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Euro 2024 is into the knockout stages! Our daily files give you the latest reporting from around the tournament as well as betting lines, what to watch for and best reads.
Check in with ESPN throughout the tournament as we bring you the latest from Germany all the way up to the final July 14.
The lead: France vs. BelgiumDÜSSELDORF, Germany -- Thanks to Euro 2024's top scorer -- an own goal by Jan Vertonghen being the ninth time at this tournament a player has put the ball into their net -- Kylian Mbappé will get another chance to make his mark in Germany. Vertonghen deflected substitute Randal Kolo Muani's late effort into his own net as pre-tournament favourites France beat Belgium to advance to the quarterfinals, but the masked Mbappé once again struggled to make an impact.
France fans did everything they could to help him feel comfortable, some sporting masks in solidarity with their star player after he broke his nose in their opening game against Austria, but the Real Madrid forward is struggling to find his best football. He managed five shots against Belgium and now has a tournament-high 15 in total -- joint with Germany's Kai Havertz, who has played one game more -- but has just one goal to show for his efforts: a penalty against Poland.
Having had the chance to play in a behind-closed-doors friendly and against Poland while wearing the mask, the expectation was he would take centre stage against Belgium. However, he looked out of sorts on the left, with coach Didier Deschamps opting to keep Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann pinned to the flanks. The roars of expectation that greeted his early touches slowly petered out, although that was in part due to the fact this quickly turned into a drab affair. Belgium were happy to sit back and wait for their chance. France were unable to create much in the final third other than long-range strikes from Aurélien Tchouaméni, the majority of which landed in the Rhein river.
If anything, it looked like the remaining vanguard of Belgium's Golden Generation might nick it in front of the red wall of Belgian support behind Mike Maignan's goal. Maignan, though, saved brilliantly, first from Romelu Lukaku and then Kevin De Bruyne to keep the game on a knife's edge. Two minutes after De Bruyne's 83rd-minute shot, which was well struck, the winner arrived. Kolo Muani's shot was off target, but it deflected off 37-year-old Vertonghen and found the back of the net. De Bruyne sunk to the floor, aware of how the tie had just been decided by the finest of margins.
At full-time, though, it was still Mbappé the cameras honed in on. A young fan raced onto the pitch, security hunting him down. But Mbappé told them to let him stay for a few seconds and grab his selfie. Then he headed off to celebrate in front of the France fans, finally able to free himself of a mask which he says has been difficult to get used to. He will hope his act of kindness with the selfie-hunter will earn him some good karma in the quarterfinal against Portugal, when he will get another chance to make this tournament his. -- Sam Marsden
Sights and sounds around Euro 2024 Costa rescues Portugal as issues in attack persistFRANKFURT, Germany -- Diogo Costa came up for four game-changing saves, one in extra time and three in a penalty shootout, to send Portugal through to the quarterfinals at the expense of Slovenia.
In doing so, the FC Porto goalkeeper saved Cristiano Ronaldo from the indignity of contributing to Portugal's early exit from Euro 2024 after the 39-year-old missed a penalty in extra time.
Ronaldo, who was in tears after Jan Oblak saved his spot-kick, scored in the shootout and immediately held up his hands to apologise to the Portugal fans for his earlier error. In the end it didn't matter because Costa first denied Benjamin Sesko when the RB Leipzig striker was sent clean through by a Pepe mistake and then saved all three Slovenia penalties in the shootout. Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva scored to set up a quarterfinal tie against France in Hamburg on Friday.
Head coach Roberto Martinez wore a beaming smile as Silva scored the decisive kick, but he will know he's got problems to solve before facing France. The issue of whether Ronaldo should be starting or not aside, his team boast some of the best attacking players in the world but they struggled to break down a stubborn Slovenia side.
Oblak made a fantastic save to stop Ronaldo's penalty, but had very little else to do except watch his defenders crowd the box and head clear the flurry of crosses aimed at the Al Nassr striker.
At times, Ronaldo looked overtaken by desperation as he tried everything to score his first goal of the tournament. He will get another chance against France, but unless Martinez solves some of the issues around how his team attack, Portugal's journey will end there. -- Rob Dawson
The beers are on meEach of the venues at Euro 2024 is serviced by hundreds of volunteers, and one in particular has become well known for a very special talent.
Fans who have attended games in Germany have been helped around the stadiums by people wearing green jackets, with one working at Cologne's RheinEnergieStadion becoming famous for his ability to carry jugs of beer on his head.
He's been spotted at each of the group games Cologne has hosted, and he was in action again ahead of Spain's round-of-16 4-1 victory against Georgia on Sunday night.
Walking around the stadium with six jugs of beer perched on his head, he was routinely stopped by supporters and other stadium workers to pose for pictures. He obliged everyone before carrying on his journey and, most importantly, not a single drop of beer was spilled.
