Although one Cinderella team made an exit in the quarterfinals of the European Championships, another has advanced to the semifinals. Wales’ (+800 to win the tournament) inclusion in the Final Four has surprised many; it’s the club’s first time reaching the semi-finals in a major tournament. Here’s a recap of all the quarterfinal matchups along with a preview of the semi-finals.
Two quarterfinal games required penalty kicks to get to a final decision while the other two were decided by two goals or more. The first matchup of the week saw Portugal edge Poland on penalties. In many ways, it’s been an ugly tournament for Portugal and many people are saying that had they played a tougher schedule of opponents, they’d be out by now. But regardless of how they’ve played up to now, one strong performance can catapult them to the finals.
The second matchup that required penalties was the Germany-Italy showdown. Italy performed well this tournament after a disapointing performance in the 2014 World Cup, and they put up a good fight against Germany at the Stade de Bordeaux before falling 5-6 in penalties.
The two less competitive matches included the tournament’s Cinderellas: Wales and Iceland. Iceland’s dream journey came to an end as the host nation, France, dominated with a 5-2 victory. Whatever magic Iceland had throughout the tournament was not enough against a powerhouse like France. As for Wales, after beating Belgium 3-1, they’re now the darlings of the tournament.
Wales will take on Portugal in the semifinals in a contest not many people expected. Portugal comes in as the +115 favourite while Wales is +290 and the draw’s at +205. Wales has probably played the tougher schedule, earning wins over Belgium and Russia. Portugal has really cut it close with wins over Poland and Croatia, but they couldn’t beat Austria, Hungary or Iceland. At any rate, this contest will feature a matchup of two of the best goal scorers in football: Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. The two play together in La Liga for Real Madrid and are football’s most expensive players, costing the Spanish side 166 million euros.
In the other semifinals, we’ll see Germany take on France. Germany has been solid but not spectacular in Euro 2016. They haven’t dismantled opponents, but they’ve been effective defenders getting to this point, allowing one goal so far, which came from Italy in the quarterfinals.
France has been an offensive juggernaut this tournament. They’ve scored at least two goals in four of their five games, averaging 2.2 per contest. Their team has the top three goal scorers of the tournament in Antoine Griezmann, Dmitri Payet and Olivier Giroud. France is a slight +175 favourite while Germany comes in at +180 and the draw at +200.
*Odds as of July 4, 2016