Wales football team
Nominated for Sport award
The Wales National football team, led by Robert Page, reached the finals of the World Cup for the first time since 1958 by defeating Ukraine in the play-off final in June 2022.
In November 2022, captained by Gareth Bale, they played 3 games in the pool stages of the World Cup finals in Doha, Qatar against the USA, Iran and England.
Reaching the World Cup finals for the first time in 64 years allowed the football team and its fans the opportunity to showcase Wales’ identity, language and culture to many millions of people around the world. The Welsh bucket hat became a well-known sight in Doha, including giant versions appearing in Doha and other places around Wales.
This follows on from their appearance at the Euro 2016 tournament in France, where they reached the semi-final and Euro 2020 where they reached the last 16. The tournament took place in 2021 as it was delayed due to the Covid pandemic and took place across 11 countries.
The team will begin qualification for Euro 2024 in March. They have been drawn in Group D where their opponents will include Croatia, Latvia, Turkey and Armenia.