Euro Cup Quarterfinals; England Poised to Reach Final

The bottom half of the draw at Euro 2024 has seen some surprises with defending champions

Italy bowing out in the round of 16 and Austria and Romania winning their group. Now, it

appears the path for England has opened up but can the Three Lions turn around a lackluster

tournament and return to the final?

England vs Switzerland, Saturday, July 6th

England

Gareth Southgate’s side were seconds away from elimination but found a way to advance with

late goals from England’s best players, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane, to get by Slovakia.

Was that the wake up call the Three Lions needed? They looked nothing like the

pre-tournament favorites and got a break with Switzerland knocking out Italy. England will be

missing defender Marc Guehi who received a second yellow card of the tournament vs

Slovakia. Southgate has been criticized for his selections, but if England can use the

momentum from the Slovakia win, they should be in good shape to reach the semifinals.

Switzerland

The Swiss have looked dangerous opening with a 3-1 win over Hungary, then almost beating

the host before Germany’s Niclas Fullkrug’s stoppage-time equalizer made it 1-1. But no one

saw Switzerland’s win over Italy where they controlled the match, dominating possession, and

scoring in both halves. Switzerland have plenty of experienced talent and are dangerous with

quick transitions and counter-attacks. Xherdan Shaqiri remains a threat up front, as does

Ruben Vargas, who scored against Italy.

Bettings Odds

England +118

Draw +200

Switzerland +312

To Advance – England -175

To Advance – Switzerland +145

Netherlands vs Turkey, Saturday, July 6th

Netherlands

The slow start to their round of 16 match against Romania was a tad bit worrisome for fans of

the Dutch national squad, who led just 1-0 after the first half. Then they cranked things up and

came alive in the late goings of the contest. Donyell Malen scored twice in the final 10 minutes

of regulation play and most likely earned himself a spot in the starting eleven.

The late heroics put a bookend on a strong bounce-back outing for the Netherlands who were

coming off a loss to Austria and a nil-nil draw to France during the group stage. They just

squeaked through the group stage as one of the four best third-place finishers.

Turkey

Merih Demiral wasted no time putting one in the back of the net, scoring just 57 seconds into

Turkey’s round of 16 match with Austria. It’s now the fastest goal in a European championship

knock-out match in tournament history. Demiral wasn’t done though. He scored the winner in the

59th minute, but it was the one handed save from keeper Mert Gunok in the final moments of

the match that sealed the deal.

The nation will welcome back captain Hakan Calhanoglu and Samet Akaydin who missed the

match against Austria as they served their one-match bans. They will however be without

midfielders Orkun Kokcu and Ismail Yuksek after each player picked up their second yellows of

the Euros to rule them out against the Dutch.

Bettings Odds

Netherlands -162

Draw +315

Turkey +464

To Advance – Netherlands -325

To Advance – Turkey +265