The Round of 16 of Euro Cup is over and we now head into the Quarter Finals stage. We got so many upsets in the Round of 16 as some of the favorites were knocked out and underdogs going through to the next stage. Let’s us recall what happened at the Round of 16 stage.
Related: Sweden vs Ukraine Euro Cup 2020 match prediction
1st Match – Wales vs Denmark:
Before coming into this fixture everyone thought this will be a close game but the Danes had different plans. Denmark thrased Wales and put 4 goals past them to ease their way into the Quarter Final stage.
2nd Match – Netherlands vs Czech Republic:
Netherlands were favorites to win this tie but the team didn’t really perform that well. On top of that the team collapsed when de Ligt got the red card to deny Patrick Schik a clear chance on goal. In the end Czech Republic won and the unexpected happened.
3rd Match – Italy vs Austria:
This was an interesting match as Austria held Italy for the full 90 min. And took the match in extra time, where Italy took the early lead thanks to goals from Chiesa and Pessina. Sasa Kalajdzic scored a late goal for the Austrians which stopped the Italian’s clean sheet record at 1168 minutes which is a World Record run of defensive performance.
4th Match – Belgium vs Portugal:
The defending champions met the World number 1 team in this match and clinched victory thanks to a wonder strike from Thorgan Hazard. Portugal created many chances in this game but that didn’t resulted in anything.
5th Match – Croatia vs Spain:
This was one of the best matches of the tournament. Croatia took an early lead as a back pass from Pedri resulted in an own goal. Pablo Sarabia equalised for Spain, 5 minutes before the half time. Spain got the 2nd goal quickly in the second half and caught Croatia’s defence sleeping on the 3rd goal by Ferran Torres. Spain had a comfortable lead but Croatia had other plans as they somehow managed to get a 2nd goal 5 minutes before the 90. This was all fairytale like but Croatia got a third goal in added time and the game was still on, extra time to follow. Spain sealed the match with 2 goals in 1st half of extra time and became the first team in the Euro’s to score 5 goals in two consecutive matches.
6th Match – France vs Switzerland:
This match also happened on the same match day as Croatia vs Spain, and was equally entertaining. Switzerland got an early lead with a strike from Seferovic, they had a chance to double their lead but Ricardo Rodriguez penalty was saved by Lloris. At the other end Karim Benzema scored twice in 2 minutes to give France the lead. Paul Pogba scored a wonder strike to make it 3 for France. But Switzerland never stopped fighting and got their 2nd goal again scored by Seferovic, at the 90th minute Mario Gavranovic scored and now the game is going to extra time. The match got settled at penalties where Switzerland won 5-4.
7th Match – England vs Germany:
The rivalry between England and Germany has a long history, which made this matchup even more great. Everybody thought this will be a close match but England proved otherwise as they denied Germany any chance to score with a great performance from the whole team. The scoring opened when Luke Shaw released a low cross into the box and Raheem Sterling just had to touch the ball. From the same left hand side some 10 minutes later Jack Grealish put a lovely cross and Harry Kane pounced on it and finally scored in this tournament to put his team through to the Quarter Finals.
8th Match – Sweden vs Ukraine:
Sweden were favorites to win this tie but Ukraine cannot be take lightly. Ukraine opened their scoring with their Captain Oleksandr Zinchenko scoring 27 minutes into the half. Sweden answered with a goal from outside the box by Emil Forsberg, and now we are level. The match went to extra time where at last moments a cross by Zinchenko was put in the net by Dovbyk and Ukraine were through to the Quarter Finals.
Now let’s see what the Quarter Final stage has to offer.
1st Quarter Final – Switzerland vs Spain:
Spain currently look stronger than Switzerland but we can’t say anything with full surety as anything can happen. Switzerland knocked out the World Champions France, so they cannot be take lightly. A big blow for Switzerland is that their Captain Granit Xhaka is suspended for this fixture as he picked up a yellow card in his previous match.
2nd Quarter Final – Belgium vs Italy:
This is a mouth watering fixture as both of these team are great one is a defensive powerhouse and other an attacking. Kevin de Bryune and Eden Hazard are doubts for Belgium but their coach has said they will be fit before their tie on Friday.
3rd Quarter Final – Czech Republic vs Denmark:
Czech Republic are currently the lowest ranked team of all the teams in the Quarter Finals. They are ranked 40th in FIFA Rankings while there opponents are at the 10th position. This will be a good matchup as both the teams are full on confidence.
4th Quarter Final – England vs Ukraine:
Many people think that this will be relatively easy for England as they got a weaker opponent but we cannot downplay Ukraine as they have played amazing football so far in the tournament. The chances of England winning this tie are pretty high but we can’t predict anything as this is football and anything can happen here.
Below is the fixture of the knockout stage, the below image is taken from the website Fotmob.