Euro 2016

Gareth Bale looking to beat England to top spot in Group B

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 05 June 2016

Gareth Bale targets top spot in Group B at the European Championship finals, as Wales look forward to their first major tournament in a generation.

Wales forward Gareth Bale has insisted that his side are not at Euro 2016 to simply make up the numbers, and will instead look to progress into the knockout stages as Group B winners.

The Red Dragons, who will be competing at their first major finals in 58 years, are pitted in a group containing England, Slovakia and Russia.

In what is an expanded tournament this time around, finishing in third place could be enough for tournament rookies Wales to secure a place in the round of 16 in France.

Despite lacking the pedigree since qualifying for the World Cup in 1958, Bale has set his sights high with less than a week to go before his side's opening fixture against Slovakia in Bordeaux.

"We're not going there just to make up the numbers," he told BBC Sport. "We want to win every game that we play, we want to win the group and give ourselves the best chance. No matter who we play we feel confident in our abilities we can win. We'll go out there and try and do that.

"We all feel like brothers and will literally do anything for each other. We've all been together for such a long time and get on really well. We know each other's games and we all fight for each other on the pitch."

Bale will play a maximum of 45 minutes for Wales in their only Euros warm-up fixture with Sweden on Sunday afternoon, having been granted time off following his Champions League exploits with Real Madrid.