➡️ ENGLAND lined up a Last 16 tie against old rivals Germany after progressing from the first Group Stage of a major tournament without conceding a goal for the first time since 1966.
Raheem Sterling scored the solitary goal in matches against Croatia and the Czech Republic either side of a 0-0 stalemate in the much-anticipated clash against Scotland.
It would be fair to say then that the Three Lions have been unspectacular at best so far - and will definitely need to step up a gear on Tuesday at 5pm against Joachim Loew's side.
For England boss Gareth Southgate, this fixture has its own back story, of course.
Exactly 25 years ago today, on 26 June 1996, Southgate was the only player not to score in the shoot-out at Wembley which decided the Euro 96 semi final against Germany with his tame, side-footed effort saved easily by Andreas Koepke.
Now, Southgate has already gone some way to rectify the Three Lions' relationship with spot-kicks after his team beat Colombia on penalties on the way to the World Cup semi finals in 2018.
England also beat Switzerland on spot-kicks to claim third place in the inaugural Nations League competition.
But, even though Southgate may deny its importance himself, the ghosts of 1996 still loom large ahead of this tie for the England supporters, at least.
Unfortunately, the poverty of attacking play served up by Southgate's men, especially considering some of the talent available, has meant so far that Euro 2020+1 has not yet caused the same sort of buzz which swept the country in 1996 and 2018.
The under-capacity stands due to COVID-19 restrictions have not helped in this regard - and at least there will be a slightly increased total of 45,000 fans at Wembley on Tuesday.
Hopefully then, Southgate will give them something to get excited about by taking the game to a Germany team which is a model of inconsistency, rather than the usual efficiency.
Tournament favourites France beat the Nationalmannschaft via a Mat Hummels own goal but played in third gear throughout - and then Germany fell behind to defending champions Portugal in their second match.
A pair of Portuguese own goals by Ruben Dias and Raphael Guerreiro in the space of four minutes turned the contest around in the Germans' favour - and, inspired by a fantastic performance by Robin Gosens, they used the momentum to go 4-1 up, and eventually won 4-2.
In the meantime, underdogs Hungary coped well against the Group F giants - and took a point against France after taking the lead in a 1-1 draw in front of a raucous fully-vaccinated full house in Budapest.
The results set up a crazy final day of Group F in which all four teams were able to finish in any of the positions - and, even as the matches entered their last 10 minutes, England had no idea who they would be playing.
If Portugal had scored, England would have played France; if France had scored, Hungary would have been the visitors to Wembley; and if no one had scored, the Three Lions would have taken on Portugal.
Instead, Germany scored a second equaliser against Hungary - and both ties, Portugal versus France and Hungary versus Germany, were 2-2 draws and the table remained exactly the same as it had started the day.
Germany were Group F runners-up and will take on Group D winners England - but, before all of that, Wales kick off the knockout stages on Saturday at 5pm against Denmark.
➡️ WHATEVER happens from here, the Welsh will no doubt reflect positively on these European Championships after proving their superb run to the semi finals of Euro 2016 was no fluke.
A cautious opening against Switzerland almost cost the Dragons as they fell behind early in the second half - but, with time starting to run out, Kieffer Moore nodded in an equaliser from Joe Morrell's delicately clipped cross.
Switzerland still had time to see a goal correctly ruled offside in the last five minutes - but Wales were able to hang on for a valuable point in Baku.
It was important then that Wales started more positively in their second match against Turkey - even though the proximity of Turkey to the Azerbaijani capital made this feel like an away game.
The Baku crowd was silenced, though, as the Welsh scored in the closing stages of both halves through Aaron Ramsey and Connor Roberts in a thoroughly deserved win.
Gareth Bale was the provider for both goals which made up for his miss from the spot when he blazed a second half penalty well over the bar - so not even that wild effort could detract from the Dragons' overall performance.
The third match against Italy was much tougher - and became especially tough after Ethan Ampadu became only the second player at Euro 2020+1 to be sent off following a nasty late tackle on Federico Bernardeschi.
Matteo Pessina had already put the Italians 1-0 up in the first half as the Azzurri dominated without breaking Wales down any further.
But, while Welsh progress through to the Last 16 was pretty straightforward, opponents Denmark had a journey which veered from near-tragedy to a triumph of sorts.
➡️ CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN'S sudden collapse on the pitch in Copenhagen in the closing stages of the first half of the Danes' match against Finland sent shockwaves around the football world.
Thankfully, Eriksen was surrounded by good people - his captain Simon Kjær acted quickly to ensure his star player did not swallow his tongue while English referee Anthony Taylor immediately halted the match.
