EURO 2024 - Round of 16: The Roundup
- William Russell
- Jul 5, 2024
- 10 min read
The knockout stages of Euro 2024 carried forward the positive momentum of the group stages, with a continuation of the late drama, wonder goals and fantastic individual performances that made the group stages so enthralling.
I analyse all eight fixtures, and assess the performances of each team ahead of the quarter finals
Match 1 - Switzerland 2-0 Italy: Switzerland superb as they overwhelm a poor Italian side
The underperformance of traditional footballing nations continued into the knockout stages, with a fine team performance from Switzerland as they knocked out an underwhelming Italy.
Remo Freuler and Ruben Vargas got the goals to seal a much deserved victory for Switzerland, as they got the better of Italy in every sense, including dominating possession, creating chances and defending at the other end of the pitch.
Once again, Manuel Akanji impressed, as he continues to stake a claim for being one of the best players of the tournament so far with his brilliant performance, in which he broke the line with passes from the back and led the line playing in the middle of the back five.
In central midfield, Granit Xhaka played well too. After his remarkable season for Bayer Leverkusen, in which they went unbeaten domestically and reached the final of the Europe League, Xhaka has continued his form captaining his nation this summer.
The 31 year old is very comfortable on the ball, and works well with Freuler as a central midfield partnership.
He has improved to be more creative and looks to feed the front three of Vargas, Breel Embolo and Dan Ndoye more often, all of whom are all fluid and compliment each other's games.
If Xhaka continues his form and Switzerland win the Euros (however unlikely that may be) then I believe he should be in contention to win the Ballon D’Or, as an integral part of the unlikely success of both his club and his country.
Italy, meanwhile, must dust themselves off and rebuild after a poor defence of the European Championships after their success in Euro 2020.
They have lost a few key players from that campaign, including Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini and Ciro Immobile, but the likes of Donnarumma, Riccardo Calafiori, Federico Chiesa and Nicola Barella make for a good core that will only develop more with time.
They have a successful manager too in Luciano Spalletti, who is acclimated to Italian football and has many players that he has worked with before in his career at Inter and Napoli at his disposal.
But they were undeniably inferior to Switzerland in every possible department, and will have to bounce back to try and emulate the success of their Euro 2020 campaign in the World Cup in two years time.
Match 2: Germany 2-0 Denmark - Germans grind out the win in game heavily affected by the weather.
Germany avoided an upset, knocking Denmark out of the competition thanks to goals from Kai Havertz and Musiala.
Havertz’s goal, a precise penalty dispatched in the bottom corner, came just moments after Denmark had a goal disallowed for the closest of offsides from Joachim Andersen.
The penalty itself was debatably harsh, as a cross from the left hand side deflected off the arm of Andersen from close proximity, which was only given after a VAR check.
But the Germany goal wasn’t unwarranted, after a decent overall performance which saw them deservedly qualify for the quarter finals.
Musiala finished the job off on the counter attack late on, slotting a one on one in the bottom right corner from the left hand side of the box after pouncing on a through ball and accelerating away from the Danish defence.
The match itself was delayed for 25 minutes at the end of the first half, after lighting strikes nearby the stadium forced the referee into stopping the game until the storm blew over for the safety of the players.
Many German fans wanted Niclas Fullkrug to replace Havertz in the starting XI, but it was a different change that Julian Nagelsmann ended up making, bringing in Leroy Sane for Florian Wirtz.
Sane is faster than Wirtz, and offers more of an option running in behind. Plus, the Bayern Munich winger is left footed, meaning he provides a different attacking threat to Wirtz and gives the option of playing as a more natural winger on the left if necessary.
It also meant Wirtz was fresh and energetic when coming onto the pitch later in the game, and was able to cause danger in transitions as Denmark opened up to push for a goal.
It’ll be interesting to see whether Wirtz is reinstated to the side for the quarter final against Spain or not. Unlike many Spain teams of the past, Luis de la Fuente’s side is comfortable counter attacking with Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal on the flanks.
Therefore, Wirtz may be the better option due to being the more versatile and the more technically gifted player, with Sane an option from the bench with his blistering pace and directness.
Match 3: England 2-1 Slovakia (aet) - Three Lions lucky as Bellingham wonder goal bails them out in injury time
England were one again underwhelming, but got the job done eventually, as a Jude Bellingham overhead kick with the last touch of normal time saved his side from an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Slovakia.
