Wales played their first ever international match against Scotland in 1876, the game being played at Glasgow. For many of the early years they played friendly matches against Scotland, England and Ireland. They enjoyed some fine victories including an 8-2 win over Ireland at Belfast in 1885 and recorded an 11- 0 victory at Wrexham against Ireland in 1888. The first team they played who were from outside Great Britain were Portugal in May 1949, suffering a 3-2 defeat against the Portuguese at Lisbon. The enjoyed regular friendlies with the teams in the UK and nations like Switzerland, Portugal and Belgium and their first ever qualification match for a major competition came in October 1948 at home against Scotland, suffering a 3-1 defeat. They followed that up by a 4-1 defeat at Cardiff against England, meaning they failed to qualify for the 1950 world cup finals.