Then, of course, there were the heroic medical professionals who were able to resuscitate the Internazionale midfielder using a defibrillator before he left the pitch waving from a stretcher.
If there is one extremely positive thing to come out of this horrific coronavirus pandemic, it is recognition of the wonder that is medical science.
Here was yet another example - and, miraculously, Eriksen was later well enough to speak to his fellow Denmark players via video link from hospital that same evening.
During the call, Eriksen urged his team-mates to complete the match which had been suspended - and, indeed, the contest resumed and was completed with Finland winning 1-0.
Denmark, unsurprisingly, looked like a team whose minds were elsewhere - and, despite Eriksen's encouragement, something still does not feel quite right about Denmark having to complete the match on the same day.
Certainly, Denmark head coach Kasper Hjulmand was not happy with the pressure put on his team by UEFA - and nor was Danish goalkeeping legend Peter Schmeichel, father of current number one Kasper.
Undoubtedly, though, the most important thing was that Eriksen was safe - and this positive news clearly had a galvanising effect on the Danish squad.
The Danes started their second match against Belgium like a runaway train, scoring after two minutes through Yussuf Poulsen and coming close to adding another on several occasions.
The Danes started their second match against Belgium like a runaway train, scoring after two minutes through Yussuf Poulsen and coming close to adding another on several occasions.
But the Belgians are not ranked number one in the world for nothing - and the introduction of Kevin De Bruyne as a half time substitute turned the match around completely.
It meant Denmark were without a point after two games - but the generous system, which allows four third-placed teams to qualify, continued to give Hjulmand's men hope.
It meant Denmark were without a point after two games - but the generous system, which allows four third-placed teams to qualify, continued to give Hjulmand's men hope.
In front of a cracking atmosphere at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, the Danes delivered as Russia were demolished by a rampant display of attacking football.
Then, it got even better for Denmark. Two late Belgium goals against Finland lifted the Danes into second place and automatic qualification - a pretty remarkable outcome, considering the ordeal of the previous two weeks.
A fairytale end to the Group Stage which even Hans Christian Anderson would have struggled to write.
A fairytale end to the Group Stage which even Hans Christian Anderson would have struggled to write.
➡️ AMONG the other six ties, the stand-out match is clearly world number one Belgium against defending champions Portugal.
Cristiano Ronaldo has already inevitably made his impact on Euro 2020+1 - his five goals make him leading goalscorer at the end of the Group Stage of this tournament - and now, on 14 goals overall, the 36-year-old is the outright leading goalscorer in the history of the European Championships.
Ronaldo is level with retired Iranian striker Ali Daei on 109 international goals so his next personal milestone is pretty obvious - although he barely could have ended up with tougher opposition in the Last 16.
Belgium retained their 100% record from the qualifiers with a 3-0 thrashing of Russia, that comeback win against Denmark, and a hard-fought victory against Finland.
Romelu Lukaku and De Bruyne have looked in particularly good form - and so this match from Seville at 8pm tomorrow is certainly not one to miss.
Italy and Netherlands have both impressed on their international return with three wins out of three, and will start as favourites against Austria and the Czech Republic - while France will also be expected to beat perennial Last 16 losers Switzerland.
The other two ties look too close to call - Croatia and Spain both started slowly before finding form in their final group games - and it should not be a surprise to anyone if Sweden were bogged down by Ukraine.
➡️ GOING HOME after the Group Stage are: Turkey (Group A), Finland (Group B), Russia (Group B), North Macedonia (Group C), Slovakia (Group E), Poland (Group E), Hungary (Group F) - and, of course, Scotland (Group D).
There were high hopes among the Tartan Army north of the border that, although their team was in its first major finals for 23 years, this would become the first Scottish team to make it beyond the Group Stages.
Instead, Czech striker Patrik Schick extinguished the early optimism with a header late in the first half before then producing a moment of absolute magic to silence Hampden Park.
A pot-shot by Jack Hendry from 30 yards was blocked and rebounded into the path of Schick who was waiting on the halfway line for the opportunity to counter.
Without breaking stride or taking a touch, Schick swerved the ball brilliantly from 49.7 yards past panicked goalkeeper David Marshall.
Scotland had their chances to reduce their arrears thereafter but were wasteful in front of goal - and also failed to make the breakthrough against England despite dominating the match at Wembley.
It all came down to the third match against Croatia where the Scots knew that a win would be enough and Callum McGregor offered yet more hope when his low drive just before half time cancelled out Nikola Vlasic's opener.
