As founder members of UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations), the governing body for all football in Europe, the Wales national football team has participated in all but one UEFA European Championship since it began as the European Nations' Cup in 1960. The tournament has been played every four years since then, with qualifying matches being played in the two years before each tournament.
Wales qualified for the finals in 2016 and 2020, and also progressed through qualifying to the quarter-finals in 1976, though this was played on a two-legged, home-and-away basis and is not considered part of the tournament proper. In 2016, Wales finished runner-up in their qualifying group, before going on to reach the semi-finals of the tournament, where they lost to eventual winners Portugal. In 2020, they also finished second in their qualifying group to secure automatic qualification for the finals, and again reached the knockout stage, but lost to Denmark in the round of 16.
1964
Wales first entered the European Championship in 1964, when it was still known as the European Nations' Cup, having declined to participate in the 1960 tournament. Three of the 29 teams that entered – Austria, Luxembourg and the Soviet Union – received byes to the round of 16, while the other 26 teams competed in the two-legged preliminary round for the other 13 places. Wales were drawn against Hungary in their first competitive meeting since the group stage of the 1958 FIFA World Cup. The first leg was played in November 1962 and saw Hungary win 3–1 at Népstadion in Budapest; Flórián Albert opened the scoring in the fifth minute, before Terry Medwin equalised for Wales just under a quarter of an hour later, only for goals from Lajos Tichy in the 34th minute and Károly Sándor in the 48th to give Hungary the win. The second leg was played four months later at Ninian Park in Cardiff, and Wales got themselves back into the tie when Cliff Jones converted a penalty midway through the first half; however, Tichy equalised from the penalty spot in the 77th minute and Hungary won the tie 4–2 on aggregate.
1968 The 1968 tournament, now known as the UEFA European Championship, saw 31 teams enter, divided into eight groups for the qualification process. With all four Home Nations entering for the first time, the already established British Home Championship served as one of the eight qualifying groups, combining the results from the 1966–67 and 1967–68 to determine which of the four would qualify for the quarter-finals. Wales began their campaign against Scotland at Ninian Park on 22 October 1966, but only managed a draw; Ron Davies opened the scoring in the 77th minute, only for Denis Law to equalise in the 86th. Wales then suffered a 5–1 defeat away to England on 16 November 1966; Wyn Davies pulled a goal back for Wales after Geoff Hurst had put England 2–0 up after 34 minutes, but goals from Bobby and Jack Charlton and an own goal by Terry Hennessey gave England the win. Wales' final game of the 1966–67 British Home Championship was away to Northern Ireland on 12 April 1967, but it finished as a 0–0 draw, which meant Wales went into the second half of the qualifying campaign in third place.
Wales began the 1967–68 British Home Championship with another heavy defeat to England on 21 October 1967; Martin Peters opened the scoring in the 34th minute, before late goals from Bobby Charlton and Alan Ball gave England a 3–0 win that left Wales needing to win both of their remaining matches to have a chance of qualifying for the next round. In the second match, away to Scotland on 22 November 1967, Alan Gilzean gave Scotland the lead in the 16th minute before Ron Davies equalised two minutes later. Alan Durban then put Wales in front in the 57th minute, only for Gilzean to pull Scotland level again eight minutes later, before Ronnie McKinnon gave Scotland the win 12 minutes from full-time, confirming Wales' elimination. Wales secured their only win of the campaign in their final match against Northern Ireland on 28 February 1968, when goals in the last 15 minutes of the match from Ronnie Rees and Wyn Davies gave them a 2–0 victory, which also meant they avoided finishing bottom of the group.
1972 Although it continued to be played until 1984, the British Home Championship was not used as a qualifying group for UEFA Euro 1972; instead, the four Home Nations were all drawn into different groups. Wales were paired with Romania, Czechoslovakia and Finland in Group 1; it was their first meeting with Romania and Finland, and the first time they had been drawn with Czechoslovakia since qualifying for the 1958 World Cup. Wales' first game was against Romania at Ninian Park on 11 November 1970 and finished as a goalless draw. They then met Czechoslovakia at the Vetch Field in Swansea on 21 April 1971, where they took a 1–0 lead via a Ron Davies penalty early in the second half; however, two goals from Ján Čapkovič and another from Vladimír Táborský in the last 10 minutes gave Czechoslovakia a 3–1 win. Wales then met Finland at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium a month later, where John Toshack's goal in the 54th minute gave them their first win of the campaign.
Toshack scored again in the return fixture at the Vetch Field on 13 October 1971; Alan Durban and Gil Reece also scored to give Wales a 3–0 win and a chance at qualification if they could pick up away wins over Czechoslovakia and Romania in their final two games. However, a 1–0 win for Czechoslovakia in Prague on 27 October put Wales out of contention, and a 2–0 win for Romania in Bucharest on 24 November meant Wales finished the group in third place.
