Quarter-final table known, France-Portugal clash on the program – Libération

Euro Football 2024fileThe Netherlands and Turkey qualified for the last eighth-finals on Tuesday evening. Les Bleus will play on Wednesday at 9 p.m., after a mouth-watering Spain-Germany match.

The continental “top 8” for 2024 is now all known after the epilogue of the round of 16 on Tuesday. All the continent’s heavyweights are there, with the exception of Italy, the defending champion, and Croatia.

The quarter-finals will open on Friday with two highly anticipated matches: Spain-Germany (6 p.m.) and France-Portugal (9 p.m.), with nine titles in total and a host of stars expected to compete.

The other half of the draw, on Saturday, will see England face Switzerland, then the Netherlands against Turkey. The histories of these last two nations, not seen in the quarter-finals since 2008, will collide in Berlin in a fiery atmosphere, with each side having some of the most invested supporters in Germany.

On Tuesday evening, Turkey beat an Austrian team that was presented as favourites, especially after the 6-1 thrashing they inflicted on them in March. The hero was Merih Demiral, who scored 57 seconds after kick-off (1st, 1-0), then in the second half (59th, 2-0) after another corner taken by Arda Güler, a young Real Madrid star. The team led by Vincenzo Montella, without its captain Hakan Calhanoglu, who was suspended, turned their backs on the Austrians who came back through Michael Gregoritsch (66th, 2-1), and were dangerous until the final seconds.

The Netherlands will stand in their way after having dominated Romania (3-0) relatively easily in Munich, Tuesday late afternoon. The “Oranje” selection relied on the talent of Cody Gakpo, scorer (20th), then passer for Donyell Malen (83rd), an effective substitute credited with a double (90th + 3). The Netherlands, present in the quarter-finals without interruption from 1998 to 2008, put an end to a long crossing of the desert. They will be there this time, like the dominant nations that are Germany, Spain, England and France.

On Tuesday, the day after their 1-0 victory against Belgium, the Blues of masked captain Kylian Mbappé sought to recharge their batteries in their base camp near Paderborn. The starters, as well as Randal Kolo-Muani, stayed at the hotel for a session “à la carte, in the gym, in the pool, cycling, balneotherapy, physiotherapy, cold bath, sauna, treatments”, specified the management of the French team.

Didier Deschamps’ team will travel to the northern German city of Hamburg on Thursday, where they will face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal the following day. This is progress compared to 2021, when the French adventure ended in the last 16 against Switzerland.