Wales host Poland in a Euro 2024 qualification play-off final at the Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday evening, with just under £45million separating the squad values of both sides.
Rob Page and his Wales can secure qualification to this summer’s European Championship in Germany on Tuesday night, but they’ll need to overcome a resolute Poland side at the Cardiff City Stadium.
After failing to secure direct qualification to the tournament via their qualifying group, the Dragons were afforded a second chance via the Euro 2024 qualifying play-offs, in which they drew Finland in the semi-final, whilst Robert Lewandowski and co faced Estonia.
The Welsh raced to an early lead through David Brooks against the Finnish, before goals from Neco Williams, Brennan Johnson and Daniel James confirmed their position in the final thanks to a 4-1 win in the capital.
Poland meanwhile, put a 10-man Estonia to the sword at the National Stadium in Warsaw, as Przemysław Frankowski, Piotr Zieliński, Jakub Piotrowski and Sebastian Szymański all scored in a thumping 5-1 victory.
Tuesday’s clash will be the first meeting between the pair since 2022, where the Polish recorded back-to-back 2-1 and 1-0 Nations League victories against Wales, and we at SportsLens are doing a deep dive on the squad values of both sides ahead of the action this time around.
Wales vs Poland Squad Values Compared: Positional Breakdown
Goalkeepers
In terms of goalkeepers, regular gametime has been an issue for each of Wales’ four stoppers. Danny Ward (£1.7m), Adam Davies (£425k) and Tom King (£170k) are third choice at their respective clubs, whilst Wayne Hennessey (£215k) is seemingly fourth choice for Premier League side Nottingham Forest.
The four post a combined value of just £2.51m, as Ward looks set to start against the Polish, as he did last time out in the impressive 4-1 win over Finland in the semi-final.
Poland do not share the same problem in terms of their goalkeepers, as their number one Wojciech Szczęsny (£6.86m) remains first choice at Juventus, while Marcin Bulka (£15.43m) starts for Nice in France, and Lukasz Skorupski (£3m) is first choice for Serie A side Bologna.
All three combine to a market value of around £25.29m, which is close to £23m more than Wales’ four combined.
Defenders
Not only do Poland lead the way in terms of market value in the goalkeeping department, but they also do in the defensive section, with their eight defenders combining to a value of around £64m, whilst Wales’ seven are valued just shy of £45m.
Semi-final goalscorer Neco Williams is the Dragons’ most expensive defensive player at £14.5m, with fellow starters Ben Davies (£10.25m), Connor Roberts (£6m), Chris Mepham (£6m) and Joe Rodon (£5.1m) making up the bulk of their value across the backline. Championship pair Jay Dasilva (£1.7m) and Morgan Fox (£510k) were also named in Thursday’s squad, but failed to feature.
Two of Poland’s most expensive players within their entire squad are defenders, with the most valuable being Aston Villa’s Matty Cash (£24m), who looks set to miss out on Tuesday’s game through injury, followed by Arsenal‘s Jakub Kiwior (£21.43m).
Southampton’s Jan Bednarek (£9.43m) is their third highest valued defender, with Pawel Bochniewicz (£3m), Paweł Dawidowicz (£2.4m), Sebastian Walukiewicz (£2.14m), Bartosz Bereszyński (£1.29m) and Bartosz Salamon (£343k) also listed as options at the back.
Midfielders
Wales boast just one midfielder worth more than £10m according to Transfermarkt, with Leeds United’s Ethan Ampadu valued at £12.8m. He has been marked as a price-riser, and so has his midfield partner against Finland, Jordan James, who is worth £3.85m.
Other options that Page has to choose from includes captain Aaron Ramsey (£1.025m), Rubin Colwill (£857k), Dylan Levitt (£685k), Charlie Savage (£510k) and Josh Sheehan (£260k), however all five failed to feature in Thursday night’s semi-final in Cardiff.
Whilst Wales’ seven midfielders are worth a combined value of just over £20m, Poland boast a higher combined market value once again with their midfield 11 posting up a £78m price tag.
Napoli’s Piotr Zieliński (£21.43m) is the most valuable midfielder, and their second most valuable player overall, with Sebastian Szymanski (£17.14m), Nicola Zalewski (£10.28m), Jakub Moder (£8.57m), Przemyslaw Frankowski (£7.71m), Bartosz Slisz (£5.14m), Damian Szymanski (£3m), Jakub Piotrowski (£2.14m), Tymoteusz Puchacz (£1.29m), Pawel Wszolek (£857k) and Taras Romanczuk (£430k) also available for selection.
Forwards
Perhaps surprisingly, Wales and Tottenham‘s Brennan Johnson is the most valuable player within both squads, and at a price of around £41.13m – he is valued higher than Poland’s entire front line combined.
This front line includes Barcelona marksman Robert Lewandowski (£12.85m), as well as Adam Buksa (£5.14m), Karol Swiderski (£5.14m), Krzystof Piatek (£4.71m) and Kamil Grosicki (£428k), combining to a total value of around £28.28m.
The Dragons’ seven attackers on the other hand, combine to a total market value of close to £85m. Johnson (£41.13m) makes up almost half of that number, with Harry Wilson (£14.5m), Daniel James (£12m), David Brooks (£7.7m), Nathan Broadhead (£3.4m), Rabbi Matondo (£2.15m), Kieffer Moore (£1.88m) and Liam Cullen (£1m) providing the rest.
Full Wales vs Poland Squad Values
Wales – £150.63m
Poland – £195.53m
Note: All player values are based on listings from Transfermarkt and subject to change.
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
