Winger is strong believer in mental preparation and will not let bike accident affect him if picked against Slovakia

There is, frankly, only one place to start with Anthony Gordon and it is not only because he is handed a pair of stabilisers as a present when he walks in to address the media – a reference to his much talked-about and laughed-about bike crash on Wednesday during England’s recovery day.

It is hard to ignore the cuts and grazes, especially the deep red one in the middle of his chin. There are some on the Newcastle winger’s nose and arms, while they are also all over his hands. When somebody goes to shake with him, he pulls away defensively, which does not suggest he is battle-ready for Sunday’s last-16 tie against Slovakia. It turns out to be wrong. He says he is completely fine. So what happened?

After a fine debut season with Chelsea the winger is unfazed by his late miss on his tournament debut against Slovenia

By the time our 20 minutes with Cole Palmer are up, the England winger has managed to rave about Riyad Mahrez’s first touch, reveal that Austria have been one of his favourite teams at Euro 2024, claim Londoners are way moodier than northerners, talk about getting on for 20 minutes against Slovenia, praise Mauricio Pochettino’s time at Chelsea, elaborate on his relationship with Enzo Maresca and, most importantly of all, correct erroneous reports that he has an obsession with baked beans.

The answers are short, sweet and often pretty illuminating. Palmer does not skip a beat before revealing that his first position was left-back. It was a throwaway comment, but he suddenly looks horrified. He glances at the press officer sitting to his left and wonders if he has put his foot in it. Is Gareth Southgate about to stumble upon the answer to England’s problem position? “I am talking under-10s!” Palmer says. “Under-10s! I have never played left-back since. I was tiny and I just got put left-back. When I was 12 I moved further and further up.”

Francesco Calzona’s close-knit team have built a formidable rhythm with input from their former star Marek Hamsik

While England scramble around for cohesion, their next opponents have established a throbbing rhythm. Milan Skriniar prepared to offer his perspective on Sunday’s meeting but had to wait while the Slovakia kitman, Marek Kosan, took the floor. The camp had made a deal: if they progressed from the group stage he would have to publicly demonstrate his beatboxing skills. Kosan had no hiding place so played the captain in, accepting both enthusiastic applause and the unexpected consequences of success.

Slovakia hope a similarly pulsating display will break new ground on Sunday. They have never reached a quarter-final but feel rested and well prepared in historic Mainz, away from the crowds but only half an hour from the Frankfurt stadium where two of their previous games took place. The Gutenberg press and gegenpress were both born here: the latter comes to mind when Slovakia arrive to train at Bruchwegstadion, the atmospheric old ground where Jürgen Klopp made his name at Mainz.

While many Italians were relieved to squeeze past Croatia, the manager still feels he has more to prove at Euro 2024

To watch Luciano Spalletti speak at the end of Italy’s draw against Croatia felt like being pitched into an alternate timeline. Outside, on the pitch at Leipzig Stadium, there had been joy and relief for the Azzurri after Mattia Zaccagni’s 98th-minute equaliser secured progress to Euro 2024’s knockout phase. Inside, at the press conference, there was the sort of prickly postmortem you might expect after early elimination.

In a series of monologues, Spalletti railed against perceived critics. When one journalist, Dario Ricci, asked whether the decision to change formation to a 3-5-2 had been influenced by a “pact” with players, the manager accused him of sharing leaked information from the changing room.

Everyone is annoyed after three games of football. No one is having a good time. And it is objectively hilarious

When was the moment you thought it was going to be one of those England games? 13min 29sec for me, Clive. John Stones overhits a relatively straightforward crossfield pass to Kieran Trippier. The makeshift left‑back (he’s right-footed in case you hadn’t been made aware) performs the classic “right idea” applause over his head as the ball sails out for a throw-in to Slovenia.

Thirteen and a half minutes is a little impatient. But this quickly became one of those games where you start wondering if you floss enough, or if your pension is invested ethically. This was 13 and a half minutes on top of the 90 against Denmark and at least 45 against Serbia. Game after game of footballing atrophy. Elite players degenerating in front of your eyes.

