Underdogs light up Euro 2024

Euro 2024’s quarter-finals kick-off on Friday with a blockbuster match between hosts Germany and Spain as the tournament heads towards its decisive final week.

The plodding, static performances of France, Belgium, England, and Portugal — FIFA’s four highest-ranked sides before the tournament — have been offset by some brilliant underdog showings.

Here is the state of play with some of the Euro’s heavy hitters facing off in the least eight:

Germany’s clash with Spain in Stuttgart pits the Euros’ two best-performing sides against one another at least one round earlier than fans would have liked, due to an unbalanced knockout bracket which has four serious candidates for overall victory on one side.

Despite being the lowest-ranked team Georgia’s run to the last 16 lit up the tournament, particularly their 2-0 victory over Euro 2016 winners Portugal.

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Romania had won just one of their 16 games at the championships heading into Euro 2024 but topped a group featuring Belgium, Ukraine, and Slovakia, before going down to the Netherlands in the last 16.

Turkey have however emerged as the tournament’s true dark horses, booking a spot in the quarter-finals with a brilliant 2-1 win over fellow upstarts Austria on Tuesday.

Vincenzo Montella’s Turkey and Georgia also played the best game of the group stage, a 3-1 win for the Turks in front of a pulsating crowd in Dortmund.