Ten years on, the memory of that Welsh summer in France still glows for those who lived it. Wales had waited 58 years to reach a major tournament, and when qualification for Euro 2016 finally arrived, few dared to expect much beyond the achievement of simply being there.
That modesty evaporated quickly once the tournament began. On June 11, 2016, in a sun-drenched Bordeaux, thousands of Welsh supporters gathered for the opening match against Slovakia. Comedian and broadcaster Elis James, recalling the day for BBC Sport Wales' documentary series Iconic: The Summer that Changed Welsh Football, said he and fellow fans had set the bar so low that just hearing the national anthem played at a major tournament felt like victory in itself.
Manager Chris Coleman admitted he too was swept up in the emotion outside the team hotel, catching himself chanting along with fans before reminding himself to stay composed. His players delivered on the pitch: a Gareth Bale free-kick and a late Hal Robson-Kanu goal secured a 2-1 win that set the tone for the tournament.
Defender Ben Davies later described that victory as a turning point, saying it transformed a distant dream into proof that reaching a major tournament was achievable. Midfielder Aaron Ramsey, who would go on to be named in UEFA's team of the tournament, reflected on how the achievement helped the squad move past decades of Welsh football heartbreak, from Joe Jordan's infamous handball in 1977 to the crushing defeat to Romania in 1993.
A narrow loss to England in Lens threatened to dampen the mood, but Wales responded with what Coleman called their finest performance of the tournament, dismantling Russia 3-0 in Toulouse. Ramsey opened the scoring, Neil Taylor added a surprise goal, and Bale's third made him the tournament's top scorer at that stage. Joe Allen and Joe Ledley controlled the midfield, with Ledley's celebratory dance after the match becoming an enduring image of the run.
Wales advanced to the knockout stage for the first time since 1958, beating Northern Ireland 1-0 in Paris thanks to a Bale cross turned into his own net by Gareth McAuley. That set up a quarter-final against Belgium, ranked number one in the world, in Lille - a match many felt Wales had little chance of winning.
Despite falling behind to an early Radja Nainggolan strike, Wales fought back. Captain Ashley Williams equalized with a header, and then Robson-Kanu produced arguably the most iconic moment of the tournament, controlling the ball inside the box before beating three Belgian defenders with a Cruyff turn and finishing past Thibaut Courtois.