List of Wales international footballers
The Wales national football team has represented Wales in international association football since 1876, making it the third oldest international football team. They played their first official match on 25 March 1876,[1] four years after England and Scotland played the first ever international football match. They are governed by the Football Association of Wales and compete as a member of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which encompasses the countries of Europe and Israel. As of October 2018, Wales have played 648 international matches since their debut, winning 201, drawing 141 and losing 306.[2] They have played over 100 fixtures against England and Scotland,[3] regularly competing against both in the British Home Championship between 1884 and 1984, winning the competition on twelve occasions. In global and continental competitions, Wales have been less successful having qualified for one FIFA World Cup in 1958 and one UEFA European Championship in 2016 in their history, reaching the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively.[4]
Despite their long history, Wales are the only side from the Home Nations without a player that has won 100 caps.[5] Goalkeeper Neville Southall is Wales' most capped player of all-time, winning 92 caps in a fifteen-year international career between 1985 and 1997.[6] Defender Chris Gunter is the most capped outfield player of all-time,[7] having made his debut in 2007, he is still active and has accumulated 90 caps as of October 2018. Players who reach 50 appearances for Wales are awarded a golden cap.[5] Gareth Bale holds the record for the most goals scored for Wales having scored 30 goals as of October 2018, overtaking Ian Rush's record in March 2018.[8]
Billy Meredith was the first Welsh player to reach 25 caps and went on to accumulate 48 caps in his career and score eleven goals,[9] both Welsh records at the time.[10] His appearance record stood for 42 years until it was beaten by Ivor Allchurch in 1962,[11] who finished his career with 68 caps.[12] Defender Joey Jones set a new record in the 1980s, amassing 72 caps,[13] before his record was overtaken by Peter Nicholas in 1991 by a single cap. On 23 May 1994, the current record holder Neville Southall played in a 2–1 victory over Estonia to earn his 74th cap and overtake Nicholas,[14] eventually gaining 92 caps before retiring.[6] As of October 2018, 94 players have gained 25 caps or more for Wales.
List of players
Appearances and goals are composed of FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Football Championship and each competition's required qualification matches, as well as numerous international friendly tournaments and matches. Players are listed by number of caps. If number of caps are equal, the players are then listed alphabetically. Statistics correct as of 11 October 2018.
| Key | |
|---|---|
| Still active for the national team[lower-alpha 1] | |
| GK | Goalkeeper |
| DF | Defender |
| MF | Midfielder |
| FW | Forward |
Caps and goals sourced from:[6][15][16][17]
.jpg)
.jpg)
| # | Name | Position | National team career |
Caps | Goals | Other roles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neville Southall | GK | 1982–1997 | 92 | 0 | |
| 2 | Chris Gunter* | DF | 2007–2018 | 90 | 0 | |
| 3 | Gary Speed | MF | 1990–2004 | 85 | 7 | Manager[18] |
| 4 | Ashley Williams* | DF | 2008–2018 | 81 | 2 | |
| 5 | Wayne Hennessey* | GK | 2007–2018 | 79 | 0 | |
| 6 | Craig Bellamy | FW | 1998–2013 | 78 | 19 | |
| 7 | Joe Ledley* | MF | 2006–2018 | 77 | 4 | |
| 8 | Dean Saunders | FW | 1986–2001 | 75 | 22 | |
| 9= | Peter Nicholas | MF | 1979–1991 | 73 | 2 | |
| Ian Rush | FW | 1980–1996 | 73 | 28 | ||
| 11= | Gareth Bale* | FW | 2006–2018 | 72 | 30 | |
| Mark Hughes | FW | 1984–1999 | 72 | 16 | Manager[18] | |
| Joey Jones | DF | 1975–1986 | 72 | 1 | ||
