The
Wales national football team is the third-oldest side in international
association football. The team played their first match in March 1876, four years after
Scotland and
England had contested the first-ever international match. Wales played annual fixtures against Scotland, England, and later
Ireland, and these were eventually organised into the
British Home Championship, an annual competition between the
Home Nations. Wales did not win their first championship until the
1906–07 tournament and this remained the nation's only triumph before the
First World War. Wales improved considerably in the post-war period, and claimed three titles during the 1920s, although the team was often hindered by the reluctance of
Football League clubs to release their players for international duty. The situation was so grave that, in the early 1930s, Wales were forced to select a team of lower league and amateur players which became known as "Keenor and the 10 unknowns", a reference to
captainFred Keenor and the relative obscurity of his teammates.
By the late 1930s, Wales were again able to call upon their strongest side, and enjoyed their most successful period in the British Home Championship, winning four titles in the six years before the Second World War. When competitive football resumed after the war, Wales began facing opponents from farther afield and played matches against other European nations for the first time. The side also began competing in qualification groups for the
FIFA World Cup, but failed to qualify for the
1950 and
1954 tournaments. Under manager
Jimmy Murphy, Wales qualified for their first World Cup in the
1958 tournament and progressed from their group before being defeated by
Brazil in the quarter-final. (
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