The Euro 2024 group stage came to an end on Wednesday as knockout football awaits in Germany.
Romania, Belgium and Slovakia all progressed to the last 16 as Ukraine were the unlucky losers after Group E became the first pool in European Championship history to see all four teams finish level on points.
Group F also provided a shock as Georgia stunned Portugal to achieve their first win at a major tournament and a place in the knockout rounds, while Turkiye overcame Czechia thanks to last-gasp chaos.
As the last-16 stage looms, we unpick the best of Wednesday's action by taking a deep dive into the Opta data behind the final group-stage encounters.
Ukraine 0-0 Belgium: Woe for Rebrov in unwanted history
A battling performance for Ukraine will be scant consolation as Serhiy Rebrov's side became the first team in the competition's history to register four points in the group stage and finish bottom.
This goalless draw continued a bizarre Euros record, with Ukraine either not scoring (nine games) or scoring exactly two goals (five), after failing to score in two matches and winning the other 2-1 against Slovakia at this edition.
It could have been a different story for Belgium, though, as their struggles in front of goal persisted. They have failed to score in four of their last five group-stage games at major tournaments (W1 D2 L2).
The Red Devils had won nine group games in a row before this, scoring 21 times, and Romelu Lukaku – who has had three goals at this tournament ruled out – may apportion some of the blame.
Lukaku has now failed to score with any of his 15 shots in his last five group-stage matches at major international tournaments – in his previous five, the striker had found the net with seven of 12 attempts.
That persistent profligacy somewhat marred a landmark appearance for Lukaku, who along with Kevin De Bruyne equalled Thibaut Courtois' 25-game record for the most Belgium appearances at the World Cup and Euros combined.
The former Chelsea pair will hope to respond in their last-16 meeting on Monday against France in Dusseldorf, where Didier Deschamps' side must be wary of Jeremy Doku.
Manchester City winger Doku has registered 26 dribbles at the 2024 edition, the most by a player in the group stage since France's Franck Ribery at Euro 2012 (32).
Slovakia 1-1 Romania: Veterans on show as Wolves end 24-year wait
Romania progressed past the group stages of a major tournament for the first time since Euro 2000, doing so as unlikely Group E winners after a 1-1 draw with Slovakia in Frankfurt.
Ondrej Duda's early opener blew the group wide open and saw him become the first Slovakia player to score at two different major international tournaments, also netting against Wales at Euro 2016.
Juraj Kucka's teed up that Duda header, marking his first assist at a major tournament in 14 years and two days, since against Italy at the 2010 World Cup. It's the longest gap between assists at a World Cup/Euros on record for a European player.
Yet Razvan Marin was on hand to smash in a leveller from the penalty spot, scoring for a second time in his last three appearances across all competitions for Romania, as many as he managed in his previous 54.
Marin also became just the second Romanian to score multiple goals at a single edition of the European Championship (two), along with Bogdan Stancu, who found the net twice at Euro 2016.
It was a familiar route to goal for Romania, who have scored four of their last eight goals in this competition from the penalty spot. In fact, of all teams to net five or more goals in Euros history, Romania have netted the highest share from 12 yards (29 per cent – 4/14).
Slovakia will not be too disheartened by Marin's thumping spot-kick, though, as they have now reached the knockout rounds in three of their four attempts at international tournaments.
Experience was a key factor, too, as this was only the second match in European Championship history to see four players aged 35 or older start (Peter Pekarík, Kucka, Martin Dubravka for Slovakia, Florin Nita for Romania), after the Netherlands versus France in 2008.
Georgia 2-0 Portugal: Magic Mikautadze outshines drab Ronaldo
Georgia became the first European nation to qualify from the group stage in their first major tournament since Iceland at Euro 2016 after the magic of Georges Mikautadze.
Mikautadze slotted in a second-half penalty after teeing up Khvicha Kvaratskhelia for Georgia's fastest goal and the earliest Portugal have ever conceded in the competition, timed at one minute and 32 seconds.
With his spot-kick, Mikautadze has scored in all three of Georgia's group matches, becoming only the ninth player to score in all three group matches at a European Championship.
