How will Wales line up at UEFA Euro 2020?

Wales climbed from 117th rank in 2011 to eighth place in 2015, the highest jump in FIFA World Rankings ever. After reaching the UEFA Euro 2016 semi-finals, they are also the smallest nation by population to ever reach the UEFA European Championship semi-finals.

Wales qualified for UEFA Euro 2020 after reaching the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2016 and the quarter-finals of the 1958 FIFA World Cup. They also advanced to the quarter-finals of UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying, albeit this was a two-legged, home-and-away competition and not part of the final’s tournament.

Wales fixtures for Euro 2020 are as follows (all times are based on Central Europe):

Saturday 12 June (15:00):

Wales vs Switzerland

(Baku)

Wednesday 16 June (18:00): 

Turkey vs Wales

(Baku)

Sunday 20 June (18:00): 

Italy vs Wales

(Rome)

How will Wales line up at UEFA Euro 2020?

Wales usually has the conventional 3-4-3 formation. 

The midfielders are anticipated to spend their time between attacking and defending in a 3–4–3 formation. With only three dedicated defenders, the opposition team has a better chance of scoring if they break through the midfield than with a more traditional defensive formation like 4–5–1 or 4–4–2. The three forwards allow for a stronger focus on attack.

Needless to say, the Wales national team has already played a couple of games with different formations and player combinations just to test out which suits this particular tournament well.

The list that we have provided for you consists of players that the sportmob team thinks have the highest chance to make it into the starting eleven, but at the end of the day, the only person who knows which players will get some decent playtime is the manager himself. So far, the players who got the chance to be part of the team for the tournament are:

• Goalkeepers

  : Danny Ward, Wayne Hennessey, Adam Davies

• Defenders

  : Neco Williams, Chris Gunter, James Lawrence, Ben Davies, Rhys Norrington-Davies, Ethan Ampadu, Chris Mepham, Joe Rodon, Connor Roberts, Ben Cabango

• Midfielders

  : Rubin Colwill, Jonny Williams, Daniel James, David Brooks, Joe Allen, Joe Morrell, Harry Wilson, Matt Smith, Dylan Levitt, Aaron Ramsey

• Forwards

  : Tyler Roberts, Gareth Bale, Kieffer Moore

That being said, we are going to start from the most crucial position which is the goalkeeper and then we would move towards the center of the field and finally finish with the offensive roles such as the wingers and the striker. Let’s see which players made it into our list of

Wales Euro 2020

lineup.

GK: Danny Ward

, an exceptional Welsh goalkeeper who was part of the Wales squad that reached the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2016, is the first nominee of our Wales Euro 2020 starting eleven.

Ward was named to Wales' 23-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016 and made his first start for his country in his third appearance, a 2–1 victory over Slovakia, after Hennessey experienced a back spasm prior to the match.

Due to his amazing height and marvelous goalkeeping skills and also considering that he has played for Wales a few times, we have chosen him as the goalkeeper of the

Wales Euro 2020 squad

.

CB: Joe Rodon

Rodon is a ball-playing central defender who has been compared to Fikayo Tomori. In May 2018, he was named in a preliminary senior Wales team for a friendly against Mexico, but he was not included in the final roster.

For the first time, he got called up for a competitive match against

in September 2019. Rodon made his debut in a 2-1 win over Azerbaijan, playing the entire 90 minutes.

Rodon is the kind of center-back that any manager can rely on and due to his young age, he has a lot of potentials and Euro 2020 is the best place for him to reach his highest peak. This amazing athlete’s performance pushed him into our Wales Euro 2020 squad list.

CB: Chris Mepham

He was called into the Wales U20 squad for the 2017 Toulon Tournament but only played once, in a 2–2 group stage tie with Ivory Coast on June 5, 2017. On September 2, 2017, he made his U21 debut, starting in a 3–0 2019 UEFA U21 Championship qualifying victory over Switzerland.

Why is he on our Wales Euro 2020 list? Here is the reason. He became a star in 2016, yet his recent year's performance was the main reason that we offered him a spot in the

Wales squad for Euro 2021

.

In a 1–1 home draw against newly-promoted Sheffield United on August 10, 2019, Mepham scored his first Premier League goal and his first goal for the Cherries. During the first half of the 2019–20 season, Mepham made ten further

appearances for the Cherries, including a key role in the 0–1 away win and clean sheet at Chelsea on 14 December.

CB: Chris Gunter

has been on the team since 2006, well of course he was on the youth side of the national team but in 2007, he became a permanent member of the national team, so we do justice if we reserve a spot for Chris in the

Wales Euro 2020

lineup.

On May 26, 2007, he made his Wales debut in a match at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham, where he played for the first half of a 2–2 tie. During the 2010 World Cup qualifying, he was a constant presence at right-back, and he was the only member of the squad to appear in all ten games.

In a 0–1 home loss to Bulgaria in a Euro 2012 qualifying match at the

Stadium on October 8, 2010, Gunter received a straight red card in added time for a professional foul against Dimitar Rangelov. On October 15, 2013, at the age of 24, he earned his 50th cap for Wales in a 1–1 away draw with Belgium in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification.

LWB: Neco Williams

is the youngest player on our 

Wales Euro 2020

 list.

He got summoned into the senior Wales team for the first time in August 2020. On September 3, 2020, Williams made his senior Wales debut in a 1–0 UEFA Nations League victory over Finland. He made his senior team debut against Bulgaria in the UEFA Nations League on September 6, 2020, scoring the winning goal in a 1–0 victory for Wales.

