The Welsh National Team

During their history, Wales have qualified for two major international tournaments. They reached the quarter-finals of the 1958 FIFA World Cup and reached the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2016. Wales also progressed through UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying to the quarter-final, which was played on a home and away leg basis, but they did not feature in the finals tournament.

The Stadium

From 2000–2009, Wales played most of their home matches at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. The stadium was built in 1999 on the site of the old National Stadium, known as Cardiff Arms Park, as the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) had been chosen to host the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Prior to 1989, Wales played their home games at the grounds of Cardiff City, Swansea City and Wrexham, but then came to an agreement with the WRU to use Cardiff Arms Park and, subsequently, the Millennium Stadium. With the opening of the Cardiff City Stadium in 2009, the FAW chose to stage most home friendlies there, with other friendly matches played at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea and the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham. Qualifying matches continued to be played at the 74,500-capacity Millennium Stadium until the end of 2009 when they moved to the Cardiff City Stadium.

1958 World Cup

The 1950s were a golden age for Welsh football with stars such as Ivor Allchurch, Cliff Jones, Alf Sherwood, Jack Kelsey, Trevor Ford, Ronnie Burgess, Terry Medwin and John Charles. Wales made its only World Cup finals tournament appearance in the 1958 edition in Sweden. The strong Welsh squad made their mark in Sweden, defeating Hungary in a play-off match to reach the quarter-finals against Brazil. Wales lost 1–0 with 17-year-old Pelé scoring his first international goal. The goal made Pelé the youngest World Cup goalscorer and Brazil went on to win the tournament.

2010

Gary Speed was appointed as permanent manager on 14 December 2010. Speed's first match as manager was 8 February 2011 in the inaugural Nations Cup, which the Republic of Ireland won 3–0. Speed's first competitive match was the Euro 2012 qualifier at home to England on 26 March 2011, and Speed appointed 20-year-old Aaron Ramsey captain, making him the youngest Wales captain. Wales lost to England 2–0 and in August 2011 Wales attained their lowest FIFA ranking of 117th. This was followed by a 2–1 home win against Montenegro, a 1–0 away loss to England, a 2–0 home win against Switzerland and a 1–0 away win against Bulgaria. Consequently, in October 2011, Wales had rapidly risen to 45th in the FIFA rankings. A 4–1 home win in a friendly match against Norway on 12 November 2011 proved to be Speed's last match in charge of Wales. His tenure as manager ended in tragic circumstances two weeks later when he was found dead at his home on 27 November, having apparently committed suicide.

2015

Wales were placed in Group B for qualifying for Euro 2016 alongside Andorra, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus and Israel. In July 2015, following four wins and two draws, Wales topped the group. In July 2015, having attained their then highest FIFA ranking of tenth, Wales were placed among the top seeds for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification draw. Wales were drawn in Group D with Austria, Serbia, the Republic of Ireland, Moldova and Georgia. In September 2015, England dropped to tenth in the FIFA rankings, making Wales—in the ninth position—the highest ranked British team for the first time in its history. In October 2015, Wales attained their highest ever FIFA ranking of eighth. On 10 October 2015, Wales lost 2–0 to Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, Wales' qualification for Euro 2016 was confirmed after Cyprus defeated Israel that same evening.

Euro 2016

Wales had qualified for Euro 2016 in France, their first European Championship tournament, and were drawn into Group B with Slovakia, Russia and England. On their Euro debut, on June 11th against Slovakia, Gareth Bale scored direct from a free-kick to give Wales a 1–0 lead, and Hal Robson-Kanu scored the winner in a 2–1 victory that put them top of the group. In their second match, against England, Wales led 1–0 at half-time through another Bale free-kick, but lost 2–1. Against Russia, Aaron Ramsey, Neil Taylor and Bale scored in a 3–0 win that made them win the group. In their round of 16 match, Wales played Northern Ireland and won 1–0 after Bale's cross was put in as an own goal by Gareth McAuley. In the quarter-final against Belgium, Wales—the last remaining British team—went behind to a long-range effort from Radja Nainggolan, but captain Ashley Williams headed an equaliser before Hal Robson-Kanu and Sam Vokes confirmed a 3–1 victory for Wales. This victory advanced Wales to their first major tournament semi-final and also made them the first British nation to advance to the semi-finals of a major tournament since England did so at Euro 1996 as hosts. Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani saw Portugal claim a 2–0 win in the semis. Wales were welcomed back home on 8 July with an open-top bus parade around Cardiff due to this magnificant acheviment.

Current Manager and Squad

The current manager is the magnificant ex Wales and Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs. Ryan has bred through talented Welsh youngsters into the current squad and with the correct mix has created and molded a fantastic Weslh team.