Welsh National Football Team / European Championships

Wales
Cymru
Balance sheet
European Championship record scorer:	Gareth Bale (3)
European Championship record players:	5 players (6 each)
Rank:	16
6 European Championship games 4 wins 0 draws 2 defeats 10: 6 goals
statistics
First European Championship game Wales 2-1 Slovakia Bordeaux ( FRA ); June 11, 2016 Wales Slovakia
Biggest European Championship victory Wales 3-0 Russia Toulouse ( FRA ); 20th June 2016 Wales Russia
Biggest European Championship defeat Wales 0-2 Portugal Lyon ( FRA ); July 6, 2016 Wales Portugal
successes
European Championship
Participation in the finals	1 ( first : 2016 )
Best results	Semi-finals ( 2016 )
(As of November 2019)

The article provides a detailed description of the Welsh national football team for European championships and the qualifications for them. Wales took part in the finals of the European Championship for the first time in 2016 and is the best team with only one participation in 16th place on the all-time leaderboard and has scored the most goals of the teams with one and two appearances.

Overview

Wales was able to qualify for the first time in October 2015 for the following year’s finals. The best result so far was reaching the quarter-finals in 1976, which was played before the actual final round.

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1960	France	not participated
1964	Spain	not qualified				Failed in the preliminary round to Hungary .
1968	Italy	not qualified				In the qualification , which was held at the same time as the British Home Championship , failed at the later third England .
1972	Belgium	not qualified				In the qualification of Romania failed, which also failed to qualify for the final round.
1976	Yugoslavia	not qualified				In the quarter-finals to eventual hosts and Fourth Yugoslavia failed.
1980	Italy	not qualified				In qualifying at the eventual winners Germany failed.
1984	France	not qualified				Failed in the qualification to Yugoslavia .
1988	BR Germany	not qualified				In the qualification of Denmark failed.
1992	Sweden	not qualified				In the qualification to world champion Germany failed.
1996	England	not qualified				In qualifying at the eventual winners Germany and Bulgaria failed.
2000	Netherlands and Belgium	not qualified				In the qualification of Italy and Denmark failed.
2004	Portugal	not qualified				In the qualification of Italy and in the relegation of Russia failed.
2008	Austria and Switzerland	not qualified				In the qualification of Czech Republic and Germany failed.
2012	Poland and Ukraine	not qualified				In the qualification of England and Montenegro failed, but which also could not qualify.
2016	France	Semifinals	Portugal	-	Chris Coleman	With wins against Slovakia and Russia, with a defeat against England, Wales reached the knockout round as group winners
2021	Europe					Wales had also applied to host finals with the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff , but were not considered. In the qualification, Wales and Croatia prevailed against Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan. In the final round, the Welsh players face Italy, Switzerland and Turkey.

EM 1960

Like the other British associations, Wales did not want to take part in the first European football championship in 1960, which was still the "European Cup of Nations".

EM 1964

Four years later, more teams than 1960 wanted to participate, including the Welsh coached by Jimmy Murphy . Therefore a preliminary round was held upstream. Wales had to play against Hungary and lost the away game on November 7, 1962 with 1: 3. Terry Medwin scored the first qualifying goal for the Welsh . The 1-1 draw four months later was not enough to reach the round of 16. Hungary then reached the finals and came third there. Murphy remained initially for the last game of the British Home Championship 1962/63 and the first three games in the British Home Championship 1963/64 in office. He was followed by Dave Bowen , who stayed in office for 10 years and occasionally managed Northampton Town .

EM 1968

For the European Football Championship in 1968, group games were scheduled for the first time in qualifying . Wales had to compete against the newly crowned world champion England and the other two British teams and the European Championship qualification was then also considered the British Home Championship . Wales could only win the last game against the Northern Irish , also played twice and finished third. Group winners England had one point more than the Scots in the end and qualified for the quarter-finals. Here they met defending champions Spain and prevailed with two wins, which meant they were qualified for the final round of the top four, where they achieved their best ever European Championship result with third place.