Once again, England were turgid in their build up play, looking stodgy and uninspiring as they progressed the ball up the pitch.
They lacked threat from the wide areas, with both flanks looking equally uninspiring at creating chances.
There were a few positives, however. Kobbie Mainoo had a decent game next to an improved Declan Rice in midfield, something that will have surely secured his place in the team for the quarter final against Switzerland ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Connor Gallagher.
They looked a threat from set pieces too, with Phil Foden’s delivery causing problems, most notably for a Harry Kane header that was nodded wide of the post in the second half.
But, the game changer for England was a switch to a front two with Ivan Toney replacing Foden, and Bellingham’s overhead kick coming just a moment later.
England also had a back five, with Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze at right and left wing back, which personnel wise he isn’t likely to repeat but he is rumoured to be considering a switch to a back five to match Switzerland’s defensive structure.
And England scored just a minute into added time, with Harry Kane heading home after a back post header from Ivan Toney found the Bayern Munich striker in space in the box.
Whilst the performance was still poor, England showed promise for the future by showing that they are able to win whilst not playing well.
And with a rumoured formation change for England, involving a back three of Kyle Walker, John Stones and Ezri Konsa in Marc Guehi’s absence, with two wingbacks, Rice and Mainoo in midfield, and Foden and Bellingham in support of Kane, we may well see an upturn in England’s performance from their first four games.
If Alexander-Arnold and Saka are the wingbacks, then essentially England will be playing with two extra creative midfielders, which will help them with their issue of scoring goals and will help them get back to their previous standards and allow them to compete against Switzerland.
Match 4 - Spain survive early scare to overcome Georgia
Georgia put in a spirited performance and battled valiantly all night with a brilliant performance, but ultimately fell short as they were eventually overwhelmed by the quality of Spain.
De La Fuente’s side dominated proceedings early on, with Williams and Yamal on the wings causing numerous problems for the backline. However, the Georgians held strong, and scored on the counter thanks to a Robin Le Normand own goal after a cross from the right hand side.
From this point on, Georgia sat even deeper than before their goal. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was their outlet, and he did a great job of driving his side up the pitch with long carries, whilst Giorgi Marmadashilli in goal made a few good saves.
But it was a moment of quality from Rodri, arguably the best midfielder in the world, that drew Spain level, as he took a touch past on an onrushing defender and finished low in the bottom corner with his weaker left foot.
Rodri plays best when he’s partnered in midfield with amore defensively minded midfielder to allow him to take on some of the creative burden himself, such as when he plays with Mateo Kovacic for club side Manchester City.
Building the team around the 28 year old will give Spain the best chance of winning the tournament, hence why Fabian has been utilised next to Rodri to great success so far.
Along with Williams and Dani Olmo, Fabian scored in the second half as Spain eventually overcame Georgia to qualify.
They now face tournament hosts Germany in a tightly contested quarter final between the two best teams at the Euros so far, thus making it disappointing that they meet as early as the quarter finals.
Both sides will look to attack each other, therefore, I expect a tightly contested high scoring game that will be settled by whoever holds their nerve during a penalty shootout.
Match 5 - France 1-0 Belgium - France squeak through thanks to own goal.
France and Belgium played out a cagey affair, with Les Bleus just about able to come out on top thanks to a Jan Vertonghen own goal, continuing their record of not scoring a single open play goal in the tournament to date.
Randall Kolo Muani's shot deflected off the former Tottenham defender to give France a late lead, something Belgium weren't able to overcome despite the attacking firepower they had on the pitch.
Belgium will be disappointed as their “golden age” of players have failed to progress far once again at a major tournament.
The likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku and Vertonghen have at most one major tournament left in them, and whilst they are enjoying a second wave of young talent in the shape of Jeremy Doku, Amadou Onana and Arthur Theate, it is incomparable to the era of 2016-21 for Belgian football.
France, meanwhile, qualify for the quarter finals in the most unconvincing of fashions, failing once again to score a goal from open play.
Every team remaining in the competition has scored more goals than them, which is a record that doesn’t represent the quality of their attacking players.
They’ve failed to solidify a first choice starting XI, with the attacking structure of the team constantly chopping and changing depending on where Kylian Mbappe plays.
Ahead of their quarter final against Portugal, they have to address similar issues to England; they need to improve their attack whilst keeping their largely effective defence intact.
