The next pair of quarter-finalists are decided at Euro 2020 on Sunday, with two more Round of 16 fixtures across the continent including a blockbuster between Cristiano Ronaldo and Kevin de Bruyne.
Two of football’s leading lights collide at the first knockout stage when Belgium take on reigning champions Portugal in Seville.
The resurgence of the Netherlands continues before that, when they reacquaint themselves with knockout football in Budapest against the Czech Republic.
Round of 16: Netherlands vs Czech Republic
The Netherlands and the Czech Republic battle it out for a spot in the quarter-finals when they meet in the Round of 16 at Euro 2020 in Budapest.
It’s been a pleasing return to the major tournament stage for the Dutch so far, having come up tulips in the pool stage with three wins from three.
Since being made to graft for their 3-2 opening win by a Ukraine comeback, they picked off both Austria and North Macedonia with relative ease on home turf in Amsterdam.
The Czech Republic squeezed through Group D as one of the best third-placed finishers.
An opening win over tricky Scotland in their own Glasgow back yard did the heavy lifting on the points front, before a draw with Croatia and a defeat to England at Wembley proved just enough.
Frank de Boer has essentially a full complement to select from, as he strives to prove his doubters wrong after replacing Ronald Koeman in the hotseat.
Only Luuk de Jong has gone down to injury, although the forward would have almost certainly been among the substitutes anyway.
There’s a gap at left back for the Czechs, for whom Jan Boril is suspended after collecting his second booking in the final group match.
Tomas Soucek will likely be joined by one of Alex Kral or Tomas Holes in the heart of midfield for an intriguing knockout fixture at the Puskas Arena.
Probable Netherlands Starting XI: Maarten Stekelenburg, Stefan de Vrij, Matthijs de Ligt, Daley Blind, Denzel Dumfries, Frenkie de Jong, Marten de Roon, Patrick van Aanholt, Georginio Wijnaldum, Memphis Depay, Wout Weghorst.
Probable Czech Republic Starting XI: Tomas Vaclik, Vladimir Coufal, Ondrej Celustka, Tomas Kalas, Ales Mateju, Tomas Holes, Tomas Soucek, Lukas Masopust, Vladimir Darida, Jakub Jankto, Patrik Schick.
Round of 16: Belgium vs Portugal
If Belgium vs Portugal isn’t the tie of the Round of 16 at Euro 2020, we’re in for a hell of a time at the summer football showpiece.
The pair meet at the first knockout stage in Seville with the Belgians looking dangerous and the Portuguese battle hardened after making it out of the group of death.
While Cristiano Ronaldo was propelling himself to the top of the all-time international goal scoring charts, the reigning champions’ participation beyond their nightmare pool was far from certain until the last moments.
As it turned out, the pair of dramatic 2-2 draws between themselves and France, as well as Germany and luckless Hungary, left things as they were before the start of the final round of games.
Belgium turned on the style to come through Group B with maximum points, comfortably dispensing with Russia and Finland.
Those victories came either side of an emotional fixture in Copenhagen, where they came from behind to beat hosts Denmark in the first game after the collapse of Christian Eriksen.
Kevin de Bruyne provided the impetus that evening on his return from injury and will drive on Roberto Martinez’s side once again here.
He’s joined at a star-studded sharp end by the likes of Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku, with Timothy Castagne the only confirmed injury absentee.
Diogo Dalot’s unlikely rise could be capped here on the big stage, with Joao Cancelo coming down with Covid-19 and Nelson Semedo going off injured against France.
Bruno Fernandes could once again be kept in reserve by coach Fernando Santos.
Probable Belgium Starting XI: Thibaut Courtois, Toby Alderweireld, Dedryck Boyata, Jan Vertonghen, Thomas Meunier, Youri Tielemans, Axel Witsel, Thorgan Hazard, Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku.
Probable Portugal Starting XI: Rui Patricio, Diogo Dalot, Ruben Dias, Pepe, Raphael Guerreiro, Joao Moutinho, Danilo Pereira, Renato Sanchez, Bernardo Silva, Cristiano Ronaldo, Diogo Jota.
Prediction methodology explained: The expected win percentage is based off publicly available odds. For example, if a team’s odds are 2.30, the expected chance of winning is 43%. If the odds are 1.62 the expected chance of winning is 62% and so on. These are accurate at the time of writing but are subject to change. Where there is no value listed, the odds were not available at the time of writing.