Welsh starting team for match against Austria 2016-10-06

The

Wales national football team ) , Association = Football Association of Wales (FAW) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , Coach = Rob Page , Captain = Gareth Bale , Most caps = Gareth Bale (111) , Top scorer = Gareth ...

has represented Wales in international

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

since 1876, making it the third oldest international football team. They played their first official match on 25 March 1876, four years after

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

played the first ever international football match. They are governed by the

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; cy, Cymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Wales national football team, Welsh national foo ...

and compete as a member of the

Union of European Football Associations Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

(UEFA), which predominantly encompasses the countries of Europe. , Wales have played 697 international matches since their debut, winning 221, drawing 153 and losing 323. They have played over 100 fixtures against England and Scotland, regularly competing against both in the

British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

between 1884 and 1984, winning the competition on twelve occasions. In global and continental competitions, Wales have qualified for two

FIFA World Cups FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French language, French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsa ...

in 1958 and 2022, reaching the quarter-finals in the former, and two

UEFA European Championships The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

in 2016 and 2020 in their history, reaching the semi-finals in the former. Wales were the last side from the

Home Nations Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In sport, if a sport is g ...

without a player reaching 100

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

Gareth Bale Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC and the Wales national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wingers of his generation ...

is Wales most capped player with 111 caps.

Chris Gunter Christopher Ross Gunter (born 21 July 1989) is a Welsh footballer who plays as a defender for AFC Wimbledon and the Wales national team. An attacking full back, he is capable of playing on both flanks but usually plays on his preferred righ ...

became the first player to earn 100 Wales caps, reaching the tally on 27 March 2021 in a friendly against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Players who reach 50 appearances for Wales are awarded a golden cap. Bale also holds the record for the most goals scored for Wales having scored 41 goals, overtaking

Ian Rush Ian James Rush (born 20 October 1961) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward. At club level Rush played for Liverpool from 1980–1987 and 1988–1996. He is the club's all-time leading goalscorer, having scored a t ...

's record in March 2018.

Billy Meredith William Henry Meredith (30 July 1874 – 19 April 1958) was a Welsh professional footballer. He was considered one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United. He won each ...

was the first Welsh player to reach 25 caps and went on to accumulate 48 caps in his career and score eleven goals, both Welsh records at the time. His appearance record stood for 42 years until it was beaten by

Ivor Allchurch Ivor John Allchurch MBE (16 October 1929 – 10 July 1997) was a Welsh professional footballer who played for Swansea Town, Newcastle United and Cardiff City, as well as the Wales national football team. Known as the "Golden Boy of Welsh foot ...

in 1962, who finished his career with 68 caps. Defender

Joey Jones Joseph Patrick Jones (born 4 March 1955) is a Welsh former international football full-back who most notably played for Liverpool, with whom he won two European Cups. Club career Wrexham Jones was born in Llandudno, and joined Wrexham in 19 ...

set a new record in the 1980s, amassing 72 caps, before his record was overtaken by Peter Nicholas in 1991 by a single cap. On 23 May 1994,

Neville Southall Neville Southall (born 16 September 1958) is a Welsh former international footballer. He has been described as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation and won the FWA Footballer of the Year award in 1985. He joined Bury from Winsford ...

played in a 2–1 victory over

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

to earn his 74th cap and overtake Nicholas, eventually gaining 92 caps before retiring. Gunter surpassed Southall's cap record on 20 November 2018 against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

, before he himself was overtaken when Bale made his 110th Wales appearance in their 2022 FIFA World Cup Group B match against Iran on 25 November 2022. As of November 2022, 105 players have gained 25 caps or more for Wales.

List of players

''Appearances and goals are composed of

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

and

UEFA European Football Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

and each competition's required qualification matches, as well as numerous international friendly tournaments and matches. Players are listed by number of caps. If number of caps are equal, the players are then listed alphabetically. Statistics correct as of 29 November 2022.'' Caps and goals sourced from: AUT vs

Notes

References

{{featured list

Caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

Association football player non-biographical articles