Wales have sacked Rob Page as manager after nearly four years in charge of the men's national team, the country's football association (FAW) announced in a statement on Friday.
Page took over the role on an interim basis in November 2020 before being appointed permanently in September 2022, ahead of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. That tournament marked the first time wales had qualified for the sport's showpiece event since 1958.
However, Wales failed to build on that achievement, falling short of qualification for Euro 2024 in a penalty-shootout defeat to Poland in the final qualifying playoff in March.
"I would like to thank Rob for his work with the association over the last seven years, firstly as the U21s head coach and then onto the role of Cymru Head Coach," Dave Adams, FAW Chief Football Officer, said in a statement.
"Rob's work has delivered success reaching the round of 16 at EURO 2020 and qualification to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and during his period we also integrated 18 pathway players into the senior squad. As we move forward this experience will support our objective to consistently qualify our men's national team to major tournaments."
The FA's president Steve Williams added: "I am incredibly grateful for all that Rob has done in his role as Cymru Men's national team manager and I want to put on record my gratitude for taking Cymru to EURO 2020 and the FIFA World Cup.
"Rob's passion for the country shone through in his visits to schools, clubs and communities across the breadth of Wales. I know Rob was incredibly proud of taking the World Cup squad announcement to his hometown of Tylorstown."
Page had been backed by the FA and Williams in the immediate aftermath of the team failing to qualify for the ongoing European Championship, with the association's president saying in March that Page would work through to the end of his contract and the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
However, results have continued to underwhelm, causing the FA to act. Page's final games in charge were a 0-0 draw with Gibraltar -- the 198th-ranked team in the world, who had lost every game since November 2022 prior to the stalemate -- and a 4-0 defeat to Slovakia.