Match 6 - Portugal 0-0 Slovenia (3-0 on pens) - Diogo Costa the hero as Ronaldo endures mixed fortunes from the spot
Portugal needed penalty kicks to edge past Slovenia and book a place in the quarter finals to face France.
After a goalless and fairly incident-free first 90 minutes, the game somewhat burst into life in extra time.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who had missed a few decent half chances already in the game, was given the chance to put Portugal in the lead from the penalty spot.
But his effort was brilliantly saved by Jan Oblak, the Atletico keeper, who denied the 39 year old from scoring his first goal at his final ever European Championships.
Ronaldo was inconsolable on the touchline at halftime of extra time, as he looked completely down and out.
But in the shootout, he held his nerve and slotted his penalty in the corner. But the hero was Porto’s Diogo Costa, who saved three well struck penalties to give Portugal a 3-0 win on spot kicks.
It was Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva - who missed as Manchester City were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League quarter finals, dispatched their penalties well to send Portugal through.
Despite his woes in front of goal, Ronaldo is likely to stay in Portugal’s starting eleven against France, with his movement and reputation alone occupying defenders to create space for other attackers.
If he remains poor in front of goal, however, the likes of Goncalo Ramos and Diogo Jota are waiting in the ranks to make an impact off the bench.
Match 7 - Romania 0-3 Netherlands - Gakpo inspired Netherlands knock Romania out of the tournament
The Netherlands beat Romania 3-0, but the result didn’t fully represent the competitiveness of the match, with the Dutch being the more prolific side in a tight affair.
The quality of Cody Gakpo, Memphis Depay, Xavi Simons and Donyell Malen from the bench (the first player at the tournament to score twice in one game) wore down the resolute Romanian defence led by another strong performance from Tottenham Hotspur’s Radu Dragusin.
But ultimately, it was Gakpo who led the Dutch attack and shone as their leading light.
Gakpo usually plays centrally for his club side, Liverpool, either as a striker or an attacking midfielder, where he drops into the same spaces in between the lines of midfield and attack.
But for the Netherlands, he is able to play in his preferred position on the left hand side of a front three, where he is more able to show off his powerful dribbling style due to his big frame and long legs, that make him fairly unique for a winger at the top end of football.
Building on from a solid defence containing the likes of Nathan Ake, Virgil van Dijk and Stefan de Vrij, Gakpo is the man to build the attack around, considering he has the necessary quality to damage the biggest of teams.
Romania, meanwhile, were one of the feel good teams of the tournament. Their passionate and loud support, combined with their good football on the pitch, made them an extremely likeable team, and they’ll be sorely missed at the tournament.
Match 8 - Turkey stun Austria with early goal as they qualify thanks to late wonder save.
Turkey provided the shock of the round of 16 matches, and are very much the dark horse team going into the last eight after beating Austria 2-1.
The game was decided really in two moments, one at the very start of the game, and one at the very end,
.
First, Merih Demiral - who has since been given a two match ban for a politically motivated celebration, thus ruling him out of the tournament unless Turkey make the final - stabbed home from inside the penalty area inside the opening two minutes to give his side the lead.
From this point, Austria had most of the ball, but Turkey looked the more menacing team, with Arda Guler leading them forward in transitions from the right hand side, and also tracking back well to help decide.
With another goal from Demiral and Michael Gregoritch to pull one back for Ralf Ragnick’s side in the second half, it all came down to a chance in the very last minute of the game, one that was saved fantastically by Mert Gunok for Turkey.
He lept the full length of the goal to tip a header from Christoph Baumgartner wide of the post and prevent the game from going to extra time, essentially making himself a national hero in the football world.
They’ll need some luck against the Netherlands to qualify for the semi finals, but with a strong defensive performance with all their top attacking players turning up, nothing is off the cards.
Player of the Round - Round of 16: Diogo Costa (Portugal)
Team of the Round - Round of 16: Switzerland
Goal of the Round - Round of 16: Jude Bellingham (England) vs Slovakia
Best XI of the Round - Round of 16:
GK: Diogo Costa (Portugal)
RCB: Merih Demiral (Turkey)
CB: Manuel Akanji (Switzerland)
LCB: Antonio Rudiger (Germany)
RM: Arda Guler (Turkey)
CM: Rodri (Spain)
CM: Granit Xhaka (Switzerland)
LM: Nico Williams (Spain)
RW: Lamine Yamal (Spain) LW: Jamal Musiala (Germany)
ST: Cody Gakpo (Netherlands)
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