The Wales national football team is the third-oldest side in international

association football. The side played their first fixture 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 its 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 in a side that became known as "Keenor and the 10
unknowns", a reference to captain Fred 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.