Wales and Russia will battle it out in Toulouse, France this Monday, June 20th as both nations hope to land a spot in the round of 16 at the Euro 2016 tournament. England leads Group B with four points followed by Wales and Slovakia with three each and Russia with just one. A Russia win would vault them past Wales, while a Welsh win could see them win the group if England fails to beat Slovakia the same day. If Wales and Slovakia finish level on points, Wales will win the tiebreaker due to their head-to-head-win over Slovakia in their opening match. Wales is currently ranked number 26 in the world by FIFA while Russia is ranked 29th.
Russia vs Wales – Pinnacle SOCCER BETTING LINE:
- Pinnacle currently lists Russia as the favorites at +155 with Wales +206 and a draw at +230
Russia vs Wales – Head to Head:
- These two teams last met in a 2010 World Cup qualifier with Russia winning 3-1 in Wales in September of 2009. They also won their home qualifier 2-1 a year earlier. Overall, the countries have met just four times with Russia winning three and drawing one with three wins in a row. They’ve also outscored Wales 6-3.
This is Wales’ first major tournament since the 1958 World Cup in Sweden and they’ve gotten off to a pretty good start. Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale gave them the lead after 10 minutes against 24th-ranked Slovakia, but they allowed Ondrej Duda to score the equalizer in the 61st minute. However, substitute Hal Robson-Kanu scored the winner for Wales 20 minutes later. Wales then started well against 11th-ranked England as Bale once again gave them the lead in the first half. However, Jamie Vardy tied the match for England early in the second half and Wales made a huge mistake by sitting back. This allowed England’s Daniel Sturridge to score the winner in the second minute of injury time.
Russia will need to keep an eye on Bale since he’s one of the best in the world, but they’re not a one-man team as Sam Vokes, Robson-Kanu, Ben Davies, Jonny Williams and Ashley Williams, Aron Ramsey Joe Ledley and Joel Allen can also be a handful for any team. Russia kicked off their tournament by stealing a point against England in a 1-1 draw. England went ahead in the 73rd minute, but Russia managed to pull level in injury time just before the final whistle blew. However, the Russians weren’t as lucky in their second match against Slovakia as they fell behind 2-0 before scoring in the 80th minute, but ended up losing 2-1.
But even though they enter this contest with just one point to their name, Russia could finish with four points with a win and overtake Wales. If England beats Slovakia Russia would then finish as group runners up. If Slovakia should beat England then Russia and England would be level on four points. Also, If England and Slovakia draw and Russa wins then England would win the group with five points while Slovakia and Russia would have four each. However, Slovakia would win the tiebreaker with their head-to-head win against Russia. The Russians would still have an excellent chance of advancing with four points though as one of the four best third-place group teams. Russia must win this game though to guarantee advancement.