Wales national football team results (1946–1959)

Wales national football team results

1876–1899 1900–1914 1920–1939 1946–1959 1960–1979 1980–1999 2000–2019 2020–present unofficial matches

unofficial matches

The Wales national football team represents Wales in international association football and is governed by the Football Association of Wales (FAW).

Matches played

Between 1946 and 1959 the side played 64 matches. Although the majority of these came against the other national teams of the Home Nations in the British Home Championship, Wales also began playing teams from further afield on a regular basis for the first time. Their first competitive fixture following the end of the conflict was a 3–1 victory over Scotland in October 1946.

In 1949, Wales undertook their first European tour in which they played matches against Portugal, Belgium and Switzerland. Although Wales lost all three games, they won the reverse fixtures when all three nations travelled to Wales within the next two years. During the 1951–52 British Home Championship, Wales recorded their highest finish in the British Home Championship during the period by sharing the title with England.

The side also entered the FIFA World Cup for the first time in the 1950 tournament, but failed to qualify for either this or the following competition in which the Home Championship was used to determine the Home Nations qualifiers. The 1958 FIFA World Cup used a randomly drawn qualifying group and, although Wales finished second behind Czechoslovakia, they qualified winning a play-off match against Israel. In the tournament itself, Wales drew all three of their group matches and finished tied on points with Hungary. The two sides took part in a play-off match to determine who would advance to the quarter-final, which Wales won 2–1. Wales were defeated 1–0 by Brazil in the quarter-final. The 1958 tournament remains the only time Wales have qualified for a World Cup as of 2020.

Of the 64 matches Wales played during this period, they won 18. They recorded the most wins over Northern Ireland and their precursors Ireland, winning 5 of the 13 fixtures between the two. They also defeated Scotland three times, Israel and Portugal twice and had single victories over six other teams. They drew 14 ties and lost the remaining 32. Wales suffered the most defeats against England, losing 10 of the 14 fixtures between the two sides.

Results

Wales' score is shown first in each case. The colours listed below are also used to signify results combined with the scoreline.