• Foden back training after returning home for child’s birth
• Gallagher set to drop out for last-16 tie against Slovakia

Gareth Southgate is giving strong consideration to sticking with his first-choice attack after Phil Foden returned to training on Friday and took part in England’s preparations for their last-16 tie against Slovakia.

Southgate, who has come under heavy criticism for his tactics at Euro 2024, is not expected to do anything drastic against Slovakia on Sunday and is veering towards making only one change, with ­Kobbie Mainoo set to replace Conor ­Gallagher in midfield.

Lacklustre Euro 2024 performances may prompt faddish quick fixes but the real key to success may lie in replacing fear with the fun players felt as 10-year-olds

Sporting success isn’t down to pickle juice, according to a leading sports psychologist. The secret isn’t to be found in the inflatable unicorns England’s players famously mounted to recuperate in the pool. Or the £3,400 electric bikes they pedalled to boost their post-match recovery. It’s not even about the manager.

“Instead, what I’m going to say will horrify you,” said Michael Caulfield, who has worked in professional sport for more than 25 years. “Football is – or should be – only about joy.”

Take your mind away from the consequences of your action and focus on the action. Anxiety, fear, stress are projections of the future: concentrate on the present.

Learn how to change your perceived reality. Premier League footballers learn to shut out fans if they feel oppressed by them. This could help people who don’t like public speaking, for example, who can see their audience as more intimidating than they may actually be.

Find a ritual to recover from disappointment that creates positivity.

Learn from those you admire. Stay close to them and be forgiving of their mistakes and failures.

Don’t have top tips, said Caulfield, because by tomorrow someone else will have come up with five other tips and “you’ll be completely confused”. “A good grandparent is better than any tip,” he said. “Turn to grey hair because the chances are they’ve been through a bit. They’re not right or wrong but they’ll ask the right questions and help you sort things out.”

Readers respond to Barney Ronay’s account of touring Germany for Euro 2024 football games

Barney Ronay’s article resonated very strongly with me (‘On a journey through Germany, the horror of the past lurks close to the surface’, Sport, 22 June). He spoke with clarity on how past horror echoed in his encounters with places and spaces in everyday Germany, from mundane buildings to the seemingly innocent woodland clearing. I too am from a “Jewish enough” family displaced from Nazi Germany. Our family has those seemingly improbable stories of survival, and I sometimes wonder if I should have existed at all.

That Gestapo knock on the door has cast a long shadow and, throughout my “improbable” life, has caused me to ask how this terror arose. I wonder what its harbingers are, so we might not make such terror again. But right now we are witness to it. We can all see it raising its grotesquely mundane yet human head, with larger-than–life characters encouraging us to devalue and demean those who are different.

Hosts ponder whether to start Füllkrug up front with potential for a stormy night against unfancied Denmark

First, the insects. There has been an infestation of mosquitoes at Germany’s training camp in Herzogenaurach in Bavaria, one that has claimed numerous victims, with a fortnight of humid weather rendering the squad’s outdoor viewing garden – which sits right next to a forest – almost unusable in the evenings. “I have already been bitten two or three times,” the striker Maximilian Beier admitted. “But if that’s the biggest problem, then fine …”

Then, the thunder. The DWD, Germany’s equivalent of the Met Office, is warning of severe thunderstorms, torrential rain, large hailstones, hurricane-force winds and perhaps even tornadoes across the west of the country on Saturday: perfectly timed to coincide with the crunch last-16 clash against Denmark in Dortmund.

• News and analysis before first knockout games in last 16
• Power rankings: verdicts on the 24 group-stage teams
• Get in touch! Email Rob | Our Golden Boot interactive

Just taking over from Daniel for a short while. We await news from the England camp. In the meantime, isn’t this stuff getting a bit silly?

What were you doing at 16?

Former France international has dedicated himself to his adopted country and now faces last-16 clash with Spain

It was known long before the press conference Willy Sagnol gave before Georgia’s game against Portugal that the French manager did not suffer fools gladly. What was not so well known was his remarkable command of colloquial English. “Twats,” he said of those who had criticised his team selection back home (more about which later). Then he said it again, with impeccable timing, before apologising – after a fashion – for the “tone” of his answer. The smile that accompanied the apology left no doubt.

