It is the turn of the English and the Spanish to try to uphold their status as favorites, Sunday June 30, in the round of 16 of Euro 2024. The former face Slovakia, at 6 p.m., in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Luis de la Fuente’s men must play against a surprising Georgian selection, at 9 p.m., in Cologne.
Read also: The next sports lives from “World”
Add to your selections
Unconvincing until then (a narrow victory against Serbia, followed by two draws against Denmark and Slovenia), Gareth Southgate’s men nevertheless finished in first place in their group. Finalists of the last edition, the English can count on a squad that makes a large part of Europe tremble: few nations can boast of having an offensive quartet as brilliant on paper as Saka-Bellingham-Foden-Kane. All that remains is for Gareth Southgate to find the right formula. Slovakia finished the group stage in third place. The English should not, however, look down on the 45e nation in the FIFA rankings. The Belgians, beaten 1-0 in the first match of Group E, know something about it.
In the other match of the day, Spain, the only selection to have won all of its matches, is the favorite for the final victory. The Spaniards made their mark during the group stage by largely beating Croatia (3-0) and then dominating Italy (1-0), the reigning European champion. Against the Albanians, the Spaniards rotated their squad, but still won (1-0).
Faced with them, the Georgians are living a waking dream. For their first Euro, Willy Sagnol’s men finished among the four best third-placed teams and qualified for the round of 16 thanks to a prestigious victory against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal (2-0). They obviously don’t intend to stop there.
The program for Saturday, June 29
At 18 hours
England-Slovakia: round of 16 in the “lower” part of the table, at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen (or Arena AufSchalke). To be continued on BeIN Sports 1.
At 9 pm
Spain-Georgia: Round of 16 of the “upper” part of the table at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne. Follow it on BeIN Sports 1.
