This page details
Wales national football team records; the most capped players, the players with the most goals, Wales's match record by opponent and decade.
Player records
Most capped players
Top goalscorers
Age records
* Youngest player to make debut:
Harry Wilson – 16 years and 207 days
* Oldest player to play a game:
Billy Meredith – 45 years and 229 days
* Youngest player to play at World Cup finals:
Roy Vernon
Thomas Royston "Roy" Vernon (14 April 1937 – 4 December 1993) was a Welsh international footballer who played for Blackburn Rovers, Everton and Stoke City. Vernon won 32 caps for Wales, scoring eight goals in total, and representing his cou ...
– 21 years and 42 days
* Oldest player to play at World Cup finals:
Dave Bowen
David Lloyd Bowen (7 June 1928 – 25 September 1995) was a Welsh football player and manager, who captained his country to their first ever World Cup finals, in 1958.
Playing career
Born in Maesteg, Bowen first played for Northampton Town. H ...
– 30 years and 1 day
* Youngest player to score a goal:
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 ...
– 17 years and 83 days
Other
* Longest serving player:
Billy Meredith – 25 years (1895–1920)
Games and results
; Firsts
* First International: 26 March 1876 vs
* First home international: 5 March 1877 vs
* First win: 26 February 1881 vs
* First overseas opponent: , 25 May 1933
* First win over an overseas opponent: 23 November 1949 vs
; Biggest
* Biggest Win: 11–0 vs , 3 March 1888
* Biggest Loss: 0–9 vs , 23 March 1878
;Longest
* Longest winning streak: 6,
2 June 1980 – 16 May 1981
* Longest losing streak: 5,
25 March 1876 – 27 March 1880
Goals
* First Welsh goal:
William Davies, 18 January 1879 vs
* Youngest player to score:
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 ...
– 17 years and 83 days, 7 October 2006 v
* Most goals scored in one game by a player: 4
**
John Price, 12 Feb 1882 vs
**
Jack Doughty
John "Jack" Doughty (October 1865 – April 1937) was a Welsh association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Born in Bilston, Staffordshire, to an Irish father and a Welsh mother, Doughty started his fo ...
, 3 Mar 1888 vs
**
Mel Charles
Melvyn Charles (14 May 1935 – 24 September 2016) was a Welsh international footballer. Charles played as both a centre-half and centre-forward, with his preferred position being at right-half.
After a short stint on the Leeds United ground ...
, 11 Apr 1962 vs
**
Ian Edwards, 25 October 1978 vs
Hat-tricks
* First hat-trick:
John Price, 12 February 1882 vs
International tournaments
FIFA World Cup
; Qualification
*First match: 15 October 1949 vs
*First goal:
Mal Griffiths
William Maldwyn "Mal" Griffiths (8 March 1919 – 5 April 1969) was a Welsh footballer who played as an outside right for Leicester City and Wales.
Born in Merthyr Tydfil, Griffiths started out in local football before signing for Arsenal. Afte ...
vs , 15 October 1949
;Finals
* First finals:
Sweden 1958
* Total number of times qualified for the finals: 2 (
1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
,
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
)
* First game: 8 June 1958 vs
* First goal:
John Charles vs , 8 June 1958
* Most successful finals:
1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
– Quarter-finals
* World Cup top goalscorer: 2
**
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 ...
(
1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
)
UEFA European Championship
;Finals
* First finals:
France 2016
* Total number of times qualified for the finals: 2 (
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
,
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
)
* First game: 11 June 2016 vs
* First goal:
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 ...
vs , 11 June 2016
* Most successful finals:
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
– Semi-finals
* European Championship top goalscorer: 3
**
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 ...
(
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
)
Rankings
* Highest
FIFA Rank: 8 (October 2015)
* Lowest FIFA Rank: 117 (August 2011)
* Highest
Elo Rank: 3 (1876–1885)
* Lowest Elo Rank: 75 (September 2000)
Team records
Head to head
P – Played; W – Won; D – Drawn; L – Lost
Statistics include official FIFA recognised matches only
Up to date as of 28 March 2023
By decade
P – Played,
W – Won,
D – Drawn,
L – Lost,
GF – Goals For,
GA – Goals Against,
GD – Goal Difference
Statistics include official FIFA recognised matches only
Up to date as of 28 March 2023
Notes
# Only clubs played for while receiving caps are listed.
See also
*
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 ...
*
1954 FIFA World Cup qualification
A total of 37 teams entered the 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Switzerland, as the hosts, and Uruguay, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open ...
*
1958 FIFA World Cup qualification
A total of 55 teams entered the 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Sweden as the hosts and West Germany, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open ...
*
1958 FIFA World Cup
The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country.
Brazil be ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
Notes
External links
RSSSF: Wales – International Results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wales National Football Team Records
Wales national football team records and statistics
National association football team records and statistics
Football records and statistics in Wales