Perhaps it was to be expected from a man who had to survive – and flourished – in the environment of Bayern Munich at the height of their “FC Hollywood” era, when he was an automatic starter at right-back for the team that won the Champions League, five Bundesliga titles and four German Cups between 2001 and 2008. “I played nine years for a club where punches were regularly thrown in the dressing room,” he once said. “That didn’t prevent us from winning a lot of things.”

Tbilisi’s Liberty Square swaps anti-government protests for fan parties, but factional divides remain

It is perhaps the feelgood story of Euro 2024. Georgia, the lowest ranked team in the contest and making their first appearance at a major football tournament, will face Spain in the round of 16 after defeating Cristiano Ronaldo’s fancied Portugal team 2-0 to qualify from their group.

The protesters who had filled Tbilisi’s Liberty Square over the last four months to voice their anger over the Georgian government’s alleged re-alignment with Moscow gave way to delirious football fans on Wednesday night.

It is not just the caterers who will miss Scotland after they were eliminated – they gave meaning to a cultural festival

These days, I sit in the stadium every day and experience an intense time. It makes me realise what football does and how its folklore is part of overcoming the many problems of our time.

That brings us to the Scots. They did everything right. They marched through Munich, Cologne and Stuttgart singing. Even in cities where they weren’t playing, they infected everyone with their good humour. Scottish fans really wanted to play a match against my home club, FT Gern. It took place the day after the opening game and afterwards everyone sat together in the clubhouse until late at night. They used this tournament to celebrate with others. They want to be part of Europe. It’s not just the caterers who will miss them. I’ve been asked what bothers me most about this Euros. I said that the Scots have already gone home.

Have people forgotten the pre-Southgate tournament record across a long period – including defeat by Iceland?

Time for an excursion. Time for Gareth Southgate and Steve Holland to live a little. The group stage’s done, the draw has opened up, the path to the final in Berlin is kind. Clearly, it’s time for them to step outside England’s secluded Blankenhain base, check in with the local tourist board and find out what the state of Thuringia has to offer.

A trip to the nearby city of Weimar is one option. But the bigger city of Erfurt, home to England’s press pack during Euro 2024, also has its charms. Here we find a medieval tour, quite a bit about the outspoken 16th-century monk Martin Luther and, continuing with the religious vibe, the amazing spectacle of Erfurt’s Old Synagogue, an 11th-century site that somehow avoided destruction by the Nazis.

The first knockout stage has several intriguing matches, including Spain against Georgia and France v Belgium

Italy are unbeaten against Switzerland in 11 games stretching back to qualifying for the 1994 World Cup but they look vulnerable here. They were worryingly open against both Albania and Spain and the switch to a back three against Croatia only seemed to make them flatter going forward. In goal Gianluigi Donnarumma has had a fine tournament, but a lack of creativity and the absence of a top-class centre-forward are major issues.

England’s next opponents are dangerous, as Belgium found out in the group stage, but they have a weakness up front

England’s opponents in the last 16 are Slovakia, the team ranked 45^th in the world and making their second appearance in the knockout stage of a European Championship. They generally impressed in qualifying from Group E, with some standout performers, but are not without their vulnerabilities. Here, we look at how they break down and what England should watch out for.

Authenticity in Germany is a breath of fresh air in comparison to the behemoths dominating their domestic leagues

Over breakfast at a cafe in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg district, three English visitors could be heard discussing the next Premier League season. It felt like a yellow card offence to anyone fully absorbed in this summer’s spectacle, but some things are best let slide. The question: who would be relegated? Ipswich, Southampton and Leicester, came the consensus. Nobody could quibble with the rationale that new arrivals to the division have the odds stacked more firmly against them than ever.

