Football World Cup 1958 / Wales

This article covers the Welsh national football team at the 1958 World Cup .

qualification

UEFA

rank	country	Gates	Points
1	Czechoslovakia	9: 3	6th
2	Wales	6: 5	4th
3	GDR	5:12	2

Wales	-	Czechoslovakia	1-0
GDR	-	Wales	2: 1
Czechoslovakia	-	Wales	2-0
Wales	-	GDR	4: 1

CAF / AFC

After all of Israel's actual opponents refused to play against Israel for political reasons, one of the nine runners-up in Europe was drawn as the final opponent of Israel. The choice fell on Wales.

Tel Aviv	January 15, 1958	Israel	-	Wales	0: 2	L. Allchurch (38th), Bowen (65th)
Cardiff	5th February 1958	Wales	-	Israel	2-0	I. Allchurch (76.), Jones (80.)

Welsh contingent

Note : although Swansea Town and Cardiff City are in the English league, they are marked as Welsh clubs.

Number / name		society	birthday	International matches
goalkeeper
1	Jack Kelsey	Arsenal FC	11/19/1929
12	Ken Jones	Cardiff City	01/02/1936
13	Graham Vearncombe	Cardiff City	03/28/1934
Defense
2	Stuart Williams	West Bromwich Albion	December 31, 1936
3	Mel Hopkins	Tottenham Hotspur	11/07/1934
4th	Derrick Sullivan	Cardiff City	08/10/1930
14th	Trevor Edwards	Charlton Athletic	01/24/1937
15th	Colin Baker	Cardiff City	December 18, 1934
midfield
5	Mel Charles	Swansea Town	05/14/1935
6th	Dave Bowen	Arsenal FC	06/07/1928
16	Vic Crowe	Aston Villa	01/30/1932
20th	John Elsworthy	Ipswich Town	07/26/1931
21st	Len Allchurch	Swansea Town	09/12/1933
22nd	Tom Baker	Plymouth Argyle	04/06/1934
attack
7th	Terry Medwin	Tottenham Hotspur	09/25/1932
8th	Ron Hewitt	Cardiff City	06/21/1928
9	John Charles	Juventus Turin	04/13/1930
10	Ivor Allchurch	Swansea Town	10/16/1929
11	Cliff Jones	Swansea Town	02/07/1935
17th	Ken Leek	Leicester City	07/26/1935
18th	Roy Vernon	Blackburn Rovers	04/14/1937
19th	Colin Webster	Manchester United	07/17/1932
Trainer
	Jimmy Murphy		10/27/1910

Welsh team games

Preliminary round

rank	country	Gates	Points
1	Sweden	5: 1	5
2	Wales	2: 2	3
3	Hungary	6: 3	3
4th	Mexico	1: 8	1

• Hungary - Wales 1: 1 (1: 1)

Stadium: Jernvallen ( Sandviken )

Spectators: 20,000

Referee: Codesal ( Uruguay )

Goals: 1: 0 Bozsik (5th), 1: 1 J. Charles (27th)

• Mexico - Wales 1: 1 (0: 1)

Stadium: Råsundastadion ( Solna )

Spectators: 25,000

Referee: Lemešić ( Yugoslavia )

Goals: 0: 1 Allchurch (32nd), 1: 1 Belmonte (89th)

• Sweden - Wales 0: 0 (0: 0)

Stadium: Råsundastadion ( Solna )

Spectators: 35,000

Referee: Van Nuffel ( Belgium )

Goals: none

The organizer Sweden went as the favorite in Group 3 and lived up to its role. Mexico (3-0) and Hungary (2-1), which only had three players from the 54-man wonder team left (the 1956 uprising had spread the team across Europe and not all players were released), were defeated. Most recently, the Swedes were able to afford a 0-0 win against Wales. This result was important for the Welsh as it got them into the playoff against Hungary and won 2-1. As expected, Mexico finished last in the group.

Playoff

• Wales - Hungary 2: 1 (0: 1)

Stadium: Råsundastadion ( Solna )

Spectators: 20,000

Referee: Latyshev ( Soviet Union )

Goals: 0: 1 Tichy (33rd), 1: 1 Allchurch (55th), 2: 1 Medwin (76th)

Quarter finals

25,000

Ullevi ( Gothenburg )

Brazil

Wales

Seipelt ( Austria )

1: 0 (0: 0)

1-0 Pele (66th)

It was surprisingly tight for the Brazilians. It was only thanks to a goal from Pelé (66th) that the South Americans made it to the semi-finals against the tough and defensive Welsh.