World Cup Team Profile: Wales

Wales National Team (Twitter @FAWales)

JAKARTA - The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. The team is controlled by the Football Association of Wales (FAW), the governing body for football in Wales and the third oldest national football association in the world, founded in 1876.

Profile overview

Full name: Wales national football team Nickname: The Dragons Association: Football Association of Wales (FAW) Confederation: UEFA (Europe) Head coach: Rob Page Captain: Gareth Bale Most Caps: Chris Gunter (109) Top scorer: Gareth Bale (39) Home stadium: Cardiff City Stadium FIFA Code: WAL FIFA Ranking

The Wales national team is currently in 18th position as of March 2022. The highest position, 8th as of October 2015 and the lowest of 117 as of August 2011.

Participation in the World Cup

Wales have qualified for the FIFA World Cup twice, in 1958 and 2022. In 1958, they reached the quarter-finals before losing to then-champion Brazil. It took them 58 years before reaching their second major tournament.

1958 World Cup

Wales appeared in the World Cup finals for the first time in the 1958 edition in Sweden. However, their path to qualification was unusual. After finishing second to Czechoslovakia in qualifying Group 4, Jimmy Murphy's golden generation of Welsh football failed to qualify, but Middle East politics then intervened. In the Asia/Africa qualifying zone, Egypt and Sudan refused to play against Israel following the Suez crisis, while Indonesia insisted on meeting Israel at a neutral venue. As a result, FIFA declared Israel the winner of their group.

However, FIFA does not want a team to qualify for the World Cup finals without actually playing a match, and so many second-placed teams in the UEFA zone are drawn in the draw. Belgium were first drawn but refused to participate, and then Wales were out in the draw and awarded a two-legged play-off against Israel with a place in Sweden to decide the winner. After beating Israel 2-0 at Ramat Gan Stadium and 2-0 at Ninian Park, Cardiff, Wales qualified for the World Cup final tournament for the first time.

Wales' strong squad made their mark in Sweden, drawing in all group games against Hungary, Mexico and Sweden before beating Hungary in a play-off to reach the quarter-finals against Brazil. However, Wales' chances of winning against Brazil were hampered by John Charles' injury which ruled him out of the match. Wales lost 0-1 with 17-year-old Pelé scoring his first international goal. The goal made Pelé the youngest ever goalscorer at the World Cup and Brazil won the tournament.

2022 World Cup

For the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers Wales are drawn in Group E with Belgium, Czech Republic, Belarus and Estonia with Rob Page again acting as interim manager for the 2021 and 2022 matches. Wales finished second in Group E and advanced to the qualifying play-offs. .

After beating Austria 2-1 in the semi-finals of the play-offs, Wales qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1958 with a 1-0 win over Ukraine at Cardiff City Stadium on 5 June 2022.

At the 2022 World Cup, Wales are in Group B with England, Iran and the United States. Here is their schedule for their group stage matches:

Monday, 21 November 2022England vs Iran 20:00 WIB Tuesday, 22 November 2022 United States vs Wales: 02:00 WIB Friday, 25 November 2022England vs United States: 17:00 WIB Saturday, 23 November 2022 Wales vs Iran: 02:00 WIB Wednesday, 30 November 2022 Wales vs England: 02:00 WIB Iran vs United States: 02:00 WIB

Beautiful 😍 #TogetherStronger https://t.co/lMnbmfuXap

— Wales (@Cymru) June 15, 2022

2022 World Cup provisional squad

The following players were called up for the 2022 World Cup qualifying play-off final against Ukraine, and the UEFA Nations League A matches against Poland, the Netherlands (home and away) and Belgium in June 2022.

On 24 May, Nathan Broadhead withdrew from the squad due to injury. Oliver Denham and Wes Burns were called up as substitutes. On 9 June, Tom King was called up to the squad and Kieffer Moore withdrew from injury.

Goalkeeper

Wayne Hennessey Adam Davies Tom King

defender

Chris Gunter Ben Davies Connor Roberts Ethan Ampadu Chris Mepham Joe Rodon Oliver Denham

Midfielder

Aaron Ramsey Harry Wilson Jonny Williams Matthew Smith Dylan Levitt Sorba Thomas Wes Burns

Striker

Gareth Bale Daniel James Brennan Johnson Rabbi Matondo Mark Harris

CWPAN Y BYD!!!! pic.twitter.com/5KP0FmJav4

— Wales (@Cymru) June 5, 2022

Team captain

Gareth Bale was named in the Wales squad on 27 May 2006 for a friendly against Trinidad and Tobago. In that game in Graz, Austria he replaced David Vaughan after 55 minutes and assisted Robert Earnshaw's winner in a 2-1 win. At 16 years 315 days, Bale became the youngest player to play for Wales, breaking the record held by Lewin Realnga set three months earlier; This record was later broken by Harry Wilson in October 2013.

On 22 March 2018, with 29 goals, Bale became Wales' all-time leading scorer over Ian Rush's 28, thanks to the first hat-trick of his international career in the 2018 China Cup match against the hosts.

Llongyfarchiadau @GarethBale11

— FA WALES (@FAWales) June 1, 2022

May 2021, he was selected as captain of the Wales team for the postponed UEFA Euro 2020 tournament. In the finals, he provided the assist for Aaron Ramsey and Connor Roberts goals in Wales' second group game on 16 June, a 2–0 win over Turkey; he helped his country qualify for the round of 16, where they were beaten by Denmark 4–0.

On 24 March 2022, Bale scored twice in the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup qualifying play-offs in a 2–1 win against Austria which sent Wales to the play-off final against Ukraine on 5 June. In that game, Bale's free kick was deflected into the net by Ukraine captain Andriy Yarmolenko, giving Wales the only goal in a 1-0 win. Wales qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1958.

Trainer

Rob Page became caretaker-manager of the Wales senior team on 3 November 2020, after Ryan Giggs was arrested for assault. Page led Wales to a 0-0 draw against the United States in a friendly, as well as wins in the UEFA Nations League over the Republic of Ireland and Finland that secured Wales promotion from League B as winners of Group 4.

With Giggs' leave extended, Page continued to replace him for three international matches in March 2021. After Giggs was charged with assault in April 2021, it was confirmed that Page was in charge of Wales in the postponed UEFA Euro 2020 finals (held 2021). Wales qualified from Group A in second place with a 1-1 draw with Switzerland, a 2-0 win over Turkey and a 0-1 loss to Italy. They were then eliminated in the round of 16 after losing 4-0 to Denmark.

For the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers, Wales are in Group E with Belgium, Czech Republic, Belarus and Estonia with Page again acting as interim manager. Wales finished second in Group E and advanced to the qualifying play-offs. On 5 June 2022, Page led Wales to a 1–0 victory over Ukraine in the European qualifying play-off final, to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the country's first World Cup appearance since 1958.

Biggest win record: 11-0 against Ireland (3 March 1888) Biggest loss: 0-9 against Scotland (23 March 1878) Trophy

British Home Championship, won 12 times: 1906–07, 1919–20, 1923–24, 1927–28, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1936–37, 1938–39 (shared title), 1951–52 (shared title) ), 1955–56 (shared title), 1959–60 (shared title), 1969–70 (shared title).