Perhaps they hopped west on the U-Bahn that afternoon to see Austria, hitherto underwhelming on the big stage, leave Olympiastadion breathless with an exhilarating win over the Netherlands that propels them into genuine contention for a return on 14 July. Hopefully they were sitting somewhere comfortable, or downing shots of chacha in appropriate company, the following night when Georgia ripped up the rulebook with a daring, emotional victory against Portugal.

England rank 20th out of 24 in attempts on goal but third in passing accuracy and first in crossing accuracy

None of the 81 goals scored in the group stage were scored directly from a direct free-kick. At Euro 2020, there was only one free-kick goal, scored by Mikkel Damsgaard against England in the semi-finals. Euro 2016 had four, with Gareth Bale scoring two – more (so far) than in the next two tournaments combined. This is in line with domestic trends: in Europe’s top five leagues, the amount of free-kicks in the final third that are shot at goal has dropped from 24.6% in 2008-09 to 18.8% in 2022-23.

• Players’ relatives caught up in Southgate protest
• ‘It wasn’t nice. My brother was hit, a few others’

Ezri Konsa has revealed England’s players had to check on family members who were drenched with beer thrown by supporters at the end of the team’s goalless draw with Slovenia.

On a night that ended with plastic beer cups being thrown in the direction of Gareth Southgate, relatives and loved ones of the players also found themselves in the line of fire. Konsa, who said that the atmosphere in that part of the stadium was “not nice” after a draw that secured top spot for England in Group C, said his brother was among those showered with drinks. The defender added that the abuse of Southgate had not been a conversation topic in the dressing room.

The Spain forward on defying the critics at Euro 2024, his super-sub role and what he thinks of his teenage teammate

This is getting serious. Well, sometimes. Ferran Torres is sitting at the home ground of tiny SV Aasen 1928 laughing about how Lamine Yamal should be illegal, playing darts with Phil Foden and being David Villa when he is asked about the man about to stand before him and his Spain teammates. “If the last one had to go in off the post, the next one’s going to need three lots of curl on it to beat ‘Mama’,” he says. “You have to visualise it, believe it. You need a clear chance too; we were watching him last night and he’s amazing.”

Mama is Giorgi Mamardashvili, the 6ft 6in Georgia goalkeeper who has made more saves than anyone. Torres’s goal, bent past Albania’s Thomas Strakosha, completed a perfect group stage for the selección, nine points from nine and no goals conceded, although it was also the only one they’ve scored themselves since half-time in their opening game, and the margins are getting finer. “We’ve been the best team in the group phase, and that gives us confidence,” he says. “But things change now. We gave Italy a going over? In the semi-final last time we gave them a going over and we still went home then, a thorn in our side still. You can play well or badly, but now you have to win.”

An incoherent national team always seem a surprise but why? There is no English coaching school, no coaching culture, nothing to pass down

Here’s a phrase you might not have heard since 1934. Hey, Austria look good. This is a new thing in many ways. What do we think of, traditionally, when it comes to Austria and international football? Indeterminate makeweights. The pre-war Wunderteam. A prosperous strudel repository. The Surrey of greater Germania. The 1990s pomp-rock target-man stylings of Toni Polster.

And now? Modernity. Energy. Grooved patterns. Austria finished top of a group that includes the teams ranked second and seventh in the world. They have been coherent, joined-up, even vibrant in a mannered kind of way, the only team in the final round of group games to score three goals, en route to a first victory against the Netherlands in 34 years.

Spain have reason to believe, Germany look strong, Austria and Georgia make waves as Scotland and Serbia flop

Three games, three wins, five goals scored and none conceded. Spain were not among the favourites before the tournament started, but they are now. The mood back home has changed too, AS writing after the 1-0 win against Italy: “47 million Spaniards are starting to climb on board this ship that was half-empty two weeks ago.” The coach, Luis de la Fuente, even had the luxury of making 10 changes for the final group game against Albania, qualification already secured. The wingers Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal have impressed and in midfield Rodri has been Rodri. Can Spain go all the way? “Hope,” De La Fuente said, “is free, and we’re the first to feel that hope, that optimism. But we do so with our feet on the ground: it doesn’t guarantee anything.”

