What a pair of games we have to kick off the Euro 2024 quarter-finals in Germany on Friday.
It doesn’t get much bigger than the host nation taking on Spain in the day’s first match, when the former championship winners meet in Stuttgart.
Then enter Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe, as Portugal and France face off in Hamburg for a coveted place in the semis.
*All kick off times in local time.
Quarter-final: Spain vs Germany – 18.00
It’s a fixture befitting of the final itself in Stuttgart on Friday, as emerging favourites Spain collide with host nation Germany in the first of the Euro 2024 quarter-finals.
An epic contest sees the two continental giants go toe-to-toe.
Giants perhaps but there’s history on the line, with the Spanish not having lifted the trophy since their golden generation of 2012, while the Germans have to go all the way back to Euro ’96 for the last time they tasted glory on this stage.
One will bite the dust here – and it’s a devil to call.
Spain were forced to work for their victory in the Round of 16, having fallen behind to a sucker-punch from dogged Georgia, who coaxed an 18th-minute own goal from Robin Le Normand thanks to a lightning break upfield.
Rodri pulled level with a sweet finish, before second half goals from Fabian Ruiz, Nico Williams and substitute Dani Olmo ensured no further alarms in an ultimately imposing 4-1 win.
Germany enjoyed a 2-0 score line over neighbours Denmark at the first knockout stage, but that hardly tells the full story.
Not least the players having to run from the field as an electrical storm raged overhead in the Dortmund night sky.
A Kai Havertz penalty for the second half opener was only possible after a VAR check picked out a microscopic handball from Joachim Andersen, only seconds after he had a goal ruled out for an offside by the same method at the other end.
It broke the back of the contest.
And when free-scoring Jamal Musiala added the second, Julian Nagelsmann’s hosts were home and hosed in every sense.
They had earlier topped Group A comfortably enough after a 5-1 thumping of Scotland and 2-0 win over disappointing Hungary.
A Niclas Fullkrug injury time equalizer, meanwhile, kept them unbeaten at the last and ahead of impressive Switzerland.
Luis de le Fuente’s Spanish breezed through a notional group of death.
Nine points from nine was their reward for impressive performances against Croatia, defending champions Italy and Albania.
And now they go head-to-head with their fellow heavyweights for a place in Tuesday’s first semi-final in Munich.
Quarter-final: Portugal vs France – 21.00
Anything could happen on Friday night at Euro 2024, as France and Portugal meet in the second of two heavy duty quarter-finals in Germany.
The pair meet in Hamburg with both nations having gone through the mill in the competition so far.
Not least Cristiano Ronaldo, who descended into floods of tears on the pitch having seen his extra time penalty saved by old domestic rival Jan Oblak in the Slovenia goal on Monday.
Never one to avoid the centre of attention, Ronaldo stepped up to redeem himself by scoring the opening penalty in the shootout, which his side went on to win 3-0 with keeper Diogo Costa the hero with a hat-trick of saves.
The French endured a similarly agonizing knockout outing against neighbours Belgium.
Until the 85th minute that is, when they coaxed a deflected own goal in off veteran defender Jan Vertonghen for what proved to be the only goal of a nerve-wracked contest.
Both also had imperfect pool phases on their way through, despite being tipped to go deep into the tournament.
Les Bleus came through as runners-up in Group D, with star man Kylian Mbappe also having suffered a broken nose towards the end of their opening win over eventual pool winners Austria.
A goalless stalemate with the Netherlands followed, before Didier Deschamps and Co breathed a sigh of relief despite also only picking up a point from their final encounter with Poland.
It was a tale of two penalties as Mbappe returned to slot home, before his feat from 12 yards was matched at the other end by Robert Lewandowski, in what may prove to be the Polish legend’s final meaningful contribution on the international stage.
The Portuguese had looked to be clicking through the gears under coach Roberto Martinez.
They needed an injury time winner from Francisco Conceicao to come through their opening match with Czechia, before demolishing Turkiye 3-0 thanks to Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes efforts either side of a comedy own goal.
But a 2-0 shock loss to minnows Georgia in Gelsenkirchen brought even Ronaldo back down to earth ahead of the knockouts.
A deep breath after edging into the last eight, though, gives them a swing at the French with a daunting semi-final date with either Spain or hosts Germany up for grabs.
Spain v Germany
| Result prediction | Spain to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Spain / Spain to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | J. Musiala(Germany) |
Portugal v France
| Result prediction | draw |
| Over/Under prediction | under 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Portugal / draw |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | N/A |