Bellingham hits the right notesEngland star Jude Bellingham is impacting on the music scene as well as the scoring charts at Euro 2024, with a surge in downloads of the Beatles classic "Hey Jude."
According to data released by Spotify, streams of Hey Jude increased by 35% in the hours after Bellingham's stoppage-time equaliser against Slovakia on Sunday. Bellingham's goal saved England from defeat and elimination before Harry Kane scored to seal a 2-1 win after extra time.
England's win also saw other songs enjoy a spike in popularity, with streams of "Southgate, You're the One" up by 137%.
Streams of Baddiel, Skinner and Lightning Seeds' "Three Lions (Football's Coming Home)" jumped by 146%, and Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" went up by 48%.
Rice hits back at SlovakiaEngland midfielder Declan Rice carried the fight to Slovakia long after the final whistle of Sunday's win.
As players, staff and match officials exchanged words and handshakes at the final whistle, Slovakia coach Francesco Calzona pushed Rice in the chest as he tried to talk to Turkish referee Umut Meler.
Rice allegedly offered some choice language in return. Lipreading expert Jeremy Freeman has claimed Rice made a derogatory comment about Calzona's baldness, and the pair had to be separated.
Calzona gave his version of events shortly afterward. "Rice was supposed to go to the referees and say goodbye and leave," he began. "I had to speak to the referees and he was carrying on and continuing to speak then he apologised and it all ended there."
Although it didn't. Rice was still clearly irked by prematch suggestions from the Slovakia camp that their greater team unity could outmatch England's individual quality.
"There's that inner fight and spirit in us that a few Slovakian players before the game said that we didn't have," Rice said. "We've got that togetherness, we proved that out there tonight. We'll die for each other out there. We'll do anything to protect this manager, protect each other."
The standard of England's general play has been well short of expectations, despite reaching the quarterfinals, but Rice is making sure their hunger still comes to the fore.
Rock, paper, scissors ... waterAs Spain's squad celebrated their win over Georgia in front of their supporters in Cologne, Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal remained in the middle of the pitch playing rock, paper, scissors.
For some reason, there was only one water bottle available and this was their way of settling who got to drink first. First round? Rock and rock, draw. Second round? Paper and paper, draw. Third round? Scissors and paper, the spoils -- and the water -- to Williams.
Williams and Yamal have been two of the stars of Spain's run to a quarterfinal with hosts Germany on and off the pitch. They tore Georgia apart -- Williams scored one goal and assisted another, while Yamal had one assist -- and then treated fans to some of their latest dance moves, which have been TikTok-perfected during the tournament. There is a real bromance developing. It was an extra special night for Williams, too, who had his brother, Athletic Club teammate Iñaki, in the stands cheering him on. -- Sam Marsden
Musiala enters Germany record booksJamal Musiala has already carved his name into Euro 2024 as one of the stars of the tournament, and the Germany forward has now created his own piece of history for the national team, too.
Musiala, 21, is a leading contender for the tournament's Golden Boot award having scored three times for Julian Nagelsmann's team and his goal in Saturday's 2-0 round-of-16 win against Denmark has been recorded as the 1,000th goal scored by Germany in a competitive match.
There are some iconic names on the list of previous German goal scorers including Gerd Muller, Jurgen Klinsmann, Lothar Matthaus and Miroslav Klose, but Musiala now holds the distinction of taking Die Mannschaft to the landmark.
For the record, Germany have conceded 394 goals in competitive football, so they go into Friday's quarterfinal against Spain in Stuttgart with a goal difference of +606.
In matches at a European Championship, Germany have 88 goals and 57 goals conceded (goal difference: +31). -- Mark Ogden
Yakin the fashion iconSwitzerland and their head coach, Murat Yakin, have been a big hit in this tournament after some impressive performances -- including Saturday's 2-0 win over Italy in the round of 16. What has also been a big hit are the glasses worn by Yakin. He has become a bit of a fashion icon on social media and his look is being heavily commented on, especially by women.
Yakin has worn two different pairs of glasses in these Euros. One is a set of retro glasses with a distinctive black frame from the Zurich optician label Götti. The model is called Reyes and costs around €515 euros.
The other set is semi-transparent and from the Swiss designer brand Nirvan Javan. They were made by the opticians at Bellevue Optics in Zurich. The model is called Tokyo 04:01 (JST) and costs €545, according to the website.
Both models have become really popular since Yakin has been seen wearing them. He has also been displaying a Carl F Bucherer watch during the tournament and is an ambassador for the watchmaker from Lucerne. The Patravi TravelTec II model on his wrist is worth ... €11,000. -- Julien Laurens.
Stat of the dayJan Vertonghen's own goal was the ninth scored at Euro 2024, the second-most in a single tournament (after 11 at Euro 2020) -- ESPN Stats & Info