In Odesa, a city attacked by Russian rockets, with daily power outages and air-raid sirens, the street and social documentary photographer Richard Morgan explores to what extent the football is still important, if the game still has meaning, if the match really matters

This is not a story about how a football tournament is taking hold of a country’s imagination for one glorious, fleeting summer against a dark backdrop of war. It is not a tale of how Ukraine’s participation at Euro 24 is providing people with “some light relief from the harsh realities of war”, as the cliche goes. It is not My Summer with Des, Ukrainian-style.

For it is impossible to escape from the horrors of war in Ukraine, to find relief in the football, because the war is in the very experience of following the football here: it’s in the walk to the game past anti-tank defences, sandbags, covered monuments, and boarded-up churches; it’s in the pre-match motivational messages from frontline fighters to the footballers; it’s in the air-raid warnings of rocket attacks flashing across the TV screen as you watch the game in the pub; it’s in the power cuts before kick-off. Euro 24 is not a convenient distraction from war in Ukraine, but yet another way to live it.

Andriy shows off his new national-team tracksuit, a gift from his mother before the Euros. Behind him stands a row of Czech hedgehogs, the anti-tank defences that block main roads around Odesa’s central station and Kulykove Pole Square (above). A group of friends, excited about the tournament, play keepie-uppie on Holy Trinity Day in front of the bombed Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral, a towering symbol of the war. The cathedral was badly damaged by a Russian rocket attack and now huge boards protect the windows from rocket blasts (below left). A football-styled car aerial sits above a damaged windshield on Derybasivska Street (below right).

• Konsa: ‘I think that’ll be the last time we go on the bike’
• Newcastle forward left with large graze on chin

England will consider abandoning the bike rides that players do as part of their post-match recovery after an accident left Anthony Gordon with cuts to his chin and hands.

Gordon, who could come into the starting lineup in Sunday’s last-16 tie against Slovakia, was the subject of much mirth from the rest of the squad after suffering a heavy fall the day after England’s draw with Slovenia. The winger mostly emerged with damaged pride, along with a very noticeable graze on his chin, but there is expected to be a review into whether the team continue to use electric bikes that are capable of picking up high speeds.

Anger, confusion and disappointment were among the emotions in the nations eliminated in group stage

Poland were the last team to qualify (their penalty shootout playoff win in Cardiff finished later than Ukraine’s and Georgia’s games) so it is no great surprise they bowed out first, being the only side to lose their opening two matches. The 36-year Robert Lewandowski is insisting on carrying on despite the public having doubts and his penalty (scored at the second attempt) in a 1-1 draw with France was a consolation for the Barcelona striker. The respected Polish journalist Michal Okonski summed up Poland’s tournament by writing: “Poland saved its face. It’s got the face of Kacper Urbanski” – referring to the 19-year-old youngest member of the squad, who at Thiago Motta’s Bologna has learned to play without fear.

“Gone in 60 Seconds,” declared the front page of the Scottish Sun. “Down and Out,” said the Daily Record. The Record showed Scott McTominay with head in hands, the Sun providing a shot of Steve Clarke consoling the Manchester United midfielder. Coverage of another Scotland group-stage exit has been twofold. The Tartan Army, who have captured hearts and minds across Germany, take up a lot of the column inches as tens of thousands of Scots beat a hasty march home. There has also been stark criticism of Clarke for what is perceived as an overly negative approach, particularly against Hungary in a must-win fixture. The manager faces an uphill task to remove that label of over-caution. Clarke’s emphasising of a non-European referee during the Hungary defeat – in which Scotland were denied a late penalty – has drawn ridicule at home.

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The group stages of Euro 2024 are over, and what fun it’s been. There have been long-range screamers and last-minute winners. Thrilling young superstars have emerged, and legions of fans have brought colour and joy to every ground. England have also taken part. The one thing lacking was a true underdog story, a team for neutrals to rally behind. Aside from the melee of Group E and Austria (who are nobody’s underdogs) topping Group D, the final standings are not far off what most of us might have guessed at the start.