Key
Colour (with score)	Meaning
	Defeat
	Draw
	Win

Wales national football team results 1946–1959
Match no.	Date	Venue	H/A/N	Opponents	Score	Competition	Wales scorers	Att.
171	19 October 1946	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham	H	Scotland	3–1	1946–47 British Home Championship	Bryn Jones, Trevor Ford, Jimmy Stephen (og)	29,568
172	13 November 1946	Maine Road, Manchester	A	England	0–3	1946–47 British Home Championship		59,250
173	9 March 1947	Windsor Park, Belfast	A	Ireland	1–2	1946–47 British Home Championship	Trevor Ford	43,000
174	18 October 1947	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	England	0–3	1947–48 British Home Championship		55,000
175	12 November 1947	Hampden Park, Glasgow	A	Scotland	2–1	1947–48 British Home Championship	Trevor Ford, George Lowrie	88,000
176	10 March 1948	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham	H	Ireland	2–0	1947–48 British Home Championship	George Lowrie, George Edwards	32,310
177	23 October 1948	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	Scotland	1–3	1948–49 British Home Championship	Bryn Jones	59,911
178	10 November 1948	Villa Park, Birmingham	A	England	0–1	1948–49 British Home Championship		68,750
179	10 March 1949	Windsor Park, Belfast	A	Ireland	2–0	1948–49 British Home Championship	George Edwards, Trevor Ford	22,800
180	15 May 1949	Estádio Nacional, Lisbon	A	Portugal	2–3	Friendly	Trevor Ford (2)	51,000
181	23 May 1949	Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège	A	Belgium	1–3	Friendly	Trevor Ford	19,079
182	26 May 1949	Wankdorf Stadium, Bern	A	Switzerland	0–4	Friendly		18,000
183	15 October 1949	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	England	1–4	1949–50 British Home Championship	Mal Griffiths	61,000
184	9 November 1949	Hampden Park, Glasgow	A	Scotland	0–2	1949–50 British Home Championship		73,782
185	23 November 1949	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	Belgium	5–1	Friendly	Trevor Ford (3), Roy Paul, Roy Clarke	27,988
186	8 March 1950	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham	H	Ireland	0–0	1949–50 British Home Championship		30,000
187	21 October 1950	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	Scotland	1–3	1950–51 British Home Championship	Aubrey Powell	60,000
188	15 November 1950	Roker Park, Sunderland	A	England	2–4	1950–51 British Home Championship	Trevor Ford (2)	50,250
189	7 March 1951	Windsor Park, Belfast	A	Ireland	2–1	1950–51 British Home Championship	Roy Clarke (2)	12,000
190	12 May 1951	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	Portugal	2–1	Friendly	Trevor Ford, Mal Griffiths	51,000
191	16 May 1951	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham	H	Switzerland	3–2	Friendly	Trevor Ford (2), Ron Burgess	18,500
192	20 October 1951	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	England	1–1	1951–52 British Home Championship	Billy Foulkes	51,500
193	14 November 1951	Hampden Park, Glasgow	A	Scotland	1–0	1951–52 British Home Championship	Ivor Allchurch	50,250
194	19 March 1952	Vetch Field, Swansea	H	Ireland	3–0	1951–52 British Home Championship	Walley Barnes, Ivor Allchurch, Roy Clarke	30,000
195	18 October 1952	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	Scotland	1–2	1952–53 British Home Championship	Trevor Ford	60,261
196	12 November 1952	Wembley Stadium, London	A	England	2–5	1952–53 British Home Championship	Trevor Ford (2)	93,500
197	15 April 1953	Windsor Park, Belfast	A	Ireland	3–2	1952–53 British Home Championship	John Charles (2), Trevor Ford	33,000
198	14 May 1953	Parc des Princes, Paris	A	France	1–6	Friendly	Ivor Allchurch	33,020
199	21 May 1953	JNA Stadium, Belgrade	A	Yugoslavia	2–5	Friendly	Trevor Ford (2)	50,000
200	10 October 1953	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	England	1–4	1953–54 British Home Championship	Ivor Allchurch	61,000
201	4 November 1953	Hampden Park, Glasgow	A	Scotland	3–3	1953–54 British Home Championship	John Charles (2), Ivor Allchurch	71,378
202	31 March 1954	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham	H	Northern Ireland	1–2	1953–54 British Home Championship	John Charles	32,817
203	9 May 1954	Praterstadion, Vienna	A	Austria	0–2	Friendly		58,000
204	22 September 1954	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	Yugoslavia	1–3	Friendly	Ivor Allchurch	20,000
205	16 October 1954	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	Scotland	0–1	1954–55 British Home Championship		53,000
206	10 November 1954	Wembley Stadium, London	A	England	2–3	1954–55 British Home Championship	John Charles (2)	89,789
207	20 April 1955	Windsor Park, Belfast	A	Northern Ireland	3–2	1954–55 British Home Championship	John Charles (3)	28,000
208	22 October 1955	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	England	2–1	1955–56 British Home Championship	Derek Tapscott, Cliff Jones	60,000
209	9 November 1955	Hampden Park, Glasgow	A	Scotland	0–2	1955–56 British Home Championship		53,887
210	23 November 1955	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham	H	Austria	1–2	Friendly	Derek Tapscott	39,000
211	11 April 1956	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	Northern Ireland	1–1	1955–56 British Home Championship	Roy Clarke	37,510
212	20 October 1956	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	Scotland	2–2	1956–57 British Home Championship	Trevor Ford, Terry Medwin	60,000
213	14 November 1956	Wembley Stadium, London	A	England	1–3	1956–57 British Home Championship	John Charles	93,796
214	10 April 1957	Windsor Park, Belfast	A	Northern Ireland	0–0	1956–57 British Home Championship		30,000
215	1 May 1957	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	Czechoslovakia	1–0	1958 FIFA World Cup Qualification	Roy Vernon	33,320
216	19 May 1957	Zentralstadion, Leipzig	A	East Germany	1–2	1958 FIFA World Cup Qualification	Mel Charles	100,000
217	26 May 1957	Stadion Letná, Prague	A	Czechoslovakia	0–2	1958 FIFA World Cup Qualification		45,000
218	25 September 1957	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	East Germany	4–1	1958 FIFA World Cup Qualification	Des Palmer (3), Cliff Jones	16,098
219	19 October 1957	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	England	0–4	1957–58 British Home Championship		58,000
220	13 November 1957	Hampden Park, Glasgow	A	Scotland	1–1	1957–58 British Home Championship	Terry Medwin	42,918
221	15 January 1958	Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan	A	Israel	2–0	1958 FIFA World Cup Play-Off	Len Allchurch, Dave Bowen	55,000
222	5 February 1958	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	Israel	2–0	1958 FIFA World Cup Play-Off	Ivor Allchurch, Cliff Jones	38,000
223	16 April 1958	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	Northern Ireland	1–1	1957–58 British Home Championship	Ron Hewitt	25,667
224	8 June 1958	Jernvallen, Sandviken	N	Hungary	1–1	1958 FIFA World Cup	John Charles	20,000
225	11 June 1958	Råsunda Stadium, Solna	N	Mexico	1–1	1958 FIFA World Cup	Ivor Allchurch	25,000
226	15 June 1958	Råsunda Stadium, Solna	A	Sweden	0–0	1958 FIFA World Cup		35,000
227	17 June 1958	Råsunda Stadium, Solna	N	Hungary	2–1	1958 FIFA World Cup	Ivor Allchurch, Terry Medwin	20,000
228	19 June 1958	Råsunda Stadium, Solna	N	Brazil	0–1	1958 FIFA World Cup		25,000
229	18 October 1958	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	Scotland	0–3	1958–59 British Home Championship		59,162
230	26 November 1958	Villa Park, Birmingham	A	England	2–2	1958–59 British Home Championship	Derek Tapscott, Ivor Allchurch	40,500
231	22 April 1959	Windsor Park, Belfast	A	Northern Ireland	1–4	1958–59 British Home Championship	Derek Tapscott	45,000
232	17 October 1959	Ninian Park, Cardiff	H	England	1–1	1959–60 British Home Championship	Graham Moore	60,000
233	4 November 1959	Hampden Park, Glasgow	A	Scotland	1–1	1959–60 British Home Championship	John Charles	55,813