| 14 | Ivor Allchurch | FW | 1950–1966 | 68 | 23 | |
| 15 | Brian Flynn | MF | 1974–1984 | 66 | 7 | Manager[lower-alpha 2] |
| 16 | Andy Melville | DF | 1989–2004 | 65 | 3 | |
| 17 | Ryan Giggs | MF | 1991–2007 | 64 | 12 | Manager[19] |
| 18 | David Phillips | MF | 1984–1996 | 62 | 2 | |
| 19 | Sam Vokes* | FW | 2008–2018 | 60 | 11 | |
| 20= | Barry Horne | MF | 1987–1997 | 59 | 2 | |
| Cliff Jones | MF | 1954–1969 | 59 | 16 | ||
| Kevin Ratcliffe | DF | 1980–1993 | 59 | 0 | ||
| Terry Yorath | MF | 1969–1981 | 59 | 2 | Manager[18] | |
| 24= | Simon Davies | MF | 2001–2010 | 58 | 6 | |
| Robert Earnshaw | FW | 2002–2012 | 58 | 16 | ||
| Leighton Phillips | DF | 1971–1981 | 58 | 0 | ||
| 27 | Aaron Ramsey* | MF | 2008–2018 | 56 | 14 | |
| 28= | Leighton James | MF | 1971–1988 | 54 | 10 | |
| Mark Pembridge | MF | 1991–2003 | 54 | 6 | ||
| 30= | Dai Davies | GK | 1975–1982 | 52 | 0 | |
| Sam Ricketts | DF | 2005–2014 | 52 | 0 | ||
| Carl Robinson | MF | 1999–2009 | 52 | 1 | ||
| 33= | James Collins | DF | 2004–2016 | 51 | 3 | |
| John Hartson | FW | 1995–2005 | 51 | 14 | ||
| John Mahoney | MF | 1967–1983 | 51 | 1 | ||
| Mickey Thomas | MF | 1977–1986 | 51 | 4 | ||
| 37= | Paul Jones | GK | 1997–2006 | 50 | 0 | |
| Rod Thomas | MF | 1967–1977 | 50 | 0 | ||
| 39 | Danny Gabbidon | DF | 2002–2014 | 49 | 0 | |
| 40 | Billy Meredith | FW | 1895–1920 | 48 | 11 | |
| 41 = | Robbie James | MF | 1979–1988 | 47 | 7 | |
| Andy King* | MF | 2009–2018 | 47 | 2 | ||
| 43= | Joe Allen* | MF | 2009–2018 | 44 | 2 | |
| Mike England | DF | 1962–1975 | 44 | 4 | Manager[18] | |
| Hal Robson-Kanu | FW | 2010–2017 | 44 | 5 | ||
| 46= | David Edwards | MF | 2007–2017 | 43 | 3 | |
| Stuart Williams | DF | 1954–1965 | 43 | 0 | ||
| 48= | Ben Davies* | DF | 2012–2018 | 42 | 0 | |
| David Vaughan | MF | 2003–2016 | 42 | 1 | ||
| 50= | Mark Bowen | DF | 1986–1997 | 41 | 3 | |
| Jack Kelsey | GK | 1954–1962 | 41 | 0 | ||
| Rob Page | DF | 1999–2005 | 41 | 0 | ||
| Alf Sherwood | DF | 1947–1957 | 41 | 0 | ||
| Neil Taylor* | DF | 2010–2017 | 41 | 1 | ||
| 55= | Peter Rodrigues | DF | 1965–1974 | 40 | 0 | |
| John Toshack | FW | 1969–1980 | 40 | 13 | Manager[18] | |
| 57= | Mark Aizlewood | DF | 1986–1995 | 39 | 0 | |
| Clayton Blackmore | MF | 1985–1997 | 39 | 1 | ||
| Terry Hennessey | DF | 1962–1973 | 39 | 0 | ||
| Ronnie Rees | MF | 1965–1972 | 39 | 3 | ||
| Robbie Savage | MF | 1995–2004 | 39 | 2 | ||
| 62= | John Charles | FW | 1950–1965 | 38 | 15 | |
| Simon Church | FW | 2009–2016 | 38 | 3 | ||
| Trevor Ford | FW | 1947–1957 | 38 | 23 | ||
| 65= | Gary Sprake | GK | 1964–1975 | 37 | 0 | |
| Kit Symons | DF | 1992–2004 | 37 | 2 | ||
| 67= | Mark Delaney | DF | 1999–2006 | 36 | 0 | |
| Carl Fletcher | MF | 2004–2009 | 36 | 1 | ||
| 69 | Alan Curtis | MF | 1976–1987 | 35 | 6 | |
| 70= | Wyn Davies | FW | 1964–1974 | 34 | 6 | |
| Mel Hopkins | DF | 1956–1963 | 34 | 0 | ||
| Jason Koumas | MF | 2001–2009 | 34 | 10 | ||
| Lewin Nyatanga | DF | 2006–2011 | 34 | 0 | ||
| 74= | James Chester* | DF | 2014–2018 | 33 | 0 | |
| Roy Paul | DF | 1949–1956 | 33 | 1 | ||
| 76= | Ron Burgess | MF | 1947–1954 | 32 | 1 | Manager[lower-alpha 3] |
| Chris Coleman | DF | 1992–2002 | 32 | 4 | Manager[18] | |
| Fred Keenor | DF | 1920–1932 | 32 | 2 | ||
| Roy Vernon | FW | 1957–1968 | 32 | 8 | ||
| 80= | Mel Charles | DF | 1955–1963 | 31 | 6 | |
| Kenny Jackett | MF | 1983–1988 | 31 | 0 | ||
| 82= | Barrie Hole | MF | 1963–1971 | 30 | 0 | |
| Terry Medwin | FW | 1953–1963 | 30 | 6 | ||
| John Robinson | MF | 1995–2002 | 30 | 3 | ||
| 85= | Nathan Blake | FW | 1994–2003 | 29 | 4 | |
| Andrew Crofts* | MF | 2005–2017 | 29 | 0 | ||
| Ron Davies | FW | 1964–1974 | 29 | 8 | ||
| Gil Reece | MF | 1965–1975 | 29 | 2 | ||
| 89 | Malcolm Page | DF | 1971–1979 | 28 | 0 | |
| 90= | Alan Durban | FW | 1966–1972 | 27 | 2 | |
| Billy Lewis | FW | 1885–1898 | 27 | 8 | ||