RWB: Connor Roberts

Roberts has represented Wales at the under-19 level. Roberts was initially called up to the Wales under-21 team in March 2016, for their 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches, and made his debut as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 loss to Romania on March 29, 2016. He has been rated over 6 points in most of his recent games for

.

His presence in the Wales squad for Euro 2021 would be his first Euro experience.

CM: Joe Allen

Allen is a hardworking, tactically disciplined, and tenacious—though not overly physical—a midfielder who can help his team both creatively and offensively thanks to his ability to successfully transition the ball from defense to attack after regaining possession. He is a flexible and skilled midfielder with a low center of gravity and fast feet who can play in a variety of midfield positions.

has been on the team since 2005, thus he would most likely be part of the Wales squad for Euro 2021. In October 2011, he earned his first start for Wales in a 2–0 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group G encounter at his club's Liberty Stadium against Switzerland. In October of that year, he received the accolade for Wales' Player of the Year for 2012.

On 4 June 2014, in the absence of Ashley Williams due to injury, Allen captained Wales for the first time against the Netherlands. He was an integral part of his country's successful qualification for UEFA Euro 2016. In a 3–2 home loss to the Dutch on November 13, 2015, he had a penalty saved by Jasper Cillessen, but Joe Ledley scored off the rebound.

At Euro 2016, Allen set up Aaron Ramsey's goal in Wales' 3–0 win over Russia on June 20, allowing them to finish first in their group and advance to the tournament's knockout round.

CM: Aaron Ramsey

One of the most famous players on the Wales Euro 2020 list is Aaron Ramsey.

Ramsey combines outstanding technique with a muscular running style, and is best renowned for his dynamic movement off the ball and attacking qualities as a midfielder, particularly his ability to score goals with late runs into the penalty box. Ramsey has been recognized in the media for his energy, tenacity, and work rate across the pitch, in addition to his technical skills and offensive flair.

Ramsey was intentionally held back in the U21s to help them qualify for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, but they lost a close match to England U21s in the play-offs, where Ramsey himself scored a volley with his weaker foot in the second leg at Villa Park.

Ramsey was named to Chris Coleman's 23-man Wales team for Euro 2016 on May 31, 2016.

He set up Robson-match-winning Kanu's goal in Wales' 2–1 triumph over Slovakia in the tournament's opening match on June 11; it was Wales' first win in a major international football tournament in 58 years. On June 20, he scored the opening goal of his team's 3–0 win over Russia, which saw Wales finish first in their group.

Ramsey set up two goals in a 3–1 win over Belgium in the quarter-finals on July 1, advancing his country to the semi-finals; however, he was booked for the second time in the tournament during the encounter, ruling him out of the semi-final.

On July 6, Wales was eliminated from the tournament in the next match, which was won by eventual champions Portugal. Having said all of the points above, we think that

has a high chance of being in the Wales Euro 2020 starting eleven.

RW: Gareth Bale

Bale is best recognized for his speed, strength, stamina, and ability to head the ball, but he also has an exceptional technique and ball control. His skills, along with his speed and physicality, enable him to consistently slip past opponents and make runs into open space, where he may score or create.

Considering his abilities

is the best card that Wales can play in order to win this tournament that’s why he is on our players of Wales Euro 2020 list, but didn’t they have Bale in the previous Euros? They did and here are some of his highlights.

Bale scored two goals in Wales' 2–1 win against Andorra in their first match of the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign on September 9, 2014, one with a header and the other with a free-kick. With 14 goals, he tied for 10th place with John Hartson as Wales' all-time highest scorer. Bale scored two goals in a 3–0 triumph in Israel on March 28, 2015.

On his 50th cap, he scored the only goal in a home qualifier against Belgium, lifting Wales above Belgium to the top of Group B. In a 1–0 away win over Cyprus on September 3, he headed Jazz Richards' cross, putting Wales three points away from qualification.

Bale scored his seventh goal of the qualifying campaign in Wales' last qualifier against Andorra at the Cardiff City Stadium on 13 October 2015, ensuring the country's qualification to UEFA Euro 2016.

Bale scored the opening goal in Wales' UEFA Euro 2016 opener against Slovakia from a free kick on 11 June, propelling his team to a 2–1 triumph and their first win in a competition in 58 years.

LW: Daniel James

has also been a classic player for Wales and he has been in the team since 2013. He is most likely to be present in the starting eleven of Wales Euro 2020.

Manager Chris Coleman gave James his first senior call-up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying game against Serbia in 2017, and he went on to make his complete Wales debut in a match against Albania in November 2018 under Coleman's replacement, Ryan Giggs, playing the first 58 minutes of the game.

James scored his first goal for Wales in only his second cap, scoring the game's only goal in the first minutes against Slovakia in his competitive home debut. James scored the sole goal in a friendly triumph over Belarus during the September international break.

ST: Harry Wilson

Our last nominee for the last position of Wales Euro 2020 lineup is Harry Wilson.

Wilson rejoined the senior Welsh squad for a post-season training camp in Cardiff in June 2015. On March 20, 2017, he was named to the Wales team in place of the injured Tom Lawrence for the World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland.

In March 2018, Wilson was included in Wales' team for the China Cup. In his first international match, he scored his first goal in a 6–0 semi-final win over hosts China. It was also his 21st birthday when the game took place.

Wilson scored the game's only goal with a long-range free-kick similar to his recent one for Derby against Manchester United, and Wales manager Ryan Giggs, a former United player, joked that "I thought about fining him after he scored at Old Trafford but I won't be fining him now."

On May 1, 2021, he scored his first professional hat trick for Cardiff City in a 4-0 away win at

.

With all the reasons above Harry would the player who will complete the Wales Euro 2020 squad.

Read more

Follow 

 for the