Wales national football team records and statistics
Open-knowledge reference entry
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
As of 27 September 2026
Top goalscorers
As of 27 September 2026
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: Rubin Colwill – 20 years and 216 days
Oldest player to play at World Cup finals: Wayne Hennessey – 35 years and 305 days
Other
Longest serving player: Billy Meredith – 25 years (1895–1920)
Games and results
Firsts
First International: 26 March 1876 vs Scotland
First home international: 5 March 1877 vs Scotland
First win: 26 February 1881 vs England
First overseas opponent: France, 25 May 1933
First win over an overseas opponent: 23 November 1949 vs Belgium
Biggest
Biggest Win: 11–0 vs Ireland, 3 March 1888
Biggest Loss: 0–9 vs Scotland, 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 England
Youngest player to score: Gareth Bale – 17 years and 83 days, 7 October 2006 v Slovakia
Most goals scored in one game by a player: 4
John Price, 12 Feb 1882 vs Ireland
Jack Doughty, 3 Mar 1888 vs Ireland
Mel Charles, 11 Apr 1962 vs Northern Ireland
Ian Edwards, 25 October 1978 vs Malta
Hat-tricks
First hat-trick: John Price, 12 February 1882 vs Ireland
International tournaments
FIFA World Cup
Qualification
First match: 15 October 1949 vs England
First goal: Mal Griffiths vs England, 15 October 1949
Finals
First finals: Sweden 1958
Total number of times qualified for the finals: 2 (1958, 2022)
First game: 8 June 1958 vs Hungary
First goal: John Charles vs Hungary, 8 June 1958
Most successful finals: 1958 – Quarter-finals
World Cup top goalscorer: 2
Ivor Allchurch (1958)
UEFA European Championship
Finals
First finals: France 2016
Total number of times qualified for the finals: 2 (2016, 2020)
First game: 11 June 2016 vs Slovakia
First goal: Gareth Bale vs Slovakia, 11 June 2016
Most successful finals: 2016 – Semi-finals
European Championship top goalscorer: 3
Gareth Bale (2016)
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 27 September 2026
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 27 September 2026
Notes
See also
British Home Championship
References
Bibliography
Hayes, Dean P. (1994). Wales: The Complete Who's Who of Footballers Since 1946. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-3700-9.
Oliver, Guy (1992). The Guinness Record of World Soccer. Guinness. ISBN 0-85112-954-4.
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