Wales Won’t Be Eyeing Team GB Football at 2028 Olympics
There’s been some chatter lately about a possible Great Britain men’s football team competing at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, but for Wales, it seems that’s not on the radar at all. Noel Mooney, the chief executive of the Football Association of Wales, has made it clear that the idea of sending Welsh players to a Team GB squad in LA isn’t something they are considering.
To give some context, the British Olympic Association had indicated after the Paris 2024 Games that they were keen to have a GB men’s football team at LA, marking the first time since London 2012 that Britain would compete in an Olympic men’s football tournament. Back in 2012, five Welsh players, including Craig Bellamy, were part of Stuart Pearce’s squad, ending a 52-year absence from the Olympic men’s football scene. On the women’s side, Wales captain Sophie Ingle represented Team GB at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, showing that Welsh involvement isn’t entirely new.
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Despite this history, the Welsh football leadership has been consistent in prioritizing national identity over Olympic participation. Mooney told the PA news agency that the Olympics is “not on our radar at all, not at any level,” emphasizing that discussions with anyone about joining a Team GB side simply haven’t happened. The focus remains firmly on developing Cymru’s own teams and projects.
One of the sticking points is the concern that participation as a unified Olympic team could threaten Wales’ and the other home nations’ independence within FIFA and UEFA. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have all expressed caution in this regard for years. Additionally, practical concerns exist around scheduling, since the Olympic football tournament in LA will start just two days before the opening ceremony and immediately follow Euro 2028—a competition co-hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland—and only a few weeks before the new domestic season. Clubs might be reluctant to release players for a tournament that could disrupt preparations for the domestic campaign.
Mooney summarized the situation succinctly, saying that while the Olympic plans may be someone else’s responsibility, Wales’ focus remains on representing itself on and off the pitch. Everything from player development to national team performance is being guided by that principle, making the idea of a Team GB football involvement something that’s firmly in the “not a priority” category for now.
So, while the prospect of seeing a unified British football squad in Los Angeles 2028 may excite some fans, for Wales, the goal is clear: it’s about Cymru first, ensuring the nation is represented strongly in its own right, rather than being part of a combined Olympic side. The spotlight, at least for the foreseeable future, is on Welsh football and its own ambitions rather than the allure of Team GB.
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