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.
| Nickname(s) | Young Dragons (Welsh: Dreigiau Ifanc) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Football Association of Wales (FAW) | ||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Head coach | Matt Jones | ||
| Most caps | Shaun MacDonald (25) | ||
| Top scorer | Ched Evans (13) | ||
| FIFA code | WAL | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
 England 0–0 Wales  (Wolverhampton, England; 15 December 1976) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 Gibraltar 0–7 Wales (Gibraltar; 12 November 2021) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Italy 8–1 Wales (Pavia, Italy; 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 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 at the under-21 team level. 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, Joe Allen, Connor Roberts, Harry Wilson and Daniel James.
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 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying match against Lithuania in Newport and the friendly match against Morocco in Turkey on 22 and 26 March 2024 respectively.[6]
Caps and goals as of 22 March 2024. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK | Eddie Beach | 14 November 2003 | 6 | 0 | Gateshead (on loan from Chelsea) |
| 12 | GK | Evan Watts | 23 September 2004 | 1 | 0 | Swansea City |
| 2 | DF | Fin Stevens | 10 April 2003 | 17 | 1 | Oxford United (on loan from Brentford) |
| 5 | DF | Luca Hoole | 2 June 2002 | 8 | 0 | Bristol Rovers |
| 20 | DF | Zac Ashworth | 6 September 2002 | 6 | 0 | Bolton Wanderers (on loan from West Bromwich Albion) |
| 6 | DF | Matt Baker | 6 February 2003 | 5 | 0 | Newport County (on loan from Stoke City) |
| 19 | DF | Tom Davies | 11 November 2003 | 2 | 0 |  Kilmarnock (on loan from Cardiff City) |
| 4 | DF | Jay Williams | 26 February 2003 | 1 | 0 | Sutton United |
| 3 | DF | Terence Miles | 12 September 2004 | 0 | 0 | Liverpool |
| 15 | DF | Alex Williams | 2 January 2005 | 0 | 0 | West Bromwich Albion |
| DF | James Sweet | 6 September 2003 | 0 | 0 | Arsenal | |
| DF | Luey Giles | 4 August 2006 | 0 | 0 | Cardiff City | |
| MF | Eli King | 23 December 2002 | 11 | 0 | Ross County (on loan from Cardiff City) | |
| 8 | MF | Oli Hammond | 13 November 2002 | 10 | 1 | Oldham Athletic |
| 10 | MF | Rubin Colwill | 27 April 2002 | 9 | 5 | Cardiff City |
| 14 | MF | Joel Cotterill | 10 October 2004 | 6 | 1 | Swansea City |
| 13 | MF | Luke Harris | 4 March 2005 | 6 | 1 | Exeter City (on loan from Fulham) |
| 22 | MF | Cameron Congreve | 24 January 2004 | 2 | 0 | Swansea City |
| 23 | MF | Joel Colwill | 27 October 2004 | 1 | 0 | Cardiff City |
| 18 | MF | Oliver Ewing | 3 January 2003 | 1 | 0 | Leicester City |
| 7 | MF | Ben Lloyd | 14 March 2005 | 0 | 0 | Swansea City |
| 11 | FW | Pat Jones | 9 June 2003 | 7 | 0 | Huddersfield Town |
| 17 | FW | Chris Popov | 26 October 2004 | 6 | 0 | Leicester City |
| 9 | FW | Lewis Koumas | 19 September 2005 | 1 | 1 | Liverpool |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Ronnie Hollingshead | 9 September 2004 | 1 | 0 | West Bromwich Albion | v.  Denmark, 20 November 2023 |
| GK | Ben Hughes | 15 November 2003 | 1 | 0 | Swansea City | v.  Lithuania, 12 September 2023 |
| DF | Owen Beck | 9 August 2002 | 14 | 1 | Dundee (on loan from Liverpool) | v. Lithuania, 22 March 2024INJ |
| DF | Owen Bevan | 26 October 2003 | 5 | 0 | Hibernian (on loan from Bournemouth) | v. Denmark, 20 November 2023 |
| DF | Joe Low | 20 February 2002 | 5 | 3 | Wycombe Wanderers | v. Denmark, 20 November 2023 |
| DF | Harry Leeson | 2 September 2003 | 1 | 0 | Gloucester City (on loan from Bristol City) | v. Denmark, 20 November 2023 |
| DF | Ed Turns | 18 October 2002 | 3 | 0 | Crewe Alexandra (on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion) | v.  Czech Republic, 13 October 2023INJ |
| DF | Oliver Denham | 4 May 2002 | 0 | 0 |  Sligo Rovers (on loan from Cardiff City)) | v. Scotland, 26 March 2023 |
| MF | Charlie Crew | 15 June 2006 | 3 | 0 | Leeds United | v. Lithuania, 22 March 2024INJ |
| MF | Charlie Savage | 2 May 2003 | 6 | 0 | Reading | v. Denmark, 20 November 2023 |
| MF | Tom Hill | 13 October 2002 | 1 | 0 | Liverpool | v.  Iceland, 16 November 2023INJ |
| MF | Jadan Raymond | 15 October 2003 | 2 | 0 | Crystal Palace | v. Czech Republic, 13 October 2023 |
| MF | Ryan Howley | 23 November 2003 | 1 | 0 | Dundee (on loan from Coventry City) | v. Czech Republic, 13 October 2023 |
| FW | Cian Ashford | 24 September 2004 | 3 | 2 | Cardiff City | v. Lithuania, 22 March 2024INJ |
| FW | Josh Thomas | 24 September 2002 | 7 | 2 | Swansea City | v. Denmark, 20 November 2023 |
| FW | Joe Taylor | 18 November 2002 | 3 | 0 | Lincoln City (on loan from Luton Town) | v. Denmark, 20 November 2023 |
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
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 Wales national football team.