But that was as good as it got for the Scots - and, following the interval, Croatia took firm control of proceedings and showed signs of the quality which took them all the way to the World Cup Final three years ago.
First, Luka Modric launched a howitzer of a strike with the outside of his right foot to restore the Vatreni's lead just past the hour - then, with less than a quarter of an hour remaining, Ivan Perisic flicked home a header from a corner.
In the end then, the Scots' hard-fought and deserved draw at Wembley against England counted for absolutely nothing - and, as had been widely predicted beforehand, their key result came against the Czechs.
Elsewhere, Turkey - with three straight defeats - and Russia - with two heavy losses to Belgium and Denmark - were the biggest disappointments, along with Poland, who are almost always underwhelming.
The Poles finished on just a single point from their three matches after Viktor Claesson's late winner for Sweden - while Slovakia, in the same section, also head home early after a final day thrashing by Spain.
La Roja's 5-0 win over the Slovakians equalled the record for the biggest win in the history of the Championship - and will not be a match on which goalkeeper Martin Dubravka will look back with any fondness.
Despite saving a penalty in the first half, Newcastle United goalkeeper Dubravka scored a horrific own goal by palming a ball which rebounded high off the bar into his own net.
Dubravka is not alone in making a howler - the eight own goals at Euro 2020+1 is already a record for the Euros - while, at the other end of the pitch, six of the 14 penalties awarded so far have been missed or saved.
Nevertheless, the Dubravka mistake stands out as the worst of the lot and set the tone as Slovakia crumbled badly.
As expected, debutants Finland and North Macedonia did not make it through the Group Stage - but nor were they overwhelmed.
Finland, in particular, gave it a good go - their 1-0 win over Denmark kept the Eagles-Owls in contention until late on in their third match when Belgium finally made the breakthrough via another horrible goalkeeping own goal.
The lowest ranked team, North Macedonia, were not as close as Finland to making a big impact and, in fact, lost all three of their matches.
Nonetheless, the Lynxes still generally competed reasonably well in Group C as national legend Goran Pandev made an emotional goodbye on an unexpectedly big stage.
Finally, Hungary - as mentioned above - also coped well with far superior opponents, and were within minutes of going through at the expense of Germany.
But, not writing off the Germans is something now so ingrained in football folklore that an equaliser felt almost inevitable.
And so here we go again...
| ➡️ GROUP A | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| (Q) ITALY | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | +7 | 9 |
| (Q) WALES | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 |
| (Q) SWITZERLAND | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 4 |
| TURKEY | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | -7 | 0 |
| 11-June | 20:00 | TURKEY | 0-3 | ITALY | Rome |
| BBC | Demiral 53og, Immobile 66 Insigne 79 | ||||
| 12-June | 14:00 | WALES | 1-1 | SWITZERLAND | Baku |
| BBC | Moore 74 | Embolo 49 | |||
| 16-June | 17:00 | TURKEY | 0-2 | WALES | Baku |
| BBC | Ramsey 42, C. Roberts 90+5 | ||||
| 16-June | 20:00 | ITALY | 3-0 | SWITZERLAND | Rome |
| ITV | Locatelli 26, 52, Immobile 89 | ||||
| 20-June | 17:00 | SWITZERLAND | 3-1 | TURKEY | Baku |
| ITV | Seferovic 6, Shaqiri 26, 68 | Kahveci 62 | |||
| 20-June | 17:00 | ITALY | 1-0 | WALES | Rome |
| ITV | Pessina 39 |
| ➡️ GROUP B | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| (Q) BELGIUM | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 9 |
| (Q) DENMARK | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 3 |
| FINLAND | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 3 |
