In the Olympics, we compete as part of Team GB — representing the wider United Kingdom. It’s the same in most political and economic spheres. We don’t get a seat at the United Nations or World Trade Organisation, where we’re represented indirectly as part of the UK.
But football … that’s another story. Founded in 1876, the Football Association of Wales (FAW) is the third oldest national association in the world. Wales is a full member of UEFA and FIFA, which lets us rub shoulders with football’s powerhouse nations.
We do it on our own terms, too. The FAW now uses the Welsh word (Cymru) for its team, instead of Wales — a small but important detail. Cymru football has set the pace with its modern, inclusive personality. The nation has embraced the tangible connection between our fans and the men’s and women’s teams.
A shift in identity has been paralleled by our performance on the pitch. In 2011 we were ranked by FIFA a lowly 117th in the world. By 2015 we’d risen to 8th. In 2016 we qualified for our first ever Euros, became the darling participant (that’s everyone’s favourite second team), before eventually being knocked out in the semi-finals by Portugal, who went on the win.
And then in 2022 we made it to a World Cup for the first time since 1958, the smallest nation to qualify. Cymru kicked off its first group game against the USA, a country of 331 million people, then played Iran (population 86 million) and England (56 million). Our flag, our anthem, our ancient language, our country of just over three million people were under the world’s gaze.
It wasn’t all plain sailing. Several Cymru fans (including me) were asked to remove our rainbow bucket hats while queuing to enter the stadium for the USA v Wales match. On the positive side, the massive global attention that followed means the world knows where we in Cymru stand on this issue. We are a proud, diverse nation with a commitment to inclusivity and the rights of every citizen. And now the whole world knows that.
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