Wales women's national football team

The Wales national women's football team (Tîm pêl-droed merched cenedlaethol Cymru) represents Wales in international football. It 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.

The team has never qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup or the UEFA European Women's Championship. They most recently came the closest they ever have to qualifying for their first ever FIFA Women's World Cup going all the way to the FIFA Women's World Cup UEFA play-off final before falling to a 2–1 defeat at the fate of an opposition last minute winner in extra time against the Switzerland women's national football team.

Apart from Gwalia United all Welsh women's football clubs play in the Welsh women's football league system. As a country of the United Kingdom, Wales is not a member of the International Olympic Committee and therefore the national team does not compete in the Olympic Games.

History
The Wales Women's National Team was established in 1973. Their debut fixture was a match against Ireland at Stebonheath Park in Llanelli. 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, 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' 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 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. They beat Bosnia, by lost in estra time against Switzerland in Zurich.

Media coverage
Live television broadcast rights are held by BBC Cymru Wales (Welsh & English language commentary) until 2027.

Colours and logo
The primary kit has long been all-red. The crest of the Football Association of Wales features a rampant Welsh Dragon 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.

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

Manager history

 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Sylvia Gore (1979–1989)
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Sue Lopez (1995–1996)
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Roy Thomas (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–)

Current squad

 * The following players were called up for the UEFA Euro 2025 qualifying matches against Croatia and Kosovo and were played on 12 and 16 July 2024, respectively. The former tie was played at the Stadion Branko Čavlović-Čavlek in Karlovac, Croatia, while the latter tie was played at Parc y Scarlets stadium in Llanelli, Wales.

These last two winning matches meant that Wales finished top of Group 4 UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying as a seeded team for the play-offs UEFA Euro 2025 qualifying. the Play off draw was made in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday 19 July 2024 at 13:00 CET and were drawn against Slovakia. The first leg will be played in Slovakia (stadium to be confirmed) on 25 October 2024 with the second leg four days later at the Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff on 29 October 2024.

Wales have also gained promotion for the upcoming 2025–26 UEFA Women's Nations League.


 * All caps and goals as of 16 July 2024, after the match against Kosovo, played at the Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli, Wales.

Recent call-ups

 * The following players have been called up for a Wales squad in the last 12 months.
 * This information may be incomplete or incorrect.


 * Notes:
 * PRE = Preliminary squad

Captains

 * Jayne Ludlow (−2012)
 * Jess Fishlock (2012–2015)
 * Sophie Ingle (2015–2024)
 * Jess Fishlock (2024)
 * Hayley Ladd (2024)
 * Ceri Holland (2024)
 * Angharad James (2024)

Records

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

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.

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 : Group Stage

Algarve Cup
The Algarve Cup is a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's soccer hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious women's football events, alongside the Women's World Cup and Women's Olympic Football.