England aim to maintain Wales domination
Friday, January 1, 2016
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England have 66 wins from 101 games against Wales, losing just 14 times, and will look to record another victory as they meet their neighbours and Group B rivals in Lens.
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England have long held the upper hand in their contests with neighbours Wales and will be looking to maintain their impressive record – and extend a four-game winning run against their opponents – when the teams meet in Lens in the second round of UEFA EURO 2016 Group B fixtures.
Previous meetings
• England and Wales, both members of the United Kingdom, have met on 101 occasions, England winning 66 matches and Wales 14.
• Annual opponents in the British Home Championship, which ran for a century until 1984, England and Wales have met just four times in the three decades since.
• Wales have not beaten England since a 1-0 victory in Wrexham on 2 May 1984, debutant Mark Hughes settling the match. England have won the last four games between the countries without conceding a goal.
• England triumphed 2-0 at home and 1-0 away en route to qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, then 2-0 away and 1-0 at home to assist their qualifying bid for UEFA EURO 2012. Ashley Young was the last player to score in the fixture.
• The teams in England's 2-0 win at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on 26 March 2011 were:
Wales: Hennessey, Williams, D Collins, Gunter, J Collins, Crofts, Ledley, Ramsey, Bellamy, Morison (Evans 65), King (Vaughan 65).
England: Hart, G Johnson, Dawson, Terry, A Cole, Parker (Jagielka 89), Lampard, Wilshere (Downing 82), Young, Bent, Rooney (Milner 70).
• The lineups for England's 1-0 success at Wembley on 6 September 2011 were:
England: Hart, Smalling, Terry, Cahill, A Cole, Young, Milner, Barry, Lampard (Parker 73), Downing (A Johnson 79), Rooney (Carroll 89).
Wales: Hennessey, Williams, Blake, Gunter, Taylor, Crofts, Ledley, Bale, Ramsey, Collison (King 85), Morison (Earnshaw 68).
EURO facts – England
• Before matchday one, England had not lost over 90 or 120 minutes in 22 EURO fixtures, going back to a 3-2 defeat by Croatia in November 2007 that ended their hopes of reaching UEFA EURO 2008. Since then, their record is W17 D5, although they were beaten on penalties by Italy in the UEFA EURO 2012 quarter-finals.
• Roy Hodgson's side won all ten of their UEFA EURO 2016 qualifiers – just the sixth team to achieve the feat, after France (1992, 2004), Czech Republic (2000) and Germany and Spain (both 2012).
• England failed to qualify for the final tournament in 2008, the only time they have missed out since 1984.
• England were semi-finalists as hosts in 1996, matching their previous best performance from 1968, when they came third.
EURO facts – Wales
• Wales have never before reached a UEFA European Championship final tournament. Their previous best performance came in 1976, when they lost to Yugoslavia 3-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals, losing the first leg 2-0 in Zagreb before a 1-1 draw in Cardiff.
• Bale scored seven of Wales' 11 goals in qualifying for UEFA EURO 2016, providing two assists – meaning he scored or set up 82% of his side's goals.
Coach and player links
• Wales manager Chris Coleman briefly played under England manager Roy Hodgson at Blackburn Rovers in 1997/98 but made just one appearance.
• Coleman and Hodgson have managed Fulham and had spells as players at Crystal Palace.
• Have played together:
Aaron Ramsey & Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)
Ben Davies & Danny Rose, Kyle Walker, Dele Alli and Harry Kane (Tottenham)
Joe Allen & Nathaniel Clyne, Adam Lallana, James Milner, Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool)
Andy King & Jamie Vardy (Leicester)
