The Wales national women's football team () represents

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. It is controlled by the

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; ) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Wales national football team, its Wales women's national football team, correspo ...

(FAW), the governing body for

football in Wales Association football is one of the most popular sports in Wales, along with rugby union. Wales has produced club teams of varying fortunes since the early birth of football during the Victorian period, and in 1876 a Wales national football te ...

and the third-oldest national football association in the world, founded in . Wales qualified for their first major championship, UEFA Women's Euro 2025, in December 2024. They have never qualified for the

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...

. The closest they have come was falling to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in the UEFA play-offs final for the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...

. However, they are set to take part in a World Cup for the first time in

2035 The 2030s (pronounced "twenty-thirties" or "two thousand ndthirties"; shortened to "the '30s" and also known as "The Thirties") is the next decade that will begin on 1 January 2030, and end on 31 December 2039. Plans and goals * NASA plans to ex ...

when they automatically qualified as co-host with other three countries in the United Kingdom. As a country of the United Kingdom, Wales is not a member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

and therefore the national team does not compete in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

History

The Wales Women's National Team was established in 1973. Their debut fixture was a match against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Stebonheath Park Stebonheath Park (''Welsh language, Welsh: Parc Stebonheath'') is a multi-use stadium in Llanelli, West Wales with a capacity of 3,700. It is primarily used as a Association football, football ground and is the home of Llanelli Town A.F.C. It wa ...

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

. A crowd of 3,500 watched them lose 3 - 2. For 20 years the team was organised independently of the FAW. In 1993, players Laura McAllister, Michelle Adams and

Karen Jones Dame Karen Elisabeth Dind Jones (born 29 July 1956) is a British business executive. Life and career Jones was educated at the University of East Anglia (BA, 1978) and went on to study at Wellesley College, Massachusetts. She co-founded, a ...

, succeeded in persuading the FAW secretary Alun Evans that the FAW should take over the running of the women's national team. In 2003, the FAW withdrew the team from qualifying games for UEFA Women's Euro 2005 citing the cost of travelling to Belarus, Kazakhstan, Estonia and Israel and cutbacks being needed to support

Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player who is the head coach of club Carlisle United F.C., Carlisle United. During his playing career he usually operated as a Forward (asso ...

' men's team. The move was criticised by manager Sian Williams and player Jayne Ludlow and Wales were fined 50,000 Swss Francs by UEFA. In 2010, Ludlow withdrew from the squad entirely returning only in 2012 with the appointment of Jarmo Matikainen as the first ever full time manager of the women's side. In 2018, Wales finished second in their World Cup qualifying group for the first time ever, missing out on a playoff spot due to second place team rankings. In 2020 they missed out on a playoff spot by away goals. Under manager Gemma Grainger, Wales reached the playoffs for qualification to

. They beat Bosnia, but lost in extra time against

in Zurich. On 3 December 2024, the team made history after beating the Republic of Ireland 2-1 qualifying for a first time ever to major women's tournament.

Team image

Media coverage

Live television broadcast rights are held by

BBC Cymru Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...

( Welsh &

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

commentary) until 2027.

Colours and logo

The primary kit has long been all-red. The crest of the

features a

rampant In heraldry, the term attitude describes the ''position'' in which a figure (animal or human) is emblazoned as a Charge (heraldry), charge, a Supporter (heraldry), supporter, or as a Crest (heraldry), crest. The attitude of a heraldic figure alwa ...

Welsh Dragon The Welsh Dragon (, meaning 'the red dragon'; ) is a heraldic symbol that represents Wales and appears on the national flag of Wales. Ancient leaders of the Celtic Britons that are personified as dragons include Maelgwn Gwynedd, Mynyddog Mwynf ...

on a white shield. From 1920, the shield was surrounded by a red border, and the letters 'FAW' were added in 1926. The badge was redesigned in 1951, adding a green border with 11 daffodils, as well as the Welsh-language motto ''Gorau Chwarae Cyd Chwarae'' ("The best play is team play"). The motto was briefly removed in 1984, but the badge stayed largely the same until 2010, when the shield was changed to feature rounded sides and the motto banner was changed from white to red and green. The dragon also changed from rampant to rampant regardant. The motto was removed again in 2019, following another major redesign of the badge, which saw the top of the shield flattened and the sides changed not to curve outwards; the green border was also thinned and the daffodils removed.

Kit supplier

Results and fixtures

* The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled. ;Legend

2024

2025

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

Manager history

* Sylvia Gore (1979–1989) *

Lyn Jones Richard Lyn Jones (born 5 June 1964) is a Wales international rugby union former player. Originally playing as a flanker, Jones subsequently became a coach. He played most of his playing career for Neath RFC and started his coaching career at t ...

(1992-1995) * Sue Lopez (1995–1996) *

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...

(1996–2000) * Sian Williams (2000–2003) * Andy Beattie (2003–2007) * Adrian Tucker (2007–2010) * Jarmo Matikainen (2010–2014) * Jayne Ludlow (2014–2021) * Gemma Grainger (2021–2024) * Rhian Wilkinson (2024–)

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for Matchday 6 of the UEFA Women's Nations League against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on 3 June 2025. ''Caps and goals are correct as of 4 June 2025, after the match against

.''

Recent call-ups

The following players were called up to the squad within the last 12 months. ;Notes *^ALT = Alternate *^INJ = Withdrew due to injury *^PRE = Preliminary squad / on stand-by *^PER = Withdrew due to personal reasons *^RET = Retired from national team *^TOP = Train-on player *^UNV = Made themselves unavailable for selection

Captains

* Jayne Ludlow (−2012) * Jess Fishlock (2012–2015) * Sophie Ingle (2015–2024) * Jess Fishlock (2024) * Hayley Ladd (2024/2025) *

Ceri Holland Ceri Holland ( ; born 12 December 1997) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Women's Super League club Liverpool and the Wales national team. Club career In the 2023–24 season in the away game against Brighton ...

(2024) * Angharad James (2024–)

Records

*''*Active players in bold, statistics correct as of 4 June 2024.''

Most capped players

Top goalscorers

In April 2017, Jess Fishlock became the first player to earn 100 caps for the Wales national football team. In April 2024, Jess Fishlock became the first player to earn 150 caps for the Wales national football team.

Competitive record

FIFA Women's World Cup

:''*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.''

UEFA Women's Championship

:''*Draws include knockout matches decided by penalty kicks.''

European Competition for Women's Football (Unofficial)

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

: Group Stage

UEFA Women's Nations League

Algarve Cup

The

Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious and ...

is a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's soccer hosted by the

Portuguese Football Federation The Portuguese Football Federation ( , FPF) is the governing body of Association football, football in Portugal. The federation was formed in 1914 as Portuguese Football Union (, UPF) by the three existing regional associations of Lisbon Footbal ...

(FPF). Held annually in the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

region of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious women's football events, alongside the Women's World Cup and Women's Olympic Football.

Other tournaments

Notes

References

External links

Official websiteFIFA profile
{{portalbar, Women's association football, Association football, Games, Sports, Wales European women's national association football teams 1973 establishments in Wales