Wales, Portugal, Germany, France - how do Chris Coleman's side compare to Euro 2016 rivals?

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Germany saw off Italy in a quarter-final clash of the heavyweights
Germany saw off Italy in a quarter-final clash of the heavyweights

Wales are just one match away from an improbable Euro 2016 final - and a comparison with their fellow semi-finalists shows just how much they are punching above their weight.

Gareth Bale and his team-mates face Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal on Wednesday night in Lyon, before hosts France clash with Germany 24 hours later in Marseille to decide the match-up for Sunday's showpiece.

"We go into this game as the underdogs," said manager Chris Coleman. "Portugal have been in seven semi-finals but it's not a problem. It's about our players going in the pitch and trusting each other.

"When teams go for us and play open, we can do a lot of damage."

It's fighting talk, but how do the teams compare ahead of the last-four encounters? From transfer fees to trophies won, we lay bare their squads to highlight the extent of Coleman's side's achievement...

Semi-finalists comparison

Wales Portugal France Germany
Major club honours 13 110 78 120
Team valuation £122.7m £193.3m £265m £258.4m
International caps 804 919 698 1013
International goals 68 119 64 217
Champions League apps 92 605 541 806
Goals scored (big five leagues) 170 452 589 655

Major club honours

Germany lead the way in terms of trophies won at domestic and European level. Their 23-man squad has 120 cups between them, while Portugal have 110 and France 78. 

Unsurprisingly, Wales lag behind by a distance with just 13 major honours within their squad. Gareth Bale (4), Joe Ledley (2), Aaron Ramsey (2), James Chester (1), Ashley Williams (1) Jazz Richards (1) Ben Davies (1) and Andy King (1) are the only members of their squad ever to have won a major competition.

(For players to be considered a major cup winner, they must have played in that year's tournament / major club honours do not include domestic super cups)

Team valuation

France have the edge on their rivals in the team valuation stakes. Based on every player's last move, Didier Deschamps' squad are worth a total of £265m, just ahead of Germany on £258.4m.

Cristiano Ronaldo is Portugal
Cristiano Ronaldo is Portugal's most-capped player

Further behind are Portugal on £193.3m, while Wales' 23-man squad is valued at £122.7m - Bale making up £85.3m of that.

International caps

In terms of international experience, Germany's squad lead the way with a total of 1,013 caps heading into their semi-final with France. Two members of their squad - Bastian Schweinsteiger with 119 and Lukas Podolski with 129 - have more than 100 caps while Mesut Ozil (78), Toni Kroos (70), Thomas Muller (76) and Manuel Neuer (70) all have 70 or more.

Portugal, meanwhile, have 919 caps - Ronaldo (131) their most experienced player. Wales have 804 - Wayne Hennessey (61), Ashley Williams (64), Ledley (66) and Chris Gunter (72) more experienced on the international stage than Bale (60).

The French have the least experienced squad left at the tournament on 698, with nine players possessing fewer than 20 caps. Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris (80) is their most-capped player.

Hugo Lloris has won 80 caps for France
Hugo Lloris has won 80 caps for France

FIFA rankings

Wales are currently 26th in the FIFA world rankings, but will no doubt move into the top 10 when the new rankings are released later in July. 

Their lowest position since the rankings began in 1993 was 112th, not long ago in 2010, while their average position since 1993 has been 67th. 

Portugal's average has been 11th, their lowest was 36th (in 1998) and they are currently in eighth. Meanwhile, world champions Germany average fifth, are currently fourth, and have never dropped out of the top 20, hitting a low of 19th in 2004.

Hosts France are currently No 17 in the world, but average ninth and were lowest just last year in 25th place. 

Chris Coleman
Chris Coleman's side could slip into the top 10 of the FIFA world rankings

International goals

Germany, unsurprisingly, have the most goals in their team as well, with 217 shared around their 23-man squad. Podolski leads the way with 48, while Muller (32), the injured Mario Gomez (29) and Schweinsteiger (24) all have impressive tallies.

Portugal have 119 international strikes thanks mostly to Ronaldo (60), while France have just 68. Olivier Giroud (20) and Antoine Griezmann (11) are the only players in double figures.

Wales lag behind on 64 goals and Bale has bagged exactly half of them, the suspended Aaron Ramsey the next most prolific with 11. 

Wales star Gareth Bale has scored 22 goals for his country
Wales star Gareth Bale has scored 22 goals for his country

Tournament pedigree

This is Wales' first major tournament since 1958, and although they got to the last eight of Euro 1976 in the qualifying campaign, only four teams actually went to the tournament in Yugoslavia. 

Their opponents Portugal are used to the big stage, reaching their fourth European Championship semi-final in five attempts. 

Although they have never won a major tournament, they have been in the final four in seven of the 13 they have attended. 

Portugal have been to four semi-finals out of five, beating England to get to the Euro 2004 last four
Portugal have been to four semi-finals out of five, beating England to get to the Euro 2004 last four

Germany, three-time Euro winners and four-time World Cup winners, have been at the last-four stage of the European Championship nine times out of 11, while France are two-time winners and have reached this stage five times, with a World Cup win in 1998 to boot. 

Champions League appearances

There is big-game experience aplenty for Germany, France and Portugal. The Germans have 806 appearances in Europe's top competition within their squad, while Portugal have 605 and France have 541.

Once again proving their underdog status, Wales have just 92 appearances in the Champions League within their squad - Bale (39), Ramsey (39), Ledley (10) and Joe Allen (4).

Who will make the final of Euro 2016? Leave a comment below or tweet us @SkyFootball...

Source : skysports[dot]com

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