sport.wikisort.org - Team

Wales Under-21

Nickname(s)	Young Dragons
Association	Football Association of Wales
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Matt Jones
Most caps	Shaun MacDonald (25)
Top scorer	Ched Evans (13)
FIFA code	WAL
First colours Second colours
First international
England 0–0 Wales  (Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton; 15 December 1976)
Biggest win
Gibraltar 0–7 Wales  (Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar; 12 November 2021)
Biggest defeat
Italy 8–1 Wales  (Stadio Pietro Fortunati, Pavia; 5 September 2003)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	None (first in n/a)
Best result	1st of 5 in qual. group, 2009. Lost in play off.

The Wales national under-21 football team, also known as the Wales U21s, is the national under-21 football team of Wales and is controlled by the Football Association of Wales. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years. To date Wales haven't yet qualified for the finals tournament but in recent years have shown good form, losing in a playoff (5–4) to England in the 2009 qualifying campaign and finishing second in their group two years later, after leading their group until their last game Wales only needed a draw to qualify for the play-offs but lost 1–0 away to Italy.

The under-21 team came into existence following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976. A goalless draw in a friendly against England at Wolverhampton Wanderers' Molineux Stadium was Wales U21s' first result.

The national under-21 team is the highest level of youth football in Wales, and is open to any players who were born in Wales or whose parents or grandparents were born in Wales. This team is for Welsh players aged 21 or under at the start of a two-year European Under-21 Football Championship campaign, so players can be, and often are, up to 23 years old. Also in existence are teams for Under-20s (for non-UEFA tournaments), Under-19s and Under 17s. As long as they are eligible, players can play at any level, making it possible to play for the U21s, senior side and again for the U21s.

Recent history

Historically the team was viewed by the Welsh national management as a hole to be filled rather than a team to be used to nurture young international players. Many of the great Welsh players spent little time in the under-21 team. Ryan Giggs only made one appearance for the under-21 team before making his senior debut against Germany the next day.

From 2004 onward however, the former Wales national football team manager John Toshack and former Wales Under 21 manager Brian Flynn used the under-21 team to create a pool of youthful Welsh talent. The team now has a much better tracking system of young Welsh players, and has seen a marked improvement in players and team results. Recent results have seen them achieve big wins against Estonia (5–1), Northern Ireland (4–0) and France (4–2).

Players who have made the step from the U21s to attain over 50 caps for the senior squad are Gary Speed, Simon Davies, Carl Robinson, Craig Bellamy, Robert Earnshaw, James Collins, John Hartson, Andy King, Joe Ledley, Sam Vokes, Wayne Hennessey, Chris Gunter, Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen.

On 15 May 2008, they played a friendly against England U21s to mark the 100th match in the history of the side, losing 2–0.

A 3–0 victory against Romania in September 2008 meant that the Under-21 side finished top of their qualifying group for the first time in their history. It meant Wales would go into a two-legged play-off against England in October 2008 for a place in the finals of the 2009 UEFA Under-21 Championship to be played in Sweden. Wales lost the playoff 5–4 over the course of two legs. Losing 3–2 at home in the first leg and drawing 2–2 away in the second.

Wales started their qualifying campaign for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship with a 1–0 away win against Andorra, a 3–1 away loss against Montenegro, a 1–0 home win against Montenegro, a 1–0 home defeat against Czech Republic and a 0–0 away draw against Armenia.

In May 2012 Brian Flynn vacated his position as Wales under-21 manager at the end of his contract and in July 2012 Geraint Williams was appointed team manager [1] Williams resigned as team manager on 5 December 2016. On 15 March 2017 it was announced that former Port Vale and Northampton Town manager Rob Page had left his position on the coaching staff at Nottingham Forest to become Wales under-21 manager. In August 2019 Page was appointed assistant coach to the senior Wales squad under Ryan Giggs with Paul Bodin stepping up from the Under 19's to manage the Under 21 team.[2]

In November 2021, Wales picked up their biggest ever win at under-21 level when they beat Gibraltar 7–0 in a qualifier for the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.[3] In July 2022 Bodin's contract with Wales Under-21 was terminated by mutual consent.[4] In September 2022, Matt Jones was appointed as manager.[5]

Players

Latest squad

Players born on or after 1 January 2002 are eligible for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Wales squad for the friendly match against Austria on 27 September 2022.[6]

