France challenges Ronaldo’s Portugal, Germany faces the Spanish steamroller… Friday’s program

Eight years after its defeat in the Euro final, the French team will meet Portugal again on Friday evening. Earlier in the day, Germany and Spain will kick off the quarter-finals with a summit duel.

A dream day for football fans. In the first quarter-finals of the Euro, on Friday 5 July, four of the big favourites for the final victory will compete for a place in the last four. At 6pm, the Germans will host the Spanish team, which has made the best impression since the start of the tournament, at the Stuttgart Arena. At 9pm, it will be the turn of the French team and Portugal to aim for qualification for the semi-finals at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg.



A shock to launch the quarter-finals: Spain-Germany at 6 p.m.

The two teams that have made the best impression since the start of the tournament are facing each other. This could have been the poster for the final, but the Euro table offers this duel from the quarter-finals. At home, Jamal Musiala, top scorer of the competition with three goals, carries his team and brings the creative aspect that was lacking in this selection. The Germans are also the best attack of the Euro (10 goals), ahead of their opponent of the day, Spain (nine goals).

Is this enough to worry La Roja? Very attractive in its first four matches, Spain has shown that it has the shoulders to win the competition. With Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams on the wings, the Spanish have the weapons to upset the Germans. The winner of this duel between two opponents with a formidable attack will face the team that won the Portugal-France match in the semi-finals.

A match not to be missed: Portugal-France at 9 p.m.

The second match of the day also offers a mouth-watering poster. After facing Belgium at the beginning of the week, Didier Deschamps’ Blues are once again facing a team they know well. Defeated by the Portuguese in the final of their Euro 2016, the French have still not had the opportunity to take their revenge in the knockout phase. Friday evening, they will have to solve their offensive problems (only three goals scored in four games, none of which were in the run of play) to cause problems for a well-organized Portuguese defense.

The Portuguese, like the French, obtained their qualification with difficulty against Slovenia. They even had to go through the penalty shootout after a missed penalty in extra time by Cristiano Ronaldo, who has not scored since the start of the competition. Unlike his team, goalkeeper Diogo Costa shone during this match by showing the full extent of his qualities, notably with three saves during the penalty shootout.