It’s France’s turn! Halfway through these Euro 2024 round of 16, Les Bleus take the stage against Belgium this Monday (16:00 GMT). This is one of the shocks of this round. If Didier Deschamps’ men qualify, they will meet, in the quarter-finals, the winner of the Portugal-Slovenia match, the second match of the day (19:00 GMT).
“It’s a new competition that begins.” This phrase, the French team made it its mantra, before meeting Belgium, Monday at 4 p.m., in what constitutes the most challenging poster of the round of 16 of Euro 2024.
Didier Deschamps, William Saliba, Ibrahima Konaté, Eduardo Camavinga: one after the other, those who have spoken out in recent days have repeated it, clinging to it like a lifeline, after a disappointing first round (only one victory and two goals scored – one own goal and one penalty – in three matches), which has raised doubts about the French team’s ability to go far in this competition.
But the Belgian attack is not in great shape either. The Red Devils only scored two goals against Romania (2-0) and their striker Romelu Lukaku is still dry, after having three goals disallowed by the video referee.
The Belgians even find themselves on bad terms with their supporters, who whistled at them after the dismal 0-0 draw against Ukraine which ensured their qualification.
Portugal-Slovenia
European champion in 2016, Portugal started this Euro 2024 as an outsider. And so far, Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates have fully assumed their status. The Lusitanians finished first in their group with 2 wins and 1 anecdotal defeat. After winning their first match 2-1 against the Czech Republic, Roberto Martinez’s players easily beat Turkey with a score of 3-0.
In the last match against Georgia, the Portugal coach allowed himself to rotate his players to rest them and give their substitutes a chance.
In the round of 16 of this European Football Championship, Portugal faces Slovenia. Third in its group, Slovenia has drawn 3 consecutive matches. 1-1 against Denmark, 1-1 against Serbia and then 0-0 against England.
No victory then, but rather convincing performances for this small footballing country. The last time the Slovenians participated in a European Championship was in 2000.