The Georgian hero joined the likes of Michel Platini (1984), Ruud van Nistelrooy (2004) and Portugal's own Cristiano Ronaldo (2021), who has not hit his usual heights this time.
Ronaldo failed to score in the group stage of a major international tournament for the first time in his career. Prior to this tournament, Ronaldo had scored in all of the 10 group stages he had featured in since 2004.
It also marked Portugal's first competitive defeat since the World Cup quarter-final defeat to Morocco in December 2022 and coach Roberto Martinez's first such loss in charge of Portugal.
Portugal had triumphed in all 12 such matches under Martinez before that, and the Spaniard must stamp out some issues in his side.
Martinez's men have received three yellow cards already for simulation, with Rafael Leao (booked against Czechia and Turkiye) and Pedro Neto (against Georgia) the offenders.
Czechia 1-2 Turkiye: Ill-disciplined carnage in Hamburg
Cenk Tosun delivered a 94th-minute winner to seal Turkiye's progression to the knockout stages, but Vincenzo Montella's side have to improve their discipline.
Turkiye have been shown 16 yellow cards at this tournament so far, the most ever by a team in a single group stage in the tournament's 64-year history.
Some 11 of those came in this victory in Hamburg, where there were 18 cards shown in total (16 yellows, two reds), the most in a single game in the tournament's history.
Antonin Barak became the first Czechia player to be sent off at the Euros since Radoslav Latal against the Netherlands in 2000. His dismissal, timed at 19:28, was also the earliest sending-off in the tournament's history.
That left the football as somewhat of a sideshow to the chaos, with Tomas Soucek levelling after an opener from Hakan Calhanoglu, who has now made the joint-most European Championship appearances of any Turkish outfield player (eight), alongside Hakan Balta.
Soucek has also scored four goals across his last nine internationals for Czechia, and in scoring against Turkiye, he became just the fourth member of his nation's Euro 2024 squad to score a goal at a major tournament (alongside Patrik Schick, Lukas Provod and Tomas Holes).
Yet that will be no consolation for Czechia, who have won just one of their last seven Euros matches (D2 L4) and have failed to win a match in a single edition of the tournament for just the second time, after 2016.
Argentina 2-0 Peru: Martinez double seals top spot with knockout blow to La Blanquirroja
Lautaro Martinez's fine goalscoring form continued as he sealed top spot for Argentina in Group A, with a 2-0 victory over Peru, who were eliminated from the competition.
With Lionel Messi out due to a groin injury, the forward stepped up, scoring at the start and end of the second half to ease any nerves after a slow first 45 minutes at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
Leandro Paredes' miss from the penalty spot did not prove costly as Peru failed to threaten in what was a must-win game.
Argentina will face the runner-up of Group B in their quarter-final, while Canada take second place in the group after their 0-0 draw with Chile, while Peru make an early exit.
With a place in the quarter-finals already secured, Argentina made a slow start to the game - Alejandro Garnacho's deflected curler was their only chance in the opening 25 minutes.
The goalkeeper was required to keep things level shortly after, getting a strong hand to stop Paredes' whipped free-kick from heading into the top-left corner.
Giovani Lo Celso was then picked out on the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time, but Gallese parried his first-time shot before Garnacho fired the rebound just over the crossbar.
The half-time team talk worked wonders for Argentina, as Angel Di Maria cut Peru's defence wide open by picking out Martinez, who deftly chipped the opener over Gallese just two minutes into the second half.
Nicolas Tagliafico thought he had doubled their tally moments later, poking over the line from a corner, but it was disallowed as Lo Celso was blocking the goalkeeper's view from an offside position.
Argentina had another chance to double their lead in the 69th minute, with Jesus Castillo penalised for a handball as he slid in to block Paredes' cross in the box, and the midfielder could not profit, rattling the inside of the post with a powerful spot-kick.
In an almost carbon copy of his first goal, Martinez raced in behind once again in the 86th minute and lifted a lovely effort over Gallese, who could not get a hand to it.
Franco Zanelatto almost salvaged some pride for La Blanquirroja in the dying moments, but his thumping header bounced off the near post and, agonisingly, along the face of goal.
Martinez retains golden touch
Though Argentina were already into the quarter-finals with a game to spare, it felt like they might not be at their best without talisman Messi and manager Lionel Scaloni, who was serving a touchline ban.