| RUSSIA | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | -5 | 3 |
| 12-June | 17:00 | DENMARK | 0-1 | FINLAND | Copenhagen |
| BBC | Pohjanpalo 60 | ||||
| 12-June | 20:00 | BELGIUM | 3-0 | RUSSIA | St Petersburg |
| ITV | Lukaku 10, 88, Meunier 34 | ||||
| 16-June | 14:00 | FINLAND | 0-1 | RUSSIA | St Petersburg |
| BBC | Al. Miranchuk 45+2 | ||||
| 17-June | 17:00 | DENMARK | 1-2 | BELGIUM | Copenhagen |
| ITV | Poulsen 2 | T. Hazard 55, De Bruyne 70 | |||
| 21-June | 20:00 | RUSSIA | 1-4 | DENMARK | Copenhagen |
| BBC | Dzyuba 70pen | Damsgaard 38, Poulsen 59 Christensen 79, Maehle 82 | |||
| 21-June | 20:00 | FINLAND | 0-2 | BELGIUM | St Petersburg |
| BBC | Hrádecky 74og, Lukaku 81 |
| ➡️ GROUP C | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| (Q) NETHERLANDS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 9 |
| (Q) AUSTRIA | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 6 |
| (Q) UKRAINE | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 3 |
| NORTH MACEDONIA | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | -6 | 0 |
| 13-June | 17:00 | AUSTRIA | 3-1 | NORTH MACEDONIA | Bucharest |
| ITV | Lainer 18, Gregoritsch 78 Arnautovic 89 | Pandev 28 | |||
| 13-June | 20:00 | NETHERLANDS | 3-2 | UKRAINE | Amsterdam |
| ITV | Wijnaldum 52, Weghorst 58 Dumries 85 | Yarmolenko 75 Yaremchuk 79 | |||
| 17-June | 14:00 | UKRAINE | 2-1 | NORTH MACEDONIA | Bucharest |
| ITV | Yarmolenko 29 Yaremchuk 34 | Alioski 57 | |||
| 17-June | 20:00 | NETHERLANDS | 2-0 | AUSTRIA | Amsterdam |
| BBC | Depay 11pen, Dumfries 67 | ||||
| 21-June | 17:00 | NORTH MACEDONIA | 0-3 | NETHERLANDS | Amsterdam |
| ITV | Depay 24, Wijnaldum 51, 58 | ||||
| 21-June | 17:00 | UKRAINE | 0-1 | AUSTRIA | Bucharest |
| ITV | Baumgartner 21 |
| ➡️ GROUP D | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| (Q) ENGLAND | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 7 |
| (Q) CROATIA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 4 |
| (Q) CZECH REPUBLIC | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 |
| SCOTLAND | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | -4 | 1 |
| 13-June | 14:00 | ENGLAND | 1-0 | CROATIA | London |
| BBC | Sterling 57 | ||||
| 14-June | 14:00 | SCOTLAND | 0-2 | CZECH REPUBLIC | Glasgow |
| BBC | Schick 42, 52 | ||||
| 18-June | 17:00 | CROATIA | 1-1 | CZECH REPUBLIC | Glasgow |
| BBC | Perisic 47 | Schick 37pen | |||
| 18-June | 20:00 | ENGLAND | 0-0 | SCOTLAND | London |
| ITV | |||||
| 22-June | 20:00 | CROATIA | 3-1 | SCOTLAND | Glasgow |
| ITV | Vlasic 17, Modric 62, Perisic 77 | McGregor 42 | |||
| 22-June | 20:00 | CZECH REPUBLIC | 0-1 | ENGLAND | London |
| ITV | Sterling 12 |
| ➡️ GROUP E | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| (Q) SWEDEN | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 7 |
| (Q) SPAIN | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 5 |
| SLOVAKIA | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | -5 | 3 |
| POLAND | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 1 |
| 14-June | 17:00 | POLAND | 1-2 | SLOVAKIA | St Petersburg |
| ITV | Linetty 46 | Szczesny 18og, Skriniar 69 | |||
| 14-June | 20:00 | SPAIN | 0-0 | SWEDEN | Seville |
| BBC | |||||
| 18-June | 14:00 | SWEDEN | 1-0 | SLOVAKIA | St Petersburg |
| BBC | Forsberg 77pen | ||||
| 19-June | 20:00 | SPAIN | 1-1 | POLAND | Seville |
| BBC | Morata 25 | Lewandowski 54 | |||
| 23-June | 17:00 | SLOVAKIA | 0-5 | SPAIN | Seville |
| ITV | Dubravka 30og, Laporte 45+3 Sarabia 56, F. Torres 67, Kucka 71og | ||||
| 23-June | 17:00 | SWEDEN | 3-2 | POLAND | St Petersburg |
| ITV | Forsberg 2, 59 Claesson 90+4 | Lewandowski 61, 84 |
| ➡️ GROUP F | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| (Q) FRANCE | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 5 |
| (Q) GERMANY | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 4 |
| (Q) PORTUGAL | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 4 |
