Waiting for the knockout round is not boring, the brackets are all-or-nothing.

The 'comfort' is about to disappear

The current format of EURO 2024 allows the giants to both play and experiment in the group stage.

Only 8/24 teams were eliminated after the group stage. That means unless the big teams make a huge mistake, they will be able to move on. In fact, many strong teams are so comfortable that they only need to win the first match, then… they can calculate freely (because 3 points after 1 win has a very high chance of getting a ticket to the next round, at least as 1 of the 4 third-placed teams with the best group stage results, 4 points is considered a sure ticket).

Belgium cannot afford to be careless in the round of 16.

For example, the England team beat Serbia in the opening match, then almost paused the game, played very leisurely in the remaining two matches and still won the top spot in Group C.

After beating Albania at the start of the group stage, Italy had plenty of time to experiment in the match against Spain right after, before still securing a ticket to the next round thanks to a late draw with Croatia in the final match of the group stage. Or Portugal, after 2 wins, did not use all their strength in the loss to Georgia this morning (June 27), still topped Group F.

However, that complacency may end in the knockout stages. Teams will no longer be able to experiment, because a slip-up in the next round means there is no chance of recovery.

Clash of the Brightest Stars

The most exciting match of the round of 16 will be the clash between world runners-up France and the former number 1 team in the FIFA world rankings, Belgium. It will also be a match between two of the best stars in the world right now: France's Kylian Mbappe and Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne.

France (blue shirt) meets Belgium in the round of 16

After passing the round of 16, France and Belgium will be in an extremely tense group, possibly with Portugal (in the quarter-finals), Spain or Germany (in the semi-finals), if these teams also win in the round of 16. This is a very anticipated group. Except for Belgium, none of the teams in the group of France, Spain, Germany, Portugal have ever won the EURO. The remaining group is theoretically easier, but still has the presence of Italy, England and the Netherlands. Of these, England was a world champion (in 1966), the Netherlands was a European champion (1988), while Italy has won the World Cup 4 times (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006) and 2 EUROs (1968, 2020).

No more boring matches

But before they can meet in the next round, Italy must overcome Switzerland and the Netherlands must beat Romania. These are not easy tasks for the big guys.

Italy faces tough opponent Switzerland

The Italian team is usually not afraid of strong teams, but they are extremely wary of teams that are of average or better quality.

The Italian team, which is not good at playing an aggressive attack, will have to face a Swiss team that plays extremely scientifically and tightly. An opponent like Switzerland will haunt the Italian team more than when playing against a big team. When facing a big team, the big team will rush forward to attack, while the Italians will be free to play offensively according to their strengths.

But when facing Switzerland, it is not difficult to imagine that Switzerland will not play offensively and the Italian team will not easily deploy their strong counter-attacking style. Remember, at EURO 2020, the tournament that Italy won, how hard the team in blue struggled against the Austrian team, also in the round of 16 (only winning 2-1 in extra time).

Austria are basically on the same level as Switzerland, and have a similar style of play to Switzerland. Therefore, the Italy-Switzerland match in the round of 16 is a potentially risky match for the Italians.

The same goes for the Netherlands vs Romania match. The Netherlands may have to face their own version, as Romania plays a total game just like the Netherlands. The Romanian players are both fast and skillful, just like the Dutch players.

Of course, Romania is at a slightly lower level than the Netherlands, but in a specific match, if there is a little more luck, Romania is completely capable of closing the small gap between the two sides. In general, apart from the fact that the big guys are no longer leisurely experimenting, from the knockout round, the audience will not have to witness matches that cause... sleepiness, such as the final matches of the group stage. From this stage, EURO 2024 matches will be true do-or-die confrontations.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/euro-2024-cho-doi-vong-knock-out-khong-gay-buon-ngu-nhung-nhanh-dau-mot-mat-mot-con-185240627113005734.htm