The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was the fourteenth European Championships and and was held in Poland and Ukraine between 8 June and 1 July 2012. The tournament was won by Spain who beat Italy 4-0 at the Olympic Stadium, Kyiv.
- 1. Host selection
- 2. Qualifying
- 3. Wales and the 2012 European Championship
- 4. Wales players used during qualifying
Five bids representing seven countries were received by UEFA to host Euro 2012. A joint bids from Croatia and Hungary and from Poland Ukraine as well as bids from Greece, Italy and Turkey.
On 8 November 2005, UEFA's Executive Committee narrowed the candidates down to a short list of three: Poland and Ukraine, Italy and Croatia and Hungary with Poland and Ukraine being chosen by members of the UEFA Executive Committee on 18 April 2007.
Fifty one UEFA members entered the qualification tournament for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship with Montenegro taking part in a Euro qualifying tournament for the first time since becoming independent of Serbia.
Poland and Ukrtaine qualified automatically as hosts.
Wales were seeded in pot 4 and were drawn into Group G alongside England, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Montenegro.
Uefa qualifying group G
| no. | date | score | scorers (wales) | venue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 580 | 03/09/2010 | Montenegro 1-0 Wales | Stadion Pod Goricom, Podgorica | ECQ | |
| 03/09/2010 | England 4-0 Bulgaria | Wembley Stadium, London | ECQ | ||
| 07/09/2010 | Bulgaria 0-1 Montenegro | Vasil Levski Stadion, Sofia | ECQ | ||
| 07/09/2010 | Switzerland 1-3 England | St Jakob Park, Basel | ECQ | ||
| 08/10/2010 | Montenegreo 1-0 Switzerland | Stadion Pod Goricom, Podgorica | ECQ | ||
| 581 | 08/10/2010 | Wales 0-1 Bulgaria | Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff | ECQ | |
| 12/10/2010 | England 0-0 Montenegro | Wembley Stadium, London | ECQ | ||
| 582 | 12/10/2010 | Switzerland 4-1 Wales | Bale | St. Jakob Park, Basel | ECQ |
| 26/03/2011 | Bulgaria 0-0 Switzerland | Vasil Levski Stadion, Sofia | ECQ | ||
| 584 | 26/03/2011 | Wales 0-2 England | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | ECQ | |
| 04/06/2011 | England 2-2 Switzerland | Wembley Stadium, London | ECQ | ||
| 04/06/2011 | Montenegro 1-1 Bulgaria | Stadion Pod Goricom, Podgorica | ECQ | ||
| 02/09/2011 | Bulgaria 0-3 England | Vasil Levski Stadion, Sofia | ECQ | ||
| 588 | 02/09/2011 | Wales 2-1 Montenegro | Morison, Ramsey | Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff | ECQ |
| 06/09/2011 | Switzerland 3-1 Bulgaria | St Jakob Park, Basel | ECQ | ||
| 589 | 06/09/2011 | England 1-0 Wales | Wembley Stadium, London | ECQ | |
| 590 | 07/10/2011 | Wales 2-0 Switzerland | Ramsey (pen), Bale | Liberty Stadium, Swansea | ECQ |
| 07/10/2011 | Montenegro 2-2 England | Stadion Pod Goricom, Podgorica | ECQ | ||
| 591 | 11/10/2011 | Bulgaria 0-1 Wales | Bale | Vasil Levski Stadion, Sofia | ECQ |
| 11/10/2011 | Switzerland 2-0 Montenegro | St Jakob Park, Basel | ECQ |
Group standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | England | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 5 | 18 |
| 2. | Montenegro | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 12 |
| 3. | Switzerland | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 11 |
| 4. | Wales | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 9 |
| 5. | Bulgaria | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 5 |
Wales and the 2012 European Championship
Wales were seeded in pot 4 and were drawn into Group G alongside England, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Montenegro.
Following defeat to bottom seeds Montenegro in the opening match, manager John Toshack resigned after five and a half years in the post.
Brian Flynn was appointed Wales' caretaker manager for the next two Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland.
Following two defeats, the Football Association of Wales announced Gary Speed as the new manager. Following a defeat to Republic of Ireland in the short-lived Celtic Cup, Speed's first home match in charge was against England.
An injury to Gareth Bale pre-match hit Speed's preparations and England cruised to a comfortable win.
A home win over Montenegro followed by an unlucky 1-0 defeat to England at Wembley gave Wales fans renewed optimism.
Two wins at the end of the campaign against Switzerland and Bulgaria left Speed with a record of three wins and one defeat during the campaign.
Players used during qualifying
Wales used 27 players during the campaign. Ashley Williams was the only player who played every single minute of the campaign.
Darcy Blake and Shaun MacDonald won their first caps against Switzerland in Basel.
Chris Gunter became the 13th Welsh player to be sent off during an international match during the home defeat to Bulgaria.
| Player | MON | BUL | SUI | ENG | MON | ENG | SUI | BUL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Allen | 90 | 90 | ||||||
| Gareth Bale | 90 | 90 | 90 | 89 | 90 | 90 | 90 | |
| Craig Bellamy | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | |||
| Darcy Blake | 54 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 41 | |||
| Simon Church | 12 | 22 | 90 | 9 | 21 | |||
| Danny Collins | 90 | 90 | 90 | |||||
| James Collins | 75 | 90 | 90 | 90 | ||||
| Jack Collison | 85 | |||||||
| Andrew Crofts | 90 | 90 | 26 | 90 | 81 | 90 | ||
| Rob Earnshaw | 22 | 1 | 22 | |||||
| David Edwards | 68 | 68 | 76 | |||||
| Ched Evans | 25 | |||||||
| Chris Gunter | 90 | 89  | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | |
| Wayne Hennessey | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
| Andy King | 31 | 90 | 82 | 5 | ||||
| Joe Ledley | 90 | 59 | 90 | 90 | 90 | |||
| Shaun MacDonald | 1 | |||||||
| Adam Matthews | 49 | |||||||
| Craig Morgan | 15 | |||||||
| Steve Morison | 78 | 82 | 14 | 65 | 83 | 68 | 81 | 69 |
| Aaron Ramsey | 90 | 64 | 90 | 90 | 90 | |||
| Christian Ribeiro | 36 | |||||||
| Sam Ricketts | 90 | 90 | ||||||
| Hal Robson-Kanu | 8 | 7 | ||||||
| Neil Taylor | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | ||||
| David Vaughan | 90 | 90 | 89 | 8 | 90 | 90 | 9 | |
| Ashley Williams | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