However, Martinez has stepped up in this tournament, scoring in all three of their group games as he leads the race for the Golden Boot with four goals to his name.
His first two strikes both came off the bench, with his late winner sending the Albiceleste into the knockout stages against Chile, and he made the most of his first start in the tournament with an early goal in the second half.
It is just the third time this century that Argentina have won all three of their group games - the last two times (2007, 2016) they finished as runners-up, but Scaloni will be hoping they can go one better and defend their title this time around.
Peru go out with a whimper
This year's Copa America has been a tournament to forget for Peru, who go out of the tournament with just one point to their name - it is the first time they have been eliminated without a single victory since 1995.
La Blanquirroja needed a win to have a chance of snagging second spot, with hope that Canada and Chile played out a draw in the other Group A game.
However, they managed just six shots in the game, creating an expected goals of 0.14, and finish the tournament with a meagre tally of 22 efforts from their three matches without hitting the back of the net.
It was always going to be a tough ask to get a win against the defending champions, even with all of their changes, but Peru's starting front three of Bryan Reyna, Paolo Guerrero and Edison Flores not managing a single shot did not make matters easier.
Marseille confirm De Zerbi appointment
Marseille have confirmed the appointment of Roberto De Zerbi as their new head coach.
It was announced on Tuesday that the club had agreed a deal in principle with the Italian, before confirming he has signed a three-year contract on Saturday.
In a statement to the club website, De Zerbi said: "I'm delighted to be joining Olympique de Marseille, as I had a very strong desire to join the club.
"The history and prestige that surround OM, the passion and fervour of its supporters, and the seriousness and enthusiasm shown to me by Frank [McCourt], Pablo [Longoria] and Medhi [Banatia] were all decisive factors in my decision to embark on this exciting challenge.
"I can't wait to sit on the bench at the Orange Velodrome, this time as OM coach, and help the club regain the position that Marseille deserves."
De Zerbi, whose shock departure from Brighton was announced the day before the end of the 2023-24 season, led the Seagulls to a sixth-place finish in the Premier League after taking over from Graham Potter in 2022, securing European football for the first time in their history.
Brighton topped their Europa League group, beating Marseille in the process, but were knocked out by Roma in the round of 16 before slumping to an 11th-place finish in the league.
The French side, meanwhile, went through three managers last season, with Jean-Louis Gasset overseeing the end of the campaign as Marseille finished eighth in Ligue 1, outside the European places.
Nagelsmann: Germany will not feel added pressure in Euro 2024
Julian Nagelsmann believes Germany will feel no added pressure after playing their "best" football at Euro 2024 so far during their 2-0 win over Denmark.
Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala both scored in the second half to send Germany through to the quarter-finals, though it was a game that also had three disallowed goals and a near-30-minute break in the first half due to a storm in Dortmund.
Despite that, Germany remained in control for large parts of the game, though Nagelsmann pointed out there is still room for improvement before they face either Spain or Georgia in the next round.
"The first 20 minutes of the game was the best we've played at the tournament and then the rain break unsettled everyone," Nagelsmann said.
"Denmark didn't have a shot in the first half, but in the second half put more pressure on us. There's a lot of work to do ahead of the quarter-finals, we need to be a little more patient in the build-up phase and wait for our moments."
Asked if the fans' expectations will rise after Germany won their first knockout game for eight years, Nagelsmann added: "I think we have no more pressure than usual. I think the fans and also the expectation of our fans is a big push for us.
"We can deal with the pressure. For me, it's still a privilege, and we also tell the players it's a privilege to play soccer games under pressure. All the players are used to dealing with it, so it's no problem."
Nico Schlotterbeck was one of those denied by VAR after he thought he had scored his first goal for the national team after just five minutes before it was disallowed for a foul in the build-up.
He later set up Musiala's strike though, with the defender echoing the praise of their manager.
"I think we had a super game and hope that the fans in Dortmund enjoyed it," said Schlotterbeck. "I'm very happy for the team, it's reward for the hard work.
"The break for the rain, we handled well. We played with euphoria and with pleasure, and now we go to Stuttgart [for the quarter-final]."
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