Wales national under-21 football team

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.

Wales Under-21

Nickname(s)	Young Dragons
Association	Football Association of Wales
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Paul Bodin
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
Wales 6–2 Cyprus  (Ninian Park, Cardiff; 22 October 1993) &  Wales 5–1 Luxembourg  (Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli; 31 March 2009)
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 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).

Some of the players who have made the step from the U21s to attain over 25 caps for the senior squad are Lewin Nyatanga, Joe Ledley, Chris Gunter, Gareth Bale, Sam Vokes, Simon Church, Wayne Hennessey, David Vaughan, Andrew Crofts, David Edwards, Andy King, Aaron Ramsey, Neil Taylor 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]

Players

Latest squad

Players born on or after 1 January 1998 are eligible for the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Wales squad for the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Moldova on 13 November 2020 and Germany on 17 November 2020.[3]

Caps and goals as of 17 November 2020. 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
12	GK	Adam Przybek	2 April 2000	3	0	Chesterfield (on loan from Ipswich Town)
1	GK	George Ratcliffe	12 September 2000	6	0	Cardiff City
21	GK	Lewis Webb	12 September 2001	0	0	Swansea City
2	DF	Cameron Coxe	18 December 1998	16	0	Solihull Moors
6	DF	Brandon Cooper	14 January 2000	9	0	Swansea City
5	DF	Regan Poole	18 June 1998	23	0	Lincoln City
14	DF	Joe Lewis	20 September 1999	1	0	Swansea City
13	DF	Aaron Lewis	26 June 1998	13	1	Lincoln City
3	DF	Morgan Boyes	22 April 2001	4	0	Liverpool
4	MF	Terry Taylor	21 June 2001	4	1	Burton Albion
16	MF	Sam Bowen	14 January 2001	1	0	Cardiff City
15	MF	Ryan Stirk	25 September 2000	4	0	Birmingham City
8	MF	Harry Clifton	12 June 1998	6	0	Grimsby Town
9	MF	Luke Jephcott	26 January 2000	3	0	Plymouth Argyle
17	MF	Oliver Cooper	14 December 1999	4	0	Swansea City
10	MF	Siôn Spence	2 November 2000	3	0	Crystal Palace
20	FW	Mark Harris	29 December 1998	19	3	Cardiff City
18	FW	Momodou Touray	3 July 1999	6	1	Marine (on loan from Salford City)
11	FW	Liam Cullen	23 April 1999	11	1	Swansea City
7	FW	Nathan Broadhead	5 April 1998	17	2	Everton
19	FW	Joe Adams	13 February 2001	1	0	Brentford

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	Kelland Absalom	21 May 1998	1	0	Merthyr Town	v.  Albania, 11 June 2019
DF	Ryan Astley	4 October 2001	0	0	Everton	v.  Belgium, 9 October 2020
DF	Rhys Norrington-Davies	22 April 1999	14	0	Stoke City (on loan from Sheffield United)	v.  Bosnia and Herzegovina, 19 November 2019
DF	Ben Williams	31 March 1999	0	0	Barnsley	v.  Bosnia and Herzegovina, 19 November 2019
DF	Ben Cabango	30 May 2000	5	0	Swansea City	v.  Bosnia and Herzegovina, 19 November 2019
DF	Cole DaSilva	31 March 1999	0	0	Unattached	v.  Germany, 10 September 2019
DF	Rhys Abbruzzese	23 March 1998	3	0	Barry Town United	v.  Liechtenstein, 5 October 2017
MF	James Waite	11 May 1999	2	0	Cardiff City	v.  Belgium, 9 October 2020
MF	Lewis Collins	9 May 2001	0	0	Newport County	v.  Belgium, 9 October 2020
MF	Sam Pearson	14 December 1999	1	0	Bristol City	v.  Belgium, 9 October 2020
MF	Daniel Williams	19 April 2001	1	0	Swansea City	v.  Belgium, 9 October 2020
MF	Robbie Burton	26 December 1999	9	0	Dinamo Zagreb	v.  Bosnia and Herzegovina, 4 September 2020
MF	Jack Evans	25 April 1998	13	0	Newport County	v.  Bosnia and Herzegovina, 4 September 2020
MF	Brennan Johnson	23 May 2001	4	2	Lincoln City (on loan from Nottingham Forest)	v.  Bosnia and Herzegovina, 4 September 2020
MF	Dan Mooney	3 July 1999	4	0	Altrincham	v.  Bosnia and Herzegovina, 19 November 2019
MF	Kieran Evans	27 March 1999	2	0	Unattached	v.  Moldova, 11 October 2019
MF	Dylan Levitt	17 November 2000	1	0	Manchester United	v.  Moldova, 11 October 2019
MF	Tom Price	26 November 1999	1	0	Cardiff Metropolitan University	v.  Albania, 11 June 2019
MF	Alex Babos	21 January 1998	7	0	Alfreton Town	v.  Albania, 11 June 2019
MF	Tom Pugh	27 September 2000	2	1	Scunthorpe United	v.  Albania, 11 June 2019
MF	Matthew Smith	22 November 1999	5	1	Doncaster Rovers (on loan from Manchester City)	v.  Romania, 14 November 2017
FW	Ben Woodburn	15 September 1999	0	0	Liverpool)	V.  Bosnia and Herzegovina, 4 September 2020
FW	Jack Vale	3 March 2001	1	0	Blackburn Rovers	V.  Bosnia and Herzegovina, 4 September 2020
FW	Niall Huggins	18 December 2000	1	0	Leeds United	v.  Germany, 10 September 2019

Key

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

See also

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

References

1. Williams appointed to Wales Under 21
2. Bodin appointed under 21 manager
3. Wales U21 squad

External links

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