Italy keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was busier than he had been in four prior matches in the first half of his team’s Euro 2020 quarterfinal, but it was a Nicolò Barella goal vs Belgium that gave Italy the lead in the first half. The Barella goal was so great it cured Ciro Immobile’s leg, the striker miraculously getting up unharmed after having been seemingly shot in the leg moments earlier.
The Euro 2020 quarterfinal between Belgium and Italy on Friday is full of intrigue. Romelu Lukaku goes up against friends and foes from Serie A. The Italian defense is once again looking like an Italian defense, with Gianluigi Donnarumma taking the torch from Gianluigi Buffon. Thorgan Hazard has stepped out of the shadow of his older brother Eden. Italians are pushing for Jorginho to win the Ballon d’Or. And, of course, we have a coaching rematch from the 2013 FA Cup Final. All of these facets will weigh heavily on our Belgium vs Italy prediction and preview.
The18’s renowned data scientist introduced the team to an API (application programming interface) that gave predictions for games in the European Championship. We naturally took that as a challenge to see if we could predict the outcomes of games better than the algorithm. We’ll show the results from the Round of 16 before sharing our Euro 2020 quarterfinal predictions.
Five of our staff, including Grant the data scientist, took the challenge to outsmart the algorithm. After eight games in the Round of 16, this is what the leaderboard looks like.
Fiorentina has pulled off a fine piece of business by securing the services of the highly sought after forward Nicolás González. The 23-year-old Argentina native arrived last week from Stuttgart to complete a $25.3 million move.
González moved to Stuttgart from childhood club Argentinos Juniors in 2018 and went on to score 23 times and assist 10 goals in 79 games for the Swabians. He played a key role in the side that won promotion to the Bundesliga in 2019-20, scoring 14 goals. He missed much of last season through injury after suffering a torn muscle fiber.
If it seems like there have been a lot of own goals during Euro 2020, it's because they have been occurring at a rate unlike anything seen at an international tournament before.
The first European Championship was contested in 1960, and in the 15 tournaments up to now, there have been nine own goals. Through the first 41 matches at this summer's European Championship there have been nine own goals.
Euro 1960-2016: 9 own goals
Euro 2020: 9 own goals
Después de completar una fase de grupos inmaculada y perfecta, con siete goles a favor y cero en contra, muchos pensaron que Italia volvería a tener un paseo en los octavos de final ante Austria. La suposición, sin embargo, fue errónea. Si bien la Azzurra sobrevivió al partido y añadió un récord de imbatibilidad a su historia, el sufrimiento no estuvo ausente.
De hecho, la llave solo se resolvió en el tiempo extra.
A lot of pundits jumped on Julie Foudy’s Italy bandwagon after the Azzurri looked like a free-flowing, attacking side with seven goals in Group A action. But in case you have forgotten how Italians love to play football, Saturday’s win over Austria was another reminder they’re a defense-first team, as they set record for longest streak without conceding a goal.
Belgium forward Romelu Lukaku had fans ask him questions on Twitter and his responses display just why we love him. He replied to dozens of questions, including sharing his biggest motivation and even firing back at some haters, making this thread a must-see. As he lights up the pitch at Euro 2020, we look at the highlights from the Lukaku Q&A to get to know one of our favorite stars even more.
Let’s go ask your questions
Italy is hoping this is the start of a new golden generation after missing the World Cup three years ago; Austria is hoping its current golden generation can reach the Euro quarterfinals for the first time ever. The Euro 2020 Round of 16 continues with the top team from Group A against the runner-up from Group C. Read on for our Italy vs Austria prediction, preview and viewers guide.
The European Championship is entering its knockout phase and the following is an overview of the remaining 16 teams:
AUSTRIA