
Yugoslavia , in a two legged 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 the return leg at
Ninian Park ,
Cardiff .
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 1980 as Wales tore England apart in one of the best performances ever witnessed by a Welsh side. Goals from
Mickey Thomas ,
Ian Walsh , Leighton James and an own goal by
Phil Thompson saw Wales thrash England 4-1 at The Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, just four days after England had beaten the then world champions,
Argentina .
Manchester United youngster,
Mark Hughes , marked his debut for Wales scoring the only goal of the game as England were defeated once again in 1984 and the following season, Hughes was on target scoring a wonder goal as Wales thrashed
Spain 3-0 at The Racecourse during qualification for
Mexico 86 .
Wales came close, once again, to qualifying for a major championship when they came within a whisker of reaching the World Cup of
1994 . 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 and Romania went on to win 2-1.
Following the failure to qualify, took the reins for the start of the
Euro 96 qualifiers which saw Wales slip 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 and a 7-1 thrashing by
Holland 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.
Under Hughes, Wales came close to qualifying for the European Championships in 2004, losing in the playoffs for a place in other than instructing them not to play Titov again.
Following a disappointing start to the
2006 World Cup qualifying campaign Hughes left his role with the national team to take over as manager of
Blackburn Rovers of the
English Premiership .
John Toshack was appointed manager for the second time on
12 November 2004 .
As of
October 12 ,
2006 , the players with the most caps for Wales are:
As of
May 26 ,
2007 , the players with the most goals for Wales are:
:''See also
:''See also
:''See also
:Inductees to the Sports Council of Wales -
Welsh Sports Hall Of Fame are in bold:
:Welsh Inductees to the
English Football Hall Of Fame are:
:''See also
Wales play 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 had been chosen to host the
Rugby World Cup .
Prior to 1989 Wales played their home games at the grounds of
Cardiff City F.C. ,
Swansea City 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 Nathan Blake becoming the first Welshman to score a goal at the stadium, unfortunately for Blake and Wales it was an
Own Goal -
Ryan Giggs scored Wales' goal in the match, becoming the first Welshman to score at the right end at the stadium!
In recent seasons a handful of friendly home matches have been played away from the Millennium Stadium at Swansea's
Liberty Stadium and Wrexham's
Racecourse Ground .
The following players named for the UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying Group D Matches against
Germany on
September 8 and
Slovakia on
September 12 ,
2007 .
- Goalkeeping Coach:
- Team Doctors: & '''Dr. Mark Davies'''
- Physiotherapists: & '''Dyfri Owen'''
- Masseur:
