Wales at the UEFA European Championship
Wales began their campaign against Scotland at Ninian Park on 22 October 1966, but only managed a draw; Ron Davies opened the scoring in the 77th minute, only for Denis Law to equalise in the 86th.Two weeks later, Gil Reece and Leighton James again gave Wales a 2–0 first-half lead away to Luxembourg, only for Paul Philipp to pull a goal back for the home side with a penalty six minutes before half-time; however, James scored with another penalty in the 83rd minute to confirm a 3–1 win for Wales and set up a winner-takes-all match against Austria at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham on the final matchday.Josip Katalinski then gave Yugoslavia a 1–0 lead with a penalty in the 19th minute of the second leg at Ninian Park to essentially put the tie out of Wales' reach.Despite being ordered by UEFA to play all their home matches at least 200 miles (320 km) from Cardiff due to crowd trouble in the quarter-final against Yugoslavia in 1976,[1] they took an early lead in the group with victories over Malta (7–0) and Turkey (1–0) at the Racecourse Ground in October and November 1978.Qualifying for UEFA Euro 1988 again followed the same process as the last two tournaments, with the 32 participating teams drawn into seven groups, and the winners joining hosts West Germany in the finals.The same qualification process was followed for a fourth tournament in a row for UEFA Euro 1992, with 34 teams drawn into seven groups, the winners of which would join hosts Sweden in the finals.Wales were again seeded in the fourth of the five draw pots, and were assigned to Group 9 with Italy, FR Yugoslavia (renamed Serbia and Montenegro in February 2003), Finland and Azerbaijan.[4] It was later revealed that Russia midfielder Yegor Titov had tested positive for the banned substance bromantane after the first leg, for which he had been an unused substitute, and was given a one-year suspension from football.In qualifying for Euro 2016, Wales were placed in the fourth of six seeding pots, along with Montenegro, Armenia, Scotland, Finland, Latvia, Bulgaria, Estonia and Belarus.Goals from David Cotterill and Hal Robson-Kanu gave them the lead, only for Cyprus to pull one back; however, Wales were able to hang on for the win despite Andy King being sent off early in the second half.[33] Despite the defeat, the nation celebrated and a 2–0 win over Andorra three days later, with goals from Ramsey and Bale, was followed by a party atmosphere at the Cardiff City Stadium.[43] Combined with England's goalless draw with Slovakia, the result meant Wales finished as group winners, and would play against Northern Ireland in the round of 16.The match was played in Paris on 25 June, with Wales winning 1–0 thanks to an own goal from Northern Ireland defender Gareth McAuley as he attempted to clear a low cross from Bale.Then, with less than five minutes to play, Sam Vokes headed home a cross from Chris Gunter to make it 3–1 to Wales and send them into their first ever semi-final of a major tournament.[48] However, they were unable to get over the last hurdle and reach the final, losing 2–0 to Portugal in Lyon on 6 July, a quick-fire double from Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani proving the difference between the two sides.[59] Three days later, Wales hosted Croatia and went behind to an early goal from Nikola Vlašić; Bale equalised in the third minute of first-half stoppage time, but the second half went goalless and the match finished 1–1.Mario Gavranović had the ball in the back of the net for Switzerland late on, but the goal was ruled out by the video assistant referee (VAR), in use for the first time at a European Championship, and the match finished 1–1.Aaron Ramsey gave Wales the lead just before half-time, when he beat the offside trap to collect a lobbed pass from Bale before rolling the ball past goalkeeper Uğurcan Çakır.[72] The win put Wales in second place in the group, and their advantage of three points and five goals over third-placed Switzerland meant they could afford a loss to Italy in the third match and still qualify.[73] Italy were unbeaten in their last 29 games ahead of their meeting with Wales and had scored three goals in each of their first two matches at Euro 2020, having never previously done so at a European Championship,[74] and took the lead just over five minutes before half-time, when Matteo Pessina turned home a free kick from Marco Verratti.Wales midfielder Ethan Ampadu was sent off for a foul on Federico Bernardeschi 10 minutes into the second half, but Italy were unable to make the numerical advantage count and the game finished 1–0.[81] Round of 16 Having reached the knockout stage of the last two European Championships, Wales were seeded in pot 2 for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying draw, along with France, Austria, the Czech Republic, England, Israel, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Scotland and Finland.[85] In June 2023, Wales first faced Armenia in Cardiff and took an early lead through Daniel James; however, Lucas Zelarayán volleyed in an equaliser shortly afterwards, before Grant-Leon Ranos headed the visitors in front on the half-hour mark.Armenia's surprise 1–1 draw with Turkey on 8 September meant a win for Wales would pull them to within three points of the automatic qualification spots, and Aaron Ramsey put them 1–0 up with a penalty just before the half-hour mark.Both sides had chances after that, but victory was secured in the sixth minute of second-half injury time, when David Brooks chipped the ball over an onrushing Roberts Ozols.Wales levelled at the end of the first half thanks to an own goal from Nair Tiknizyan following a long throw by Connor Roberts, but they were unable to find a winner, leaving their fate out of their hands going into the final game.Neco Williams doubled their lead with a free kick in the 37th minute, but Teemu Pukki pulled a goal back for the visitors on the stroke of half-time.Brennan Johnson restored Wales's two-goal lead from a corner just after the break, and Daniel James capitalised on a defensive error to round the goalkeeper and complete the scoring in the 86th minute,[94] setting up a final against Poland, who beat Estonia 5–1 in the other semi-final.