FRANCE vs BELGIUM
July 1 – Duesseldorf, 18:00
Belgium’s search for a first major international trophy has led them to a clash with the powerful French and coach Domenico Tedesco’s side having shown nothing in Germany to suggest this is a hurdle they can clear. France have not hit top gear either, though both teams had two clean sheets in the pool stage, suggesting their issues lie with attacking potency. That is surprising with the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Kevin De Bruyne in their ranks. There have been 13 goals scored in the last three games between the teams.
PORTUGAL vs SLOVENIA
July 1 – Frankfurt, 21:00
Portugal’s loss to Georgia in their final pool game came out of nowhere, ending a run of 12 consecutive victories in competitive fixtures since the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. They still topped their pool and play a Slovenia team who advanced to the last 16 on the back of three draws, and who beat Portugal 2-0 in a friendly in March. No player in the tournament has had more attempts at goal than Cristiano Ronaldo (12) but he has yet to score.
ROMANIA vs NETHERLANDS
July 2 – Munich, 18:00
There were contrasting emotions for these teams following the pool stages as Romania wildly celebrated first place in the Euros knockouts since 2000 by topping Group E and Netherlands seethed as they slipped to a 3-2 defeat by Austria and finished third in their pool. The Dutch will hope to avoid a second successive last-16 exit having lost 2-0 to the Czech Republic three years ago. They have won the last four meetings with Romania.
AUSTRIA vs TURKEY
July 2 – Leipzig, 21:00
Austria won 6-1 when these teams met in a friendly in March but a determined Turkey will be a different proposition this time round. The Austrians were among the most impressive sides in the pool stages, even if they lost their opener 1-0 to France, and have momentum going into the knockout rounds. So do Turkey, but they were also soundly beaten 3-0 by Portugal five days ago. Only Scotland (7), Croatia (6) and Poland (6) conceded more goals than Turkey (5) in the pool stages.
REUTERS
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