European Championship 1972

Four years later, the Welsh met Romania , Czechoslovakia and Finland in qualifying . The Welsh only won both games against Finland and achieved a 0-0 home game against eventual group winners Romania. But that was only enough for third place. Group winners Romania failed in the quarter-finals in three games against Hungary, who finished fourth in the finals and took part in the finals for the last time.

EM 1976

In 1976 the final round was held for the last time with four teams. Wales, the first full-time manager since 1974 by Englishman Mike Smith , beat Hungary, Austria and Luxembourg in the group stage . The qualification for the Welsh began with a 1: 2 defeat in Austria. But since the remaining games were all won and Austria and Hungary took points away from each other, Wales qualified for the quarter-finals. Here they met Yugoslavia , which was one of the eight best teams at the 1974 World Cup . After a 0: 2 in the away game, the 1: 1 in the second leg was not enough to reach the finals. Yugoslavia was then allowed to host the finals, but could not use the home advantage and lost both games.

EM 1980

Four years later, Wales met runner-up European champions Germany as well as Turkey and Malta in qualifying for the European Championship in Italy, which was held for the first time with eight teams . Wales only won both games against Malta and the home game against Turkey. The other games were lost, which Wales eliminated third in the group. Group winners Germany then reached the final for the third time in a row and won for the second time. Mike Smith's term of office ended with the qualification. He was followed by another Welshman, Mike England .

EM 1984

In qualifying for the European Championship in France in 1984, the Welsh had to compete in Group 4 against Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Norway . Wales won their first game against Norway 1-0, then went 4-4 in a dramatic match in Yugoslavia and then beat Bulgaria 1-0. After a goalless draw in Norway, Bulgaria lost 1-0, but with a win in their last home game against Yugoslavia, the Welsh could have qualified for the finals. But since this game also ended in a draw - even if only with two goals - the Yugoslavs went to the European Championship for the last time, but where they failed in the preliminary round.

EM 1988

In qualifying for the European Championships in Germany, the Welsh met Denmark , Czechoslovakia and Finland. The Welsh won and lost two games each and drew twice, finishing third. They only missed qualification in the last two games that were lost. Group winners were thereby Denmark, which was eliminated in the group stage at the finals. Mike England's term of office ended with the missed qualification.

EM 1992

In qualifying for the 1992 European Championship , Wales, which had been coached by Terry Yorath since 1988 , then met world champions Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg . Wales won the home game against the world champions 1-0, but lost the second leg 4-1. Since one point was also given in the 1-1 draw in Belgium, it was only enough for second place. Group winners Germany drove to the final round and reached the final there for the fourth time, but lost this against the surprise team from Denmark, which had only been nominated shortly before the European Championship for the Yugoslavs who were excluded due to UN sanctions due to the Yugoslav Wars. Yorath initially stayed in office, but after failing to qualify for the 1994 World Cup in the USA , the Welsh federation refused him a contract extension in December 1993.

EM 1996

For the European Championship 1996 in neighboring England, which was held for the first time with 16 teams , the Welsh, trained by Mike Smith , had to qualify again against Germany as well as Bulgaria , Georgia , Moldova and Albania , of which Georgia and Moldova participated for the first time. The Welsh won their first game against Albania, but lost four games in a row. They were then able to achieve a respectable success with the 1-1 draw in Germany, but then lost the home game against Georgia. After that, only a 1-0 home win against Moldova and a 1-1 in Albania. So only the penultimate place was occupied. Group winners Germany and Bulgaria in second place went to the finals, where Germany won the title for the third time. With the end in the qualification, Mike Smith's second term ended, his successor was Bobby Gould .

EM 2000

For the EM 2000, the Welsh had to face a group with Italy , Denmark , Switzerland and Belarus . The Welsh could only win the game against Belarus from the home games, against which and Denmark they also won away. All other games were lost and only the penultimate group place was occupied. Group winners Italy reached the final at the finals, but lost it to world champions France with a golden goal . After the missed qualification, Bobby Gould's tenure ended.