Head to head records

Head to head records
Opponent	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	W%	D%	L%
Austria	2	0	0	2	1	4	0	0	100
Belgium	2	1	0	1	6	4	50	0	50
Brazil	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	100
Czechoslovakia	2	1	0	1	1	2	50	0	50
East Germany	2	1	0	1	5	3	50	0	50
England	14	1	3	10	13	39	7	21	71
France	1	0	0	1	1	6	0	0	100
Hungary	2	1	1	0	3	1	50	50	0
Ireland	4	1	1	2	3	4	25	25	50
Israel	2	2	0	0	4	0	100	0	0
Mexico	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	100	0
Northern Ireland	9	4	3	2	15	13	44	33	22
Portugal	3	2	0	1	4	4	67	0	33
Scotland	14	3	4	7	16	25	21	29	50
Sweden	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	100	0
Switzerland	2	1	0	1	3	6	50	0	50
Yugoslavia	2	0	0	2	2	8	0	0	100
Totals	64	18	14	32	78	121	28.13	21.88	50

Notes

The team referred to as Ireland which competed in the Home Championship represented the Belfast-based Irish Football Association (IFA). Following the partition of Ireland, both that body and the Dublin-based Football Association of Ireland (FAI) contended that their respective national teams represented the entirety of Ireland. FIFA ruled in 1953 that neither team could be referred to simply as "Ireland".
Table information sourced from the references listed in the statistics section below.
Due to the unavailability of exact figures, some attendance numbers are given as recorded estimates.
The 1949–50 British Home Championship was also used to determine which of the Home Nations would qualify for the 1950 FIFA World Cup.
The 1953–54 British Home Championship was also used to determine which of the Home Nations would qualify for the 1954 FIFA World Cup.

References

Statistics

Nygård, Jostein. "Wales – International Results". RSSSF. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
"Welsh International Matches". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
Tossani, Gabriele. "Scotland – International Results". RSSSF. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
Oliver, Guy (1992). The Guinness Record of World Soccer. London: Guinness World Records Ltd. pp. 561–562. ISBN 978-0-85112-954-9.

Bibliography

Stead, Phil (2013). Red Dragons – The Story of Welsh Football. Ceredigion: Y Lolfa. ISBN 978-1-84771-468-8.

Footnotes

^ Nygård, Jostein. "International matches of Wales". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
Stead 2013, pp. 143–144
Reyes, Macario; Morrison, Neil. "British Home Championship 1947–1966". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 28 December 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
^ Stead 2013, p. 146
Stead 2013, pp. 165–166
"Three U.K. Teams in World Cup Play-offs". The Times. 16 June 1958. p. 3. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
Stead 2013, pp. 169–171
"FAI History chapter 6 – FIFA rules on Irish issue". Football Association of Ireland. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
"Wales national football team: record v Ireland". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
"Wales national football team: record v England". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
Reyes, Macario; Morrison, Neil. "British Home Championship 1947–1966". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 5 December 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2020.

v t e Wales national football team
General	Football Association of Wales History 1876–1976 1977–present Managers Welsh Football Trust Dragon Park, Wales National Football Development Centre
Venues	Home venues Cardiff City Stadium Aberdare Athletic Ground Anfield Millennium Stadium Ninian Park Old Racecourse Ground Parc y Scarlets Penrhyn Park Racecourse Ground St. Helen's Swansea.com Stadium The Arms Park The National Stadium The Oval Vetch Field
Statistics	Results and fixtures Records European Championship record World Cup record Hat-tricks
Results	1876–1899 1900–1914 1920–1939 1946–1959 1960–1979 1980–1999 2000–2019 2020–present Unofficial matches Matches v Home Nations
Players	25+ caps World Cup & Euro Championship squads Born outside Wales Other categories
Goals	Gareth Bale Ian Rush
World Cup	1958 2022
European Championship	2016 2020
Other tournaments	British Home Championship (1884–1984) 2011 Nations Cup
Notable matches	First international match (Scotland v Wales) (1876) 1958 World Cup play-off (1958) 1986 World Cup qualifier (death of Jock Stein) (1985)
Culture	The Barry Horns When Pelé Broke Our Hearts "Together Stronger (C'mon Wales)" Wales bucket hat
Other FAW teams	Men Amateur (defunct) Under-21 Under-20 Under-19 Under-18 Under-17 Semi-Pro Women Under-19 Under-17