As the attacker begins his 87th feint in his run-up … new Ifab rules for penalties in 2026: goalkeepers must have their backs turned at the time of the shot. In case of a save, an indirect free-kick” – France keeper Mike Maignan gets fresh and funky after being told his penalty save from Robert Lewandowski didn’t count, leading to a retake which whistled past him after the striker took an age tap-dancing his way to the ball.

I have lived here on the Silver Coast 60km north of Lisbon for 15 years. By now I am a familiar face in the local town and just this morning my barber saw me and dashed out of his salon to gleefully tell me how dreadful England are. So I was especially pleased with the Portugal v Georgia result. I think I will go for a haircut today” – Martin Reece.

Your comments about Glastonbury not showing the England men’s football team on Sunday (yesterday’s Euro 2024 Daily, full email edition), brought to mind a similar circumstance at the Cambridge Folk Festival two years ago. The Lionesses were playing the second half of their Euros final when Billy Bragg was due on the main stage. He’d watched the first half and was just managing to hold it together when he suddenly said: ‘That England flag is really distracting.’ He then explained he was really nervous and asked if he could have a score update. A few minutes later a ripple went around the crowd and we knew they’d won. Billy then led us in a rendition of what should be our English anthem, Jerusalem. It was wonderful” – Jane Beer.

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Current and former Slovakia players believe they can exploit nervousness of favourites in Gelsenkirchen

England have not impressed at the Euros. They won their group and ended up on the “easier” side of the draw but in knockout football there are no guarantees and in Slovakia players, fans and experts are hopeful of causing an upset in the last 16 game in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday.

England could only draw against Denmark and Slovenia while Slovakia beat Belgium in their first game. “[England] are a great team with amazing individuals,” said Adrian Gula, a former Wisla Krakow and Slovakia Under-21 coach. “[But] I wanted to play them in the last 16 given their performances in the tournament. I believe we can cause a big upset and I hope the boys and the coaching staff can pull it off. We will be the underdogs and we prospered in that role against Belgium. Our playing style is quite unforgiving, very proactive.”

• News, reaction and more after the group stage ends
• Match centre | Player guide | And contact Will on email

Some Euros adjacent news from Matt Hughes.

Georgia’s celebrations in video form for those that like car horns.

BBC lacks the hottest takes from Lineker’s Rest Is Football crew while Overlap gang and Christina Unkel boost ITV

It is accepted among TV and film execs that a tertiary element now complicates the relationship between viewer and product. Even auteurs such as Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan have been forced to assimilate grudgingly the reality of phones, tablets and watches pumping out all manner of distraction.

Coverage of Euro 2024 has seen further foxes in the chicken coop of linear TV broadcasting. Going viral on social media is a key target even if neither of the UK broadcasters has yet headed down the route of CBS’s Champions League coverage: less infotainment, more a raucous post-works drinks session. Podcasting, meanwhile, part of the wider football media landscape since Germany 2006, has become a lucrative, fresh and – crucially here – unregulated frontier for pundits.

The 20-year-old is England’s future but he is not playing like someone who can help them in the present at Euro 2024

Your best players are still your best players. Your best team is not necessarily the one with all the best players on the pitch. Unfortunately England are in that place again. Much like Sven-Göran Eriksson failing to utilise Michael Carrick at the 2006 World Cup, or Roy Hodgson putting Wayne Rooney in his midfield at Euro 2016, Gareth Southgate has fallen into a familiar trap. His tactics are leaden, his starting XI is unbalanced and one of his biggest mistakes – being seduced into fitting too many similar types into a one-paced attack – has made England by far the hardest team to watch at Euro 2024.

The good news, though, is that there is time to fix England before their last-16 tie in Gelsenkirchen. Nothing drastic needs to be done. A few tweaks could easily help England to build on their slight improvement in the second half of their draw with Slovenia. The question is whether Southgate is bold enough to make them.