EM 2004

Qualification for the 2004 European Championship went a little better for Wales, which had been coached by the still active player Mark Hughes since 1999 , but in the end it was not enough. In a group with runner-up European champions Italy, Serbia and Montenegro , Finland and Azerbaijan , four wins were achieved in eight games. a. a 2-1 against Italy, and a draw. This put the Welsh in second place in the end and still had the chance to qualify in the playoffs of the group runners-up. After a 0-0 draw in the first leg in Russia , they lost the home game 0-1. Russia did not play a major role in the finals and was eliminated in the group stage. Hughes initially remained in office, but ended his work as national coach in the summer of 2004 and was manager of Blackburn Rovers . He was followed by John Toshack , who held the office for 41 days in 1994.

EM 2008

Four years later, Wales had to qualify for the next European Championship against Germany as well as the Czech Republic , Ireland , Slovakia , Cyprus and San Marino , which lost all games. In addition to the victories against San Marino, the Welsh only achieved a home win against Cyprus and an away win in Slovakia. With a goalless draw in the last game in Germany, however, they ensured that the Germans only finished second in the group, which was enough for them to qualify for the finals, where they reached the final for the sixth time. Wales, on the other hand, only finished fifth. Toshack initially stayed in office, but then also missed qualifying for the 2010 World Cup .

EM 2012

The Welsh team before the final qualifying match against Bulgaria on October 11, 2011

Four years later, the Welsh people, managed by Gary Speed since 2010, could not qualify again . In a group with England, Montenegro , Switzerland and Bulgaria they started with four defeats before they won their first victory against Montenegro. After another defeat against England, there were two more wins, but they came too late, so that in the end only the penultimate place jumped out, but due to the victory against Switzerland they missed the playoffs of the group runners-up. Instead, Montenegro still had the chance to reach the finals this way, but could not use it against the Czech Republic . Only England from this group went to the finals as group winners, but failed there again because of their weakness on penalties . Two weeks after failing to qualify Gary Speed committed suicide for unknown reasons suicide .

EM 2016

Starting line-ups in the Welsh's first European Championship game against Slovakia

For the first time, 24 teams took part in the European Championship. For the draw of the qualifying groups , which took place on February 23, 2014, Wales was only placed in Pot 4 and was drawn to the group with Belgium . Other opponents were Bosnia and Herzegovina , Israel , Cyprus and Andorra .

Wales, who have been coached by Chris Coleman since 2012 and only finished fifth under him in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup , was one of the surprises of qualifying. The Welsh only lost one game, on the penultimate match day in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which still had a chance of third place, while Wales, despite the defeat, qualified early and thus for the first time for the finals. The Belgians joined them on the same day as group winners, while Bosnia and Herzegovina secured third place on the last matchday and thus had the chance to qualify for the finals via the playoffs of the group runners-up against Ireland , which did not succeed. Since England and Northern Ireland qualified for the first time, three British teams took part in a European Championship finals for the first time. The last three British teams to compete in a major tournament was at the 1986 World Cup , when England, Northern Ireland and Scotland qualified. For Wales it was the first participation in a major tournament since the 1958 World Cup , when Wales advanced to the quarter-finals and were only eliminated from eventual world champions Brazil . Thanks to the qualification results in 2015, Wales was able to improve its FIFA world rankings by a total of 330 points and achieved a top 10 position for the first time in August 2015 with 9th place and the best position so far with eighth place in October 2015, which however the defeat in the penultimate qualifying game was gambled away again.

