Soccer Euro 2016 Wales Belgium

Wales' Gareth Bale, left, and Ben Davies celebrate at the end of the Euro 2016 quarterfinal soccer match between Wales and Belgium, at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Villeneuve diAscq, near Lille, France, on Friday, July 1, 2016. Wales won, 3-1. (AP Photo | Michel Spingler)

Portugal meets Wales in a semifinal match of the 2016 European Championship at Stade de Lyon in Lyon, France on Wednesday, July 6, 2016.

The winner advances to the championship game against the winner of Thursday's semifinal between Germany and France.

Here's what you need to know:

Who: Portugal vs. Wales

What: European Championship semifinal

Where: Stade de Lyon, Lyon, France

When: Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Time: 3 p.m. USA Eastern (9 p.m. in France)

TV: ESPN, ESPN Deportes

Livestream: WatchESPN

He's being talked up as the future of Portugal's national team and the likely heir to Cristiano Ronaldo.

Renato Sanches certainly has plenty to live up to.

The flamboyant, dreadlocked Sanches arrived at the European Championship with a reputation as one of the continent's most-talented young players. Bayern Munich clearly thought so, reportedly beating Manchester United to the 18-year-old winger's signature by handing him one of the richest contracts in Bundesliga history for a transfer fee that could climb to about $90 million.

At Euro 2016, he's showing what all the fuss is about.

After starting the tournament on the bench, Sanches forced his way into the starting lineup thanks to an attention-grabbing cameo as a second-half substitute against Croatia in the round of 16.

UEFA's technical group even selected him as man of the match, and handed him the award again five days later after Sanches scored -- and upstaged Ronaldo -- in the quarterfinal win over Poland in a penalty shootout. Sanches, of course, had no qualms taking one of the early penalties.

Fearless, hard-working, and with a bag of tricks: Sanches looks the real deal even at this age. UEFA has already said he is in contention for Young Player of the Tournament award. And he is surely now a guaranteed starter against Wales in the semifinal in Lyon on Wednesday.

"I think he is a special, special young man," Portugal midfielder Andre Gomes said Monday at the squad's training base southwest of Paris.

Gomes, who lost his place to Sanches for the Poland game, should know. They played alongside each other in the youth-team set-up at Portuguese club Benfica, with Gomes immediately seeing the potential.

"There's no surprise the way he has been performing," Gomes said. "We know how far we can go."

Sanches appears to be Ronaldo's natural heir.

"He's a nice kid, he listens to the old guys, he wants to learn, which is good," Portugal defender Jose Fonte said. "It's great to have him around and he'll be the future of the national side, for sure."

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Joe Giglio may be reached at jgiglio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports. Find NJ.com on Facebook.