Sports

Who is playing who in the Euro 2020 round of 16 and when are the games playing?

The Euro 2020 group stages are complete, meaning we now know who will line up in the round of 16.

Each team now knows its path through to the final, but there are some tantalising ties in prospect over the next week.

Here’s your guide to who plays who and when the matches are taking place.

Wales vs Denmark — 2:00am Sunday, June 27

Mikkel Damsgaard runs with his mouth open and arms stretched behind him
Denmark will not have the advantage of home crowd support in Amsterdam.(AP: Jonathan Nackstrand)

Denmark rode a wave of emotion to qualify for the group stages, and will come up against Wales in a blockbuster opener at the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam.

Will playing away from the raucous home support at Parken Stadium go against the Danes?

They have recent history on their side, beating 2016 semi-finalists Wales twice in the UEFA Nations League in 2018.

Our tip: We’ll go with our heart here — Denmark to progress.

Italy vs Austria — 5:00am, Sunday, June 27

A number of Italian players form a human pile as they celebrate a goal.
Italy have looked harmonious and in complete control at this year’s Euros.(AP: Alessandra Tarantino)

Italy have been in sublime form at this European Championships, playing an expressive style of football that looks near impossible to live with.

They’ve kept three clean sheets, limiting their opponents to just two shots on target overall.

By beating Wales 1-0, Italy have equalled their own world record that they set in 1930, going 30 games unbeaten and winning 11-straight matches.

They’ll meet the Austrians at Wembley Stadium, who won two of their three group games, their only defeat coming against The Netherlands, 2-0.

Our tip: Italy to break a world record.

Netherlands vs Czech Republic — 2:00am, Monday, June 28

Mephis Depay smiles
Memphis Depay and The Netherlands team will fancy their chances.(AP: John Thys)

The Netherlands have quietly gone about their business in the group stages, winning all three of their matches, despite a late wobble in their opener against Ukraine.

They’ll take on a tricky Czech Republic team at the Puskas Arena in Budapest

The last time these two teams met in a competitive match, the Czech Republic won both matches in qualifying for Euro 2016.

They actually have a more favourable record over the Dutch in a head-to-head comparison too, winning five and losing three of their matches.

Our tip: This is a tough one to call, because the Czechs are a difficult team to read. You’d have to back the Dutch on form, but this could go either way.

Belgium vs Portugal — 5:00am, Monday, June 28

Ronaldo holds his fist up and smiles
Cristiano Ronaldo is now the equal highest international goalscorer of all time. (AP: Laszlo Balogh)

The reigning champions against the current world number-one ranked side? Yes, please.

This is arguably the standout match of the first knockout round, and should be a belter of a contest at La Cartuja Stadium, Seville

Portugal did well to recover from a worrying 4-2 reverse against Germany to get a draw against France that secured their spot in the last 16, but rely very heavily on Ronaldo to get their goals.

Belgium were perfect throughout their group stage, embarrassing Russia 3-0, riding out the emotion against the Danes, and then breaking down a stubborn if limited Finland team to get their third win.

Romelu Lukaku uses his body stop a defender getting around him to the ball
Romelu Lukaku has proven to be tough to handle for opposition defenders. (AP: Anton Vaganov)

Portugal will be a different test entirely, but Romalu Lukaku will fancy himself to score against this vulnerable Portuguese back line.

Our tip: Stop Ronaldo, stop Portugal. Stop Lukaku, and you have to account for all the other extraordinary players in their stable. Belgium to take the chocolates in Spain.

Croatia vs Spain — 2:00am, Tuesday, June 29

Copenhagen’s Parken Stadium will host this intriguing clash between a Spain team that clearly has the ability to blow teams away — and a Croatia team that gave a glimpse of its former self against the desperate Scots at Hampden Park in match day three.

Spain’s issue at this tournament has been finding the back of the net, although they managed perfectly well against Slovakia in match week three — albeit with some comical assistance.

Croatia might be World Cup finalists, but against England looked so slow and limited.

Luka Modric holds his hands up and looks surprised.
Luka Modric was electric against Scotland. He’ll need to be on again against Spain.(AP: Lee Smith)

Against Scotland though, Luka Modrić burst into life and helped the Croats rediscover their former selves.

The pair met twice in the 2018 UEFA Nations League, with Spain running out 6-0 winners in Alicante, while Croatia came out on top 3-2 in Zagreb two months later — either result could easily be replicated on Tuesday morning.

Our tip: If Spain’s strikers get their shooting boots on, Luis Enrique’s side should run out comfortable winners. The longer it remains 0-0 though, the Croats will fancy themselves.

France vs Switzerland — 5:00am, Tuesday, June 29

Kylian Mbappe applauds the French fans
France topped Group F, but drew its last two games.(AP: Matthias Schrader)

France may have drawn its last two matches in Group F, but it still came out on top of the pile, showing remarkable resilience to come back from behind twice against Portugal in Budapest.

Despite the shaky nature of the two draws, and the vulnerability France showed in those games, they should still have enough quality to account for the Swiss at the National Arena in Bucharest.

Switzerland are the second-lowest ranked third-placed team to qualify for the knockout stages, having been trounced by Italy and drawing 1-1 with Wales, as well as beating Turkey 3-1. 

Our tip: France have not lost to Switzerland since a 2-1 international friendly defeat in 1992. It’s hard to see that changing.

England vs Germany — 2:00am, Wednesday, June 30

Declan Rice looks exasperated.
England face the spectre of playing Germany at a major tournament.(AP: Frank Augstein)

Oh boy, it does not get much bigger than England vs Germany at Wembley Stadium.

England fans will tell you all about 1966 and all that, where the Three Lions claimed its only World Cup triumph with a 4-2 extra time win over Germany.

German fans will point to, well, just about every time they’ve met since.

Since that 1966 World Cup final, Germany have knocked England out of major tournaments in 1970, 1972, 1990, 1996 and 2010.

Two of those matches even took place at Wembley, a 3-1 defeat in the quarter-final home leg of the 1972 Euros and on penalties at Euro 96.

England have only beaten Germany once in that time period, a 1-0 at Euro 2000, but still went out of the group stages anyway.

Germany are unbeaten at the new Wembley in three games against England with two wins and a draw in three friendly matches.

Our tip: “Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.”

Sweden vs Ukraine — 5:00am, Wednesday, June 30

Emil Forsberg celebrates with his arms outstretched
Sweden topped Group E ahead of Spain, Slovakia and Poland.(AP: Kirill Kudryavtsev)

Sweden were surprise winners of Group E and their reward will be to take on a Ukraine side that limped into the last 16 with the worst record of any team left in the competition.

The Swedes are unbeaten since losing 4-2 to France in the 2020 Nations League, a run of eight matches.

Ukraine showed impressive heart in their opening game against the Dutch after coming back from 2-0 down, although ultimately still fell short.

Since that bright start though, they could only edge North Macedonia and were comprehensively outplayed by Austria in their last game.

Our tip: You’d have to back the Swedes to progress at Hampden Park, even if the last time these two met in a major tournament Ukraine got the win thanks to two goals from current coach Andriy Shevchenko.