The preliminary round of Euro 2024 is history. The 16 round of 16 finalists have been determined - and now the pairings are also known. The knockout phase begins next Saturday with the match between Switzerland and Italy.
The round of 16 pairings
- Switzerland - Italy (June 29, 6 p.m., Berlin)
- Germany - Denmark (June 29, 9 p.m., Dortmund)
- England - Slovakia (June 30, 6 p.m., Gelsenkirchen)
- Spain - Georgia (June 30, 9 p.m., Cologne)
- France - Belgium (July 1, 18:00, Düsseldorf)
- Portugal - Slovenia (July 1, 9 p.m., Frankfurt)
- Romania - Netherlands (July 2, 18:00, Munich)
- Austria - Turkey (July 2, 9 p.m., Leipzig)
- Poland, Croatia, Albania, Scotland, Serbia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Hungary have beeneliminated.
A little hope, you can always find it somehow. You just have to look for it, as the English newspaper "Daily Mail" did. In view of the Three Lions' poor European Championship performances so far, this hopefulness does not seem to be particularly widespread in England. Actually. Because now something else is positive, namely a look at the tournament tree.
England face Slovakia in the round of 16, a feasible opponent for the co-favorites. If they are successful, they will face the winner of the clash between Italy and Switzerland in the quarter-finals. The other round of 16 matches in England's half of the tournament are: Netherlands v Romania and Austria v Turkey.
None of these are teams that had previously been counted among the top favorites to win the European Championship. Because these teams are all in the other half. The "shark tank", as the Portuguese newspaper "A Bola" writes.
This "shark tank" includes Spain, who impressed in the group stage, hosts Germany, Portugal, France and Belgium.
"England now have the best chance of reaching the final," writes the Daily Mail. However, the tournament tree is not only supposedly advantageous for England. It could also be advantageous for the Swiss national team. With Italy, Switzerland will face the defending champions in the round of 16, but also a team that would have already been eliminated if not for the 98th-minute goal against Croatia. And in a possible quarter-final, their opponents would probably be England. Another football heavyweight and 2021 European Championship finalist, the English have also failed to impress so far at this European Championship - even if they are already dreaming of the final again on the island.