v t e Men's national football team results (UEFA)
Albania	1946–1969 1970–1999 2000–2019 2020–present
Andorra	1996–2019 2020–present
Armenia	1992–1999 2000–2009 2010–2019 2020–present
Austria	1902–1929 1930–1959 1960–1979 1980–1999 2000–2019 2020–present
Azerbaijan	1992–1999 2000–2009 2010–2019 2020–present
Belarus	1992–2009 2010–present
Belgium	Full list 1904–1919 1980–1989 1990–1999 2000–2009 2010–2019 2020–present
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1995–2019 2020–present
Bulgaria	1990–1999 2000–2019 2020–present
Croatia	1940–1991 1992–1999 2000–2009 2010–2019 2020–present
Cyprus	1960–1969 1990–2009 2010–2019 2020–present
Czech Republic	1994–2019 2020–present
Czechoslovakia	1920–1938
Denmark	Full list 1908–1929 1930–1949 1950–1959 1960–1969 1970–1979 1980–1989 1990–1999 2000–2009 2010–2019 2020–present
East Germany	Full list
England	1872–1899 1900–1929 1930–1959 1960–1979 1980–1999 2000–2019 2020–present
England amateurs	1906–1939
Estonia	1920–1940 1991–2009 2010–2019 2020–present
Faroe Islands	1988–2019 2020–present
Finland	2000–2019 2020–present
France	1904–1920 1921–1959 1960–1979 1980–1999 2000–2019 2020–present
Georgia	1990–2019 2020–present
Germany	1908–1929 1930–1942 1950–1990 (West Germany) 1990–1999 2000–2019 2020–present
Gibraltar	Full list
Greece	1929–1959 1960–1979 1980–1999 2000–2019 2020–present
Hungary	1902–1929 1930–1949 1950–1969 1970–1989 1990–1999 2000–2009 2010–2019 2020–present
Iceland	1940–1959 2000–2019 2020–present
Israel	1934–1959 1960–1989 1990–2019 2020–present
Italy	1910–1929 1930–1949 1950–1969 1970–1989 1990–2009 2010–present
Kazakhstan	Full list
Kosovo	1942–1975 1993–2019 2020–present
Latvia	1991–2019 2020–present
Liechtenstein	1981–2019 2020–present
Lithuania	Full list
Luxembourg	1910–1959 1960–1979 1980–1999 2000–2019 2020–present
Malta	1957–1979 1980–1999 2000–2019 2020–present
Moldova	1991–1999 2000–2009 2010–2019 2020–present
Montenegro	Full list
Netherlands	Full list 1905–1919 1920–1939 1980–1999 2000–2009 2010–2019 2020–present
North Macedonia	1993–2018 2019–present
Northern Ireland	1882–1899 1900–1929 1930–1959 1960–1979 1980–1999 2000–2019 2020–present
Norway	1908–1929 1930–1959 1980–1999 2000–2019 2020–present
Poland	Full list 1921–1939 2000–2019 2020–present
Portugal	1921–1939 1940–1959 1960–1979 1980–1999 2000–2019 2020–present
Republic of Ireland	Full list 1924–1935 1936–1954 1954–1959 1960–1979 1980–1989 1990–1999 2000–2009 2010–2019 2020–present
Romania	1922–1939 1940–1959 1960–1979 1980–1999 2000–2019 2020–present
Russia	1992–2019 2020–present
San Marino	Full list
Scotland	1872–1914 1920–1939 1940–1959 1960–1979 1980–1999 2000–2019 2020–present
Serbia	Full list 1945 2006–2009 2010–2019 2020–present
Serbia and Montenegro	Full list
Slovakia	Full list
Slovenia	1992–2019 2020–present
Spain	Full list 1920–39 1940–59 1960–79 1980–89 1990–99 2000–09 2010–19 2020–present
Sweden	1908–1919 1980–1989 1990–1999 2000–2009 2010–2019 2020–present
Switzerland	2010–2019 2020–present
Turkey	1923–1960 1961–1980 1981–1999 2000–2009 2010–2019 2020–present
Ukraine	1992–2009 2010–2019 2020–present
Wales	1876–1899 1900–1914 1914–1919 1920–1939 1939–1945 1946–1959 1960–1979 1980–1999 2000–2019 2020–present
Yugoslavia	1920–1941 1946–1969 1970–1992
Italic text represent teams that are now defunct

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