| HUNGARY | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 3 |
| 15-June | 17:00 | HUNGARY | 0-3 | PORTUGAL | Budapest |
| ITV | Guerreiro 84 Ronaldo 87pen, 90+2 | ||||
| 15-June | 20:00 | FRANCE | 1-0 | GERMANY | Munich |
| ITV | Hummels 20og | ||||
| 19-June | 14:00 | HUNGARY | 1-1 | FRANCE | Budapest |
| BBC | Fiola 45+2 | Griezmann 66 | |||
| 19-June | 17:00 | PORTUGAL | 2-4 | GERMANY | Munich |
| ITV | Ronaldo 15, Jota 67 | Ruben Dias 35og, Guerreiro 39og Havertz 51, Gosens 60 | |||
| 23-June | 20:00 | PORTUGAL | 2-2 | FRANCE | Budapest |
| BBC | Ronaldo 31pen, 60pen | Benzema 45+2pen, 47 | |||
| 23-June | 20:00 | GERMANY | 2-2 | HUNGARY | Munich |
| BBC | Havertz 66, Goretzka 84 | Ad. Szalai 11, Schafer 68 |
| ➡️ THIRD-PLACED TEAMS | Group | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| (Q) PORTUGAL | [F] | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 4 |
| (Q) CZECH REPUBLIC | [D] | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 |
| (Q) SWITZERLAND | [A] | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 4 |
| (Q) UKRAINE | [C] | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 3 |
| FINLAND | [B] | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 3 |
| SLOVAKIA | [E] | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | -5 | 3 |
| ➡️ LAST 16 | ||||
| 26-June 17:00 BBC | WALES | v | DENMARK | Amsterdam (NED) |
| 26-June 20:00 BBC | ITALY | v | AUSTRIA | London (ENG) |
| 27-June 17:00 ITV | NETHERLANDS | v | CZECH REPUBLIC | Budapest (HUN) |
| 27-June 20:00 ITV | BELGIUM | v | PORTUGAL | Seville (ESP) |
| 28-June 17:00 ITV | CROATIA | v | SPAIN | Copenhagen (DEN) |
| 28-June 20:00 ITV | FRANCE | v | SWITZERLAND | Bucharest (ROM) |
| 29-June 17:00 BBC | ENGLAND | v | GERMANY | London (ENG) |
| 29-June 20:00 BBC | SWEDEN | v | UKRAINE | Glasgow (SCO) |
➡️ SCORERS
5 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
3 Patrik Schick (Czech Republic), Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands), Romelu Lukaku (Belgium), Emil Forsberg (Sweden), Robert Lewandowski (Poland)
2 Manuel Locatelli (Italy), Ciro Immobile (Italy), Andriy Yarmolenko (Ukraine), Roman Yaremchuk (Ukraine), Denzel Dumfries (Netherlands), Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Yussuf Poulsen (Denmark), Raheem Sterling (England), Ivan Perisic (Croatia), Karim Benzema (France), Kai Havertz (Germany)
1 Lorenzo Insigne (Italy), Breel Embolo (Switzerland), Kieffer Moore (Wales), Joel Pohnjanpalo (Finland), Thomas Meunier (Belgium), Stefan Lainer (Austria), Goran Pandev (North Macedonia), Michael Gregoritsch (Austria), Marko Arnautovic (Austria), Wout Weghorst (Netherlands), Karol Linetty (Poland), Milan Skriniar (Slovakia), Raphael Guerreiro (Portugal), Aleksei Miranchuk (Russia), Aaron Ramsey (Wales), Connor Roberts (Wales), Ezgjan Alioski (North Macedonia), Thorgan Hazard (Belgium), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Attila Fiola (Hungary), Antoine Griezmann (France), Robin Gosens (Germany), Diogo Jota (Portugal), Alvaro Morata (Spain), Haris Seferovic (Switzerland), Matteo Pessina (Italy), Irfan Kahveci (Turkey), Christoph Baumgartner (Austria), Mikkel Damsgaard (Denmark), Andreas Christensen (Denmark), Joakim Maehle (Denmark), Nikola Vlasic (Croatia), Callum McGregor (Scotland), Luka Modric (Croatia), Aymeric Laporte (Spain), Pablo Sarabia (Spain), Ferran Torres (Spain), Viktor Claesson (Sweden), Adam Szalai (Hungary), Andras Schafer (Hungary), Leon Goretzka (Germany)
8 own goals Merih Demiral (Turkey) v Italy, Wojciech Szczeny (Poland) v Slovakia, Mats Hummels (Germany) v France, Ruben Dias (Portugal) v Germany, Raphael Guerreiro (Portugal) v Germany, Lukas Hradecky (Finland) v Belgium, Martin Dubravka (Slovakia) v Spain, Juraj Kucka (Slovakia) v Spain
➡️ RED CARDS
Grzegorz Krychowiak (Poland) v Slovakia
Ethan Ampadu (Wales) v Italy
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