For the group draw on December 12, 2015, Wales was allocated to pot 4 based on the UEFA coefficient and was drawn to the group with England, Russia and Slovakia, against which the Welsh won their first European Championship game. After a defeat against England with goals in the closing stages, a victory against Russia and thus the group victory succeeded. Together with Slovakia, the Welsh are the only team so far that have always survived the group stage at World Championships and European Championships, but both have only participated once. In the round of 16, a game with few scoring chances, the Welsh won thanks to an own goal from Northern Irish defender Gareth McAuley . This made them the only British team to reach the quarter-finals as England surprisingly lost to Iceland. The opponents in the quarter-finals were the best-placed European team Belgium in the current FIFA world rankings . The Welsh were already behind after 13 minutes, but equalized in the 31st minute by captain Ashley Williams . In the second half, Hal Robson-Kanu and Sam Vokes , who later came on for him, scored two more goals to make it 3-1. Victory. This was the first time Wales were in the semi-finals of a major football tournament and for the first time since 1996 a British team. Opponent in the semifinals was the eventual European champions Portugal , who lost 2-0, which meant that the Welsh were eliminated from the eventual title winners as in the 1958 World Cup.

EM 2020

Ireland, Scotland and Wales had considered joint applications for Euro 2020 in 2012. After the decision of UEFA to host the Euro 2020 in several European cities, Wales had applied with the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff to host finals, but was not considered. Like the countries where games will be played, Wales had to qualify. In the qualification, Wales and Croatia prevailed against Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan. The Welsh, who have been coached by Ryan Giggs since March 2018 , only surrendered one point in the home games in the 1-1 draw against runners-up world champions Croatia, in the away games they could only get one point in Slovakia and three in Azerbaijan. It was not until the last day of the match that they were the last team to qualify directly with a 2-0 home win against Hungary. With ten goals scored, the Welsh are the directly qualified team with the fewest goals. The third and fourth placed Slovaks and Hungarians still have the chance to get a place in the final round via the playoffs in March 2020, whereas the last-placed Azerbaijanis as the first host definitely cannot participate.

When the final round was drawn on November 30, 2019, the Welsh were drawn into a group with Italy, Switzerland and Turkey.

Player with the most goals at European championships

Gareth Bale , top Welsh championship scorer

Gates	player	Year (goals)
3	Gareth Bale	2016 (3)
2	Hal Robson canoe	2016 (1)
1	Aaron Ramsey	2016 (1)
1	Neil Taylor	2016 (1)
1	Sam Vokes	2016 (1)
1	Ashley Williams	2016 (1)

In addition, an own goal by a Northern Irish player

As of July 6, 2016

Share of players playing abroad in the EM squad

When they first played there was no player in the squad who plays in Wales.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
2016 (6)	21 (19 in England, 1 in Scotland, 1 in Spain)	Joe Allen (6), James Chester (6), Simon Church (2), James Collins (2), David Cotterill , Ben Davies (5), David Edwards (3), Chris Gunter (6), Wayne Hennessey (5) , Andy King (3), Joe Ledley (6), Aaron Ramsey (5), Ashley Richards , Hal Robson-Kanu (5), David Vaughan , Sam Vokes (4), Danny Ward (1), George Williams , Jonny Williams (4); Owain Fon Williams ; Gareth Bale (6)

As of July 6, 2016

Games

Baku (2)

Venues (green = positive balance, yellow = balanced balance, red = negative balance)

The Welsh has played six European Championship games so far, four of which have been won and two lost. The Welsh always played on a neutral pitch and once against the eventual European champions, which ended their only EM appearance so far. The victory against Russia is the first and therefore the highest against the Russians.

No.	date	Result	opponent		venue	occasion
All EM games
1	June 11, 2016	2: 1	Slovakia Slovakia	*	Bordeaux ( FRA )	Group game
2	June 16, 2016	1: 2	England England	*	Lens ( FRA )	Group game
3	20th June 2016	3-0	Russia Russia	*	Toulouse ( FRA )	Group game
4th	June 25, 2016	1-0	Northern Ireland Northern Ireland	*	Paris ( FRA )	Round of 16
5	July 1, 2016	3: 1	Belgium Belgium	*	Lille ( FRA )	Quarter finals
6th	July 6, 2016	0: 2	Portugal Portugal	*	Lyon ( FRA )	Semifinals
	June 12, 2021		Switzerland Switzerland	*	Baku ( AZE )	Group game
	June 16, 2021		Turkey Turkey	*	Baku ( AZE )	Group game
	June 20, 2021		Italy Italy	A.	Rome ( ITA )	Group game