1976 Qualifying Wales were drawn in Group 2 in qualifying for UEFA Euro 1976, along with Hungary, Austria and Luxembourg; it was the first time they had met Austria or Luxembourg competitively, and their first meeting with Hungary since qualifying for the 1964 European Nations' Cup. Wales began their campaign away to Austria on 4 September 1974 and took the lead through Arfon Griffiths with 10 minutes left in the first half; however, Wilhelm Kreuz and Hans Krankl each scored in the second half to give Austria a 2–1 win. It was Wales' only defeat of their qualifying campaign. Wales responded with consecutive clean sheets against Hungary and Luxembourg; Griffiths and Toshack gave them a 2–0 win over Hungary at Ninian Park on 30 October, before doing so again at the Vetch Field against Luxembourg, where Mike England, Phil Roberts and Terry Yorath also contributed to make the final score 5–0.
Toshack scored his third goal in three games just before half-time in the return match against Hungary on 16 April 1975, before John Mahoney made it 2–0 in the 69th minute, although László Branikovits was able to pull a goal back for Hungary eight minutes later, the first goal Wales had conceded in 266 minutes of qualifying football. Two weeks later, Gil Reece and Leighton James again gave Wales a 2–0 first-half lead away to Luxembourg, only for Paul Philipp to pull a goal back for the home side with a penalty six minutes before half-time; however, James scored with another penalty in the 83rd minute to confirm a 3–1 win for Wales and set up a winner-takes-all match against Austria at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham on the final matchday. Arfon Griffiths scored in the 69th minute to give Wales a 1–0 win and send them through to the quarter-finals.
Quarter-finals In the quarter-finals, Wales were drawn against the winners of Group 3, Yugoslavia. In the first leg, they went behind to a goal from Momčilo Vukotić in the opening minute, before Danilo Popivoda made it 2–0 in the 57th. Josip Katalinski then gave Yugoslavia a 1–0 lead with a penalty in the 19th minute of the second leg at Ninian Park to essentially put the tie out of Wales' reach. Ian Evans pulled a goal back in the 38th minute, but with no further goals in the second half, Wales were eliminated.
1980 UEFA Euro 1980 was the first European Championship to feature an eight-team final tournament. With Italy qualifying automatically as hosts, the 31 remaining participating nations were divided into seven groups, with only the winners qualifying for the finals. Wales were drawn into Group 7 with West Germany, Turkey and Malta. Despite being ordered by UEFA to play all their home matches at least from Cardiff due to crowd trouble in the quarter-final against Yugoslavia in 1976, they took an early lead in the group with victories over Malta (7–0) and Turkey (1–0) at the Racecourse Ground in October and November 1978. West Germany could only manage draws away to the same opponents in February and April 1979, and drew level on points with Wales with a 2–0 victory in Wrexham in May 1979. Wales pulled back ahead with a 2–0 win in Malta a month later, but a 5–1 loss to West Germany in October 1979 meant they would have to beat Turkey in their final match to keep their chances of qualification alive, with West Germany yet to play their return fixtures against Turkey and Malta. However, Turkey beat Wales 1–0 to overtake them at the top of the group. With West Germany winning both of their final games, Wales finished the group in third place on six points.
1984 UEFA Euro 1984 followed the same qualification process as the 1980 tournament, with 32 participating teams again divided into seven groups. Wales were seeded in Pot 2 and drawn into Group 4 along with Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Norway. Home wins over Norway and Bulgaria and draws away to Yugoslavia and Norway put Wales top of the group, a point ahead of Yugoslavia, ahead of the pair's last two matches. Wales lost 1–0 to Bulgaria in their penultimate match, which meant they would need to beat Yugoslavia in Cardiff in December 1983 to guarantee qualification. Robbie James opened the scoring for Wales early in the second half, but Mehmed Baždarević's equaliser with less than 10 minutes to go meant the match finished 1–1. A draw between Yugoslavia and Bulgaria (or a one-goal win for Bulgaria) in the final group match would send Wales to the finals, and the score was 2–2 as the match entered injury time at the end of the second half; however, a header from Ljubomir Radanović gave Yugoslavia the win and sent them to the finals in Wales' place.
1988 Qualifying for UEFA Euro 1988 again followed the same process as the last two tournaments, with the 32 participating teams drawn into seven groups, and the winners joining hosts West Germany in the finals. Wales were again seeded in Pot 2, and drawn into Group 6 with Denmark, Czechoslovakia and Finland. As they had done four years earlier, Wales went unbeaten in their first four matches, with draws away to Finland and at home to Czechoslovakia, and home wins over Finland and Denmark; that put them top of the group, ahead of Denmark on goal difference ahead of the two sides' decisive match in Copenhagen in October 1987. Victory for Wales would have sent them to the finals, but Preben Elkjær gave Denmark a 1–0 win, which left Wales needing to beat Czechoslovakia in the final group match to retake top spot; however, goals from Ivo Knoflíček and Michal Bílek gave Czechoslovakia a 2–0 win and Wales finished in third place.
1992