Euro 2016: Wales genuinely believe they can win the final as the Gareth Bale component gives them a chance

If Wales can beat Belgium next weekend as they did a year ago, they firmly belief that they will be inside the Stade de France for the final

Wales firmly believe they can reach the Euro 2016 final and win it (Getty)

“If we win this, you’ve got to retire!” the Wales full back Neil Taylor told his teammate Andy King as they sat in the Parc des Princes dressing room late on Saturday afternoon, taking in the enormity of reaching the quarter finals of the European Championships. When you put it to these players that they might actually make the final, they don’t laugh in your face.

“It’s amazing. We’re 180 minutes away,” said Taylor, the full back who scored against Russia and joined in the attacking advances in the 1-0 win over Northern Ireland. It’s the potential pathway opening out towards the Stade de France final which makes the notion considerably less than ridiculous. Their Belgians - a side Wales took four points from in qualifying including a 1-0 in Cardiff - stand before them next, and if that obstacle can be overcome, it would be Portugal or Poland the following Wednesday, with the continent’s powerhouses on the other side of the draw.

The Gareth Bale component is what makes anything possible. Taylor says that “in 90 minutes anything can happen” and posits the notion that “whatever luck that is with us at the moment can carry on” though in Bale there is an individual whom the percentages suggest will deliver some kind of pivotal moment. He was on the fringes of the 1-0 win over Northern Ireland until delivering the low cross of deadly weight and accuracy that that dragged Gareth McAuley into placing it past his goalkeeper as Hal Robson-Kanu lurked.

Belgium know all about this problem. Wales’ 1-0 win over them in Cardiff a year ago this month came because of one moment’s lapse, when their defence granted Bale time and space eight yards out from goal to chest down, swivel and shoot beyond Thibaut Courtois. The build-up to that match was significant. It came to light that Marc Wilmots’ had been in discussions with Schalke about replacing Roberto Di Matteo. But it is the consequences of a lapse when Bale is in the building which they will be talking about all week.

As the Welsh players left Parc des Princes on Saturday evening, there was a very substantial sense Belgium are a better proposition than Northern Ireland as they will allow them more space to play. “I think next week as a football match may suit us a bit more as the team will come out and try and attack us a little bit more and we have the players to exploit that,” said Chris Gunter.

But the psychological dynamic seems equally important. Defeat in Paris would have made this tournament a disappointment for Wales, despite the accomplishments of beating Slovakia and Russia. “Being favourites for this game was tough,” as Gunter put it. Now Wales can feel they have achieved, whatever the outcome. “Nobody will be expecting a lot of things from us,” Gunter observed.

Though Ashley Williams’ shoulder injury is a cause for concern, he has not been in commanding form here. James Collins would come in.

So utterly unexpected is this journey to the quarter finals that Gunter agreed to best man at his brother Mark’s wedding in Mexico on Thursday week, with most of the family contingent flying out on Tuesday and the full back’s parents flying out on Saturday, fewer than 24 hours after Wales have played their quarter-final in Lille. Gunter’s brother has been talking about taking a flight out of Cancun to France on Thursday and returning immediately after the game. “I am not sure that will go down well with the rest!” says Gunter. The other possible best man candidate is likely to be in France too. “He’s followed Wales for about 15 years and there is no way he will be in Mexico if we are still in it. I’m sure everyone will get to the games and get to the wedding. I think it will be the first best man's speech on Skype!” It says a great deal for the Welsh mindset that these calculations are even a part of the conversation.