The intent of greening up its tournament, while undoubtedly sincere in corners of the organisation, is being undermined

Didier Deschamps wasn’t amused. Les Bleus had had to fight hard to see off an excellent Austria side in the evening game and needed to rest. Yet it was well past 3am when the coach ferrying them back from the Düsseldorf Arena finally came to a halt at the entrance of their hotel in Bad Lippspringe. The 180km trip had taken three hours, when a 30-40-minute flight from Düsseldorf to Paderborn would have allowed the players to be in their beds considerably earlier. Deschamps kept his thoughts to himself, however. It was not his role to question the commitment made by the French federation to minimise its carbon footprint, in accordance with the principles of “climate action and advocacy” outlined in the Football Sustainability Strategy which Uefa had unveiled in December 2021.

The same principles have been applied to adapt these Euros’ schedule in order to “maximise sustainability without compromising fairness”, to quote Uefa’s head of men’s national team competitions, Marcelo Alleca. The folly of Euro 2020’s revolving carousel of venues – 11 stadiums in 11 countries, for goodness sake – would never be repeated. A more compact, greener tournament? Yes please, and thank God for that, everyone said, from fans and media to players and environmentalists. Unlike Fifa’s ludicrous – and thoroughly debunked – claim that Qatar 2022 would achieve net zero, Euro 2024 would at least be a step in the right direction. Uefa meant business.

• Georgia stunned Portugal 2-0 in final group game
• Willy Sagnol’s side will face Spain on Sunday

Kvhicha Kvaratskhelia said helping to fire Georgia into the last 16 of their first major tournament against all odds gave the country the “best day of their lives”.

Kvaratskhelia scored inside 92 seconds before Georges Mikautadze scored a second-half penalty following a VAR review to beat Portugal 2-0 and secure a knockout tie against Spain in Cologne on Sunday. Georgia recorded a historic win against one of the favourites, ranked 68 places above them, to avoid elimination.

• Tedesco claims he had two minutes for pre-match talk
• Coach is ‘so proud’ despite team being booed by own fans

The Belgium head coach, Domenico Tedesco, condemned the local organisation after a 0-0 draw against Ukraine on Wednesday, a result which secured qualification for a tie against France in the last 16.

“We arrived at the stadium in circumstances I never saw before,” Tedesco said. “It took one hour to come from the hotel with a police escort. The road was completely free, but they slowed down to 20-25km/h. Every traffic light was red. I had two minutes to make a preparation talk and we had to reduce the warmup. It’s unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable …”

• Manager pleads with country to get behind the team
• ‘I understand the feeling toward me but back the players’

Gareth Southgate has pleaded with the nation to support his England players at Euro 2024 – even the fans who want him out. The manager endured a long night of the soul after Tuesday’s 0-0 draw against Slovenia, a performance disfigured by the lack of thrust and ingenuity in front of goal. The result did, however, carry the team through to the last 16 as Group C winners where they will face Slovakia in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday.

Southgate lamented the atmosphere that is pressing down on the squad after three largely uninspired displays in Germany and is aware that he could be the problem. “Our world is different [to other teams] at the moment and I feel that is probably because of me,” he said.

A storm had been brewing all night and, right on full time, it erupted. Once it had cleared Turkey’s players bounced around in the centre ­circle, mimicked by the choirs encompassing them who somehow still had voices left. But first came the shower of bodies piling into each other near halfway, a brawl ­breaking out that gave the referee, Istvan Kovacs, plenty to do on top of what had already been an intimi­dating workload.

It took Vincenzo Montella to hotfoot across from the technical area and pull Arda Guler away as his ­prodigy, substituted earlier, piled into the fray.

So, this was the night Georgia advanced to the last 16 in their first appearance at a major tournament courtesy of a magnificent victory over Portugal and one that will live long in the memory of the thousands of supporters who were here to witness history. No wonder Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who got the nation dreaming after scoring inside 92 seconds and afterwards swapped shirts with his childhood hero Cristiano Ronaldo, pined to see the scenes in Tbilisi.

