The end of the group stage at a major international tournament is always a bittersweet moment. No longer are we treated to a feast of two-to-four matches per day, but with the knockout rounds beginning you’re left with the best teams going head-to-head in win-or-go-home matches. With that in mind, here are The18’s Euro 2020 Round of 16 predictions for the eight matches we can’t wait to watch.
After 13 straight days of Euro group play, fans can finally take a moment to catch their breath. Over 3,240 minutes of soccer were played in the group stage and now it’s time for the Round of 16. Before moving on, it’s worth looking back at the worst Euro teams from the group stage that left us disappointed.
The European Championship is entering its knockout phase and the following is an overview of the remaining 16 teams:
AUSTRIA
Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne go together in Belgium's attack like peanut butter and jelly coming together to make the most timeless of sandwiches. They've built their impressive careers at separate clubs, but when they come together with Belgium there's little opponents can do to stop them. Having so much success between them, the two obviously had to create a celebratory handshake to go with it.
Last week, Hungary passed an anti-LGBTQ+ law outlawing any content that might “promote homosexuality” to Hungarians under the age of 18. It’s a law that has already sparked legal proceedings against it, and one that came front and center in the soccer world for Hungary’s Euro 2020 match against Germany on Wednesday in Munich.
Los goles son goles. Sean de chilena, de cabeza o de rodilla. Cristiano Ronaldo los ha hecho de todas formas, pero por alguna razón hay un grupo de personas que trata de invalidar sus logros porque muchas de esas conquistas han sido de penal. Hasta lo llaman Penaldo.
Obviamente, es una insensatez.
Lo relevante es que mientras sus críticos pierden el tiempo en boberías, Cristiano Ronaldo hoy ante Francia marcó dos goles y consiguió convertirse en el máximo goleador masculino a nivel de selecciones, igualando al iraní Ali Daei, con 109 conquistas.
Wipe the sweat off your palms, Portugal fans, your team survived the group stage.
The rematch of the Euro 2016 final between Portugal and France proved infinitely more entertaining five years later. Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a brace with two kicks from the penalty spot to tie the men’s all-time international scoring record and confirm Portugal’s place in the knockout stages.
Lackadaisical, idealess and without any clear attacking direction, Germany still managed to dramatically avoid an early Euro 2020 exit after Leon Goretzka’s 84th-minute strike salvaged a 2-2 draw with Hungary in Munich on Wednesday night.
It was never going to be easy in the group of death, but no one could’ve predicted Hungary’s ability to take points off both France and Germany to hugely alter the shape of the group.
Cristiano Ronaldo had never scored against France in six competitions, then came a gift. Well, Danilo Pereira won’t think it was a gift, if he remembers it at all. Pereira was waylaid by keeper Hugo Lloris, setting up the Ronaldo goal vs France from the spot.
Portugal and France traded penalty kicks to go into halftime time tied on Wednesday in Budapest. Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 30th minute, with Karim Benzema equalizing just before halftime. Both also scored in the second half of the 2-2 draw.
La selección de España tuvo su mejor partido en lo que va de Eurocopa contra Eslovaquia, al vencerlos por 5-0 en un partido que lo tuvo todo: fallas claras, penales, autogoles, goles de dos sustitutos… Una auténtica locura.
Los españoles habían sido muy criticados por la prensa y el público en general, tras haber dado una imagen pobre y no ganar en ninguno de sus dos primeros partidos frente a Suecia y Polonia.