Denmark Try Germany for Size as Switzerland, Italy Kick-start Round of I6

With the group stage done and dusted, its time for serious business as the Knockout stage of the UEFA Euro 2024 begins today.

The second of two Euro 2024 last-16 ties taking place today as host, Germany clash with Denmark at the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund in the late kickoff.

Julian Nagelsmann’s men topped Group A to cruise into the knockout rounds, while their Scandinavian counterparts nabbed second place in a highly forgettable Group C.

Banishing the demons of their last two World Cup campaigns, which both ended with premature group-stage exits, Germany had already rubber-stamped their knockout place with just two games gone thanks to putting a combined seven goals past Scotland and Hungary.

Simply avoiding defeat versus Switzerland on the final matchday and Die Mannschaft were guaranteed to progress as group winners, but Nagelsmann’s men were on the brink of being unexpectedly demoted down to the runners-up spot thanks to Dan Ndoye’s opener.

However, on an evening of dramatic late goals in Group A, Niclas Fullkrug – who takes to home turf this weekend – popped up with an injury-time leveller to just about ensure Germany’s status as group winners, thereby avoiding a last-16 battle with reigning champions Italy.

Speaking of one-point affairs, Group C was one for the stalemate specialists in England, Slovenia, Serbia and Denmark, all of whom contributed to the joint lowest-scoring men’s Euros group in history with just seven goals scored across six games.

Upcoming foes Germany were coincidentally involved in the only previous seven-goal section in 2016, and despite not winning any of their games in the group, Denmark’s three draws with their three foes was enough for Kasper Hjulmand’s side to clinch the silver medal position.

The Danes were responsible for just two of the seven strikes in Group C – although Morten Hjulmand’s rocket versus England will certainly go down as a goal-of-the-tournament contender – and they have now qualified for the knockout stages of back-to-back Euros for the first time ever.

Hjulmand will be under no illusions that improvements are required quickly if his troops are to stand a chance of shocking the tournament hosts, but they coincidentally share Germany’s seven-match unbeaten run in 2024 and have just one loss under their belts from their last 15 contests.

However, Germany emerged triumphant over Denmark during their last competitive showdown at the 2012 European Championships.

Switzerland will take on the defending champions Italy today in the round of 16 of UEFA Euro 2024 at Berlin’s Olympiastadion.

Switzerland have remained unbeaten in the group stages. Out of three group stage matches they played, Switzerland has won one match, which was against Hungary where the final score was 3-1. Two of their matches, against Germany and Scotland, ended in 1-1 draw.

The defending champions, Italy’s campaign started with a 2-1 win against Albania but they lost to Spain 1-0 in their second group stage match. In their final group stage match, Italy faced Croatia, where a draw was enough for them to qualify for the round of 16. Croatia were a goal ahead and it was thought that they would make it to knockouts but Italy were able to draw the match with a goal in the injury time.

Both teams have faced each other in Euro 2020, where Italy emerged victorious but Switzerland in this tournament are unbeaten and they also showed good performance against the 2014 World Cup Champions Germany in the group stages, who were dominant against Scotland and Albania.

Knockout stages are different, sometimes the major teams fall and small teams progress to the next stage. In the round of 16, Italy may have edge over Switzerland, and they may progress to the quarterfinals. It won’t be surprising if the game goes to the penalty shootout, which Italy may win.