Caps and goals as of 14 June 2022. Players in bold have attained full international caps. Clubs as of the date of the announcement.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Cian Tyler	(2002-03-22) 22 March 2002 (age 20)	0	0	Hereford (on loan from Coventry City)
	1GK	David Robson	(2002-01-22) 22 January 2002 (age 20)	0	0	Crawley Town (on loan from Hull City)
	1GK	Ed Beach	(2003-11-14) 14 November 2003 (age 18)	0	0	Chelsea
	1GK	Evan Watts	(2004-09-23) 23 September 2004 (age 18)	0	0	Swansea City
	2DF	Fin Stevens	(2003-04-10) 10 April 2003 (age 19)	9	0	Swansea City (on loan from Brentford)
	2DF	Owen Bevan	(2003-10-26) 26 October 2003 (age 19)	0	0	Yeovil Town (on loan from Bournemouth)
	2DF	Matt Baker	(2003-02-06) 6 February 2003 (age 19)	0	0	Stoke City
	2DF	Owen Beck	(2002-08-09) 9 August 2002 (age 20)	7	1	Bolton Wanderers (on loan from Liverpool)
	2DF	Iestyn Hughes	(2002-10-31) 31 October 2002 (age 20)	0	0	Leicester City
	2DF	Luca Hoole	(2002-06-02) 2 June 2002 (age 20)	1	0	Bristol Rovers
	2DF	Zac Ashworth	(2002-09-06) 6 September 2002 (age 20)	1	0	West Bromwich Albion
	2DF	Jay Williams	(2003-02-26) 26 February 2003 (age 19)	0	0	Fulham
	3MF	Oli Hammond	(2002-11-13) 13 November 2002 (age 19)	3	1	Nottingham Forest
	3MF	Tom Sparrow	(2003-02-03) 3 February 2003 (age 19)	1	0	Stoke City
	3MF	Eli King	(2002-12-23) 23 December 2002 (age 19)	5	0	Crewe Alexandra (on loan from Cardiff City)
	3MF	Oli Ewing	(2003-01-03) 3 January 2003 (age 19)	0	0	Leicester City
	3MF	Charlie Savage	(2003-05-02) 2 May 2003 (age 19)	0	0	Manchester United
	3MF	Ryan Howley	(2003-11-23) 23 November 2003 (age 18)	0	0	Coventry City
	3MF	Jadan Raymond	(2003-10-15) 15 October 2003 (age 19)	0	0	Crystal Palace
	3MF	James Lannin-Sweet	(2003-11-03) 3 November 2003 (age 19)	0	0	Arsenal
	3MF	Ed Turns	(2002-10-18) 18 October 2002 (age 20)	1	0	Brighton & Hove Albion
	3MF	Dan Malone	(2002-05-09) 9 May 2002 (age 20)	0	0	Altrincham (on loan from Stoke City)
	4FW	Pat Jones	(2003-06-09) 9 June 2003 (age 19)	2	0	Huddersfield Town
	4FW	Josh Farrell	(2003-06-27) 27 June 2003 (age 19)	0	0	Juventud de Torremolinos (on loan from Granada)
	4FW	Josh Thomas	(2002-09-24) 24 September 2002 (age 20)	0	0	Swansea City
	4FW	Joe Taylor	(2002-11-18) 18 November 2002 (age 19)	0	0	Peterborough United

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Wales under-21 squad and remain eligible. Players in bold have caps for the senior team.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
DF	Oliver Denham	(2002-05-04) 4 May 2002 (age 20)	0	0	Cardiff City	v.  Austria, 27 September 2022INJ
MF	Jordan James	(2004-07-02) 2 July 2004 (age 18)	0	0	Birmingham City	v.  Austria, 27 September 2022SEN
MF	Rubin Colwill	(2002-04-27) 27 April 2002 (age 20)	1	0	Cardiff City	v.  Republic of Ireland, 25 March 2021
FW	Chris Popov	(2004-10-26) 26 October 2004 (age 18)	3	0	Leicester City	v.  Gibraltar, 14 June 2022

Key

• ^SUS = Suspended for next match.
• ^SEN = Called up to senior squad.
• ^INJ = Withdrew from the squad due to injury.
• ^WD = Withdrew from the squad for non injury issue.

See also

• UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship
• Football Association of Wales
• Wales national football team
• Wales national under-20 football team
• Wales national under-19 football team
• Wales national under-18 football team
• Wales national under-17 football team

References

External links

• UEFA Under-21 website Contains full results archive.
• The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Contains full record of U21/U23 Championships.
• FAW official site Contains fixtures/results and news for every Welsh national football team.

На других языках

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- [en] Wales national under-21 football team

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[ru] Сборная Уэльса по футболу (до 21 года)

Сборная Уэльса по футболу до 21 года (англ. Wales national under-21 football team) представляет Уэльс на молодёжных турнирах сборных. Ни разу не выходила на чемпионат Европы. Была близка к попаданию на Евро-2009, но в стыковых матчах валлийцы проиграли англичанам с общим счётом 5:4.

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