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Wales national under-21 football team

Association football team

Field	Value
Name	Wales Under-21
Badge_size	175px
Association	Football Association of Wales (FAW)
Nickname	Young Dragons ()
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Coach	Matt Jones
Most caps	Shaun MacDonald (25)
Top scorer	Ched Evans (13)
FIFA Trigramme	WAL
pattern_la1	_wal24h
pattern_b1	_wal24h
pattern_ra1	_wal24h
pattern_sh1	_wal24h
pattern_so1	_wal24h
leftarm1	EF0000
body1	EF0000
rightarm1	EF0000
shorts1	EF0000
socks1	EF0000
pattern_la2	_wal24a
pattern_b2	_wal24a
pattern_ra2	_wal24a
pattern_sh2	_wal24a
pattern_so2	_wal24a
leftarm2	F1FF91
body2	F1FF91
rightarm2	F1FF91
shorts2	F1FF91
socks2	006633
First game	0–0
(Wolverhampton, England; 15 December 1976)
Largest win	0–7
(Gibraltar; 12 November 2021)
Largest loss	8–1
(Pavia, Italy; 5 September 2003)
0–7
(Newport, Wales; 10 October 2025)

(Wolverhampton, England; 15 December 1976) (Gibraltar; 12 November 2021) (Pavia, Italy; 5 September 2003) 0–7 (Newport, Wales; 10 October 2025)

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 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 UEFA European Under-21 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, Daniel James, Joe Rodon and Chris Mepham.

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 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.

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. In July 2022 Bodin's contract with Wales Under-21 was terminated by mutual consent. In September 2022, Matt Jones was appointed as manager.

Players

Latest squad

Players born on or after 1 January 2004 are eligible for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

The following players were called up for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group I match against Belarus on 14 November 2025.

Caps and goals as of 14 November 2025, after the match against Belarus. Players in bold have attained full international caps.

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.

SEN INJ

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.

References

[http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/sport/9807937.Geraint_Williams_handed_Wales_U21_reins/ Williams appointed to Wales Under 21]
[https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49414473 Bodin appointed under 21 manager]
(12 November 2021). "Gibraltar U21s 0-7 Wales U21s".
(22 July 2022). "Wales Under-21 boss Bodin leaves role". BBC Sport.
(15 September 2022). "Matthew Jones: Ex-international midfielder named Wales Under-21 boss".
(6 November 2025). "Cymru U21 squad announced for November EURO qualifier". Football Association of Wales.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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