There will be a rich tapestry of lasting images from this win but the sight of Georgia’s substitutes’ bench emptying, reserve goalkeepers Giorgi Loria and Luka Gugeshashvili, too, streaming to mob Georges Mikautadze after his penalty earned a two-goal buffer is hard to top. Guram Kashia looked to the skies, kissed his wrist and beat his chest. Willy Sagnol, wearing a plain white T-shirt, merely clenched his left fist. It is fair to say the celebrations back home will be rather more unrestrained. “This is the best day in the lives of Georgians,” Kvaratskhelia said. “We just made history. Nobody believed we would defeat Portugal but this is why we’re a strong team. We just encourage each other and said that we could do it. Even if there is just a 1% chance, we proved that you can make it happen.”

• Southgate’s England topped group C with five points
• Winner of last-16 game will play Italy or Switzerland

England will play Slovakia in the last 16 of Euro 2024. The two teams will meet in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday for a place in the quarter-finals, where Switzerland or Italy awaits.

Gareth Southgate’s side has been heavily criticised after one win and two draws and largely uninspiring performances in Germany. However, they topped Group C and are now on what looks like the easier side of the draw.

So much for the “Disgrace of Gijón” part two. Romania and Slovakia may have got the result they knew beforehand would guarantee both countries escaped from Group E, but there was no scintilla of a stitch‑up. Unlike the notorious match between Germany and Austria in 1982, this game was not played at walking pace but full throttle, with chances galore, even in the middle of an apocalyptic thunderstorm.

Ondrej Duda’s powerful header was cancelled out by Razvan Marin’s penalty and that meant Romania qualified top of the group, while ­Slovakia went through too as one of the best third-placed sides. With a crowd three‑quarters Romanian it felt like a home fixture at times, and the atmosphere was remarkable with noise and pyrotechnics throughout, but these were two evenly matched teams and a draw was a fair result. Honest.

At one end of the ground, one team stood, exhausted, in the penalty area in front of their fans and were warmly applauded. At the other, their opponents could barely approach the box before being driven back by the fury of their support. The oddity was, it was Ukraine who had gone out who were celebrated, and Belgium who had gone through who were booed and jeered to such an extent that Kevin De Bruyne told the players to go to the dressing room.

In the end, Ukraine just didn’t have the energy or the guile. They will feel unfortunate to have been eliminated from the Euros having picked up four points, the same as every other side in the group, more than Denmark who qualified in second and various third-placed teams. But in the final minutes, when it became apparent that they would need a goal after all, they had nothing.

Manager has become used to the trappings of office and players are in a comfort zone. Where has the sense of fun gone?

Nice to see your own fans throwing beer cups at you. And to be fair, not all England fans were hurling sud-soaked projectiles at Gareth Southgate as he strode towards them at full time in Cologne. Let’s not paint the whole fanbase with the same brush. Some of them were making “wanker” signs. Some were booing. Some were giving him the thumbs down. Most had already left to catch the tram. So, you know, got to appreciate the nuances there.

As for Southgate, there was a kind of sarcasm in his calm applause, like a cyclist applauding the motorist who has just sent him flying into the kerb. In a way it was a gesture loaded with sacrificial defiance, a trial of character and duty: the father of the nation nobly bearing your hate, your insults and your refundable plasticware.

• Foden started all three of team’s Euro 2024 group games
• Unclear if 24-year-old will be back for Sunday’s last-16 tie

England have been left with a selection dilemma before their last-16 tie at Euro 2024 after Phil Foden left the team’s base to attend the birth of his third child. Foden has started England’s three matches in Germany and it is unclear if the 24-year-old Manchester City player will be back with the squad in time for the last-16 tie in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday. England are hopeful he will be.

Gareth Southgate was already under pressure to change his attack after his forwards once again failed to click in the disappointing goalless draw with Slovenia on Tuesday. England, who progressed as winners from Group C, have scored two goals in three games.

France only scored two goals in their three group matches – a penalty against Poland and an own goal against Austria

By Eric Devin for Get French Football News

France showed more signs of life in their 1-1 draw with Poland, in no small part due to the return of Kylian Mbappé. The captain played the full match and coolly slotted home a penalty but the team has not lived up to its billing as near-unanimous pre-tournament favourites. There were bright spots in Dortmund and they are through to the last-16, but there are as many questions as answers for France after they drew two of their three group games and only scored two goals – a penalty and an own goal.