| Charlie Morris | DF | 1900–1911 | 27 | 0 | ||
| 93 | Graham Williams | DF | 1960–1968 | 26 | 1 | |
| 94 | Paul Price | DF | 1980–1984 | 25 | 1 |
See also
- List of Wales national football team World Cup and European Championship squads
- For a complete list of all Wales international footballers, see List of Wales international footballers (alphabetical)
Notes
- ↑ Players who are still active for the national team are players who have not retired from international football and are, subsequently, eligible to be called up.
- ↑ Flynn was appointed caretaker manager for two matches in 2010.[18]
- ↑ Burgess was appointed caretaker manager for a single match in 1965.[18]
References
- ↑ "Scotland v Wales, 25 March 1876". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- ↑ "Wales national football team: record v other sides". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 6 April 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- ↑ "Wales national football team statistics and records: all-time record". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 6 April 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- ↑ "Wales national football team". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 6 April 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- 1 2 Phillips, Rob (26 March 2015). "Euro 2016: Who are Gareth Bale's rivals to be Wales' first centurion?". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 4 January 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- 1 2 3 Passo Alpuin, Luis Fernando. "Wales – Record International Players". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 March 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- ↑ "Giggs seeking strength in depth after emphatic opening win". Belfast Telegraph. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- ↑ Abbandonato, Paul (22 March 2018). "Gareth Bale smashes Ian Rush's Wales goal scoring record with hat-trick in Ryan Giggs' debut game as boss". WalesOnline. Archived from the original on 6 April 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- ↑ "Billy Meredith". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 6 April 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- ↑ Carradice, Phil (13 December 2012). "Billy Meredith: football superstar". BBC Wales. Archived from the original on 14 May 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- ↑ Farmer, David; Stead, Peter (1998). Ivor Allchurch M.B.E. Swansea: Christopher Davies (Publishing) Ltd. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-7154-0733-2.
- ↑ "Ivor Allchurch". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- ↑ "Joey Jones retires from full-time role at Wrexham AFC". Daily Post. 6 July 2017. Archived from the original on 6 April 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- ↑ "Southall sets record in Welsh victory: Goals from Rush and Phillips secure win for Smith's team in Baltic friendly". The Independent. 23 May 1994. Archived from the original on 6 April 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- ↑ "Wales national football team statistics and records: appearances". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 6 April 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- ↑ "Wales Mens Squads". Football Association of Wales. Archived from the original on 1 November 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- ↑ "Post War English & Scottish Football League A – Z Player's Transfer Database". Neil Brown. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Wales' football managers". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 7 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
- ↑ "Ryan Giggs: Manchester United legend named Wales manager". BBC Sport. 15 January 2018. Archived from the original on 7 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.