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.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
Girlz coach Busby eyes improved performance as 'Bunny' Shaw returns for South Africa friendlies
With Jamaica’s senior Reggae Girlz failing to register a win since beating Panama at last year’s Fifa Women’s World Cup, Head coach Hubert Busby says the two highly anticipated home friendlies against South Africa represent an opportunity to turnaround their poor run of form.
Though focused on more than just immediate results, Busby pointed out that victory in upcoming matches is part of a larger vision—a journey toward a third-consecutive World Cup appearance in 2027 and the continued development of a sustainable, competitive program for Jamaica’s women’s football.
The Girlz will take on South Africa at the Montego Bay Sports Complex on November 29 and December 2, in what will be their first matches on home soil since November 2022. It will also be the first game in Jamaica for the core group of the 2023 World Cup squad since last September’s Olympic qualifying playoff against Canada.
“It’s special to have the girls back playing in front of our fans. This is an opportunity to connect with the home crowd again, but it’s also a critical step in our preparation for what’s ahead,” Busby shared as he unveiled his 23-member squad.
“We're looking to have a good performance, then that leads to, obviously, a good result to end the year, but really it is also about us continuing to evaluate and to make the proper assessment of the players who continue to kind of move forward into World Cup qualifiers. I mean, that's really the bigger picture. So short term, let's get two good performances this week...two good results and take that into the February window,” he added.
Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw has been in good form for Manchester City.
Busby’s approach reflects his determination to build on recent experiences, including lessons learned from challenging matches against top-tier opponents like Brazil and more recently, France.
Despite a compressed six-day camp prior to that encounter, in which they lost 0-3, he noted the progress made in refining their style of play, particularly in maintaining possession and executing defensive transitions.
“We didn’t get the result we wanted against France, but there were positives, especially in how we’re evolving our style of play—keeping possession and building from the back. But we need to cut down on individual mistakes and improve decision-making in critical moments. Football is a game of moments, and minimizing mistakes during crucial periods is a key focus for us,” he noted.
With the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil as the ultimate target, Busby has been focused on establishing a winning culture while integrating new talent into the team.
For the last camp, he invited Taylor Hinds, Lulu Jarvis, Reanna Blades, and Natasha Thomas in to see how they fit into the programme, but none of those players are listed for the upcoming camp, in which national youth representative Destiny Powell and Naya Cardoza will be the only new players among the core group.
The coach stressed that his job is not just to guide the team to their third consecutive World Cup but to lay the groundwork for Jamaica’s participation in every World Cup thereafter, hence the consistent inclusion of young talent.
“It’s not just about Brazil in 2027. It’s about creating a sustainable pipeline of talent so we’re always competitive because their growth today will fuel our success tomorrow. So it's really important to get these young players in,” Busby shared.
“My responsibility is to get this team to the 2027 World Cup, but with that said, you know, we want to ensure that we're going to every single World Cup afterwards. Integrating young, talented players into the group to see where they are keeps the group fresh and challenges the group to keep it competitive. The success that we've had in the past, the average age, I believe was about 26 years of age, so they'll probably be about 28 going forward,” he explained.
One of the most exciting elements of the upcoming friendlies is the return of Khadija “Bunny” Shaw, who has been in rich form for Manchester City.
Busby, while highlighting her influence, both as a leader and a prolific scorer, as key to the team’s offensive strategy, also emphasized that the team’s success needs to be rooted in defence as former captain Konya Plummer, left full-back/winger Siobhan Wilson, and defensive midfielder Peyton McNamara also make a return to the fold. Wilson recently recovered from an ACL injury.
Siobhan Wilson makes a long-awaited return after an ACL injury kept her out of action for nine months.
“One of our objectives is to keep a clean sheet. Being good defensively has been the basis of our foundation of success without a doubt, but the biggest inclusion in this group is leader ‘Bunny’ Shaw. She's been in great form, as we all know, so it gives us another option up front to go around with all the as to go along with the other attacking options we have. But having her back in the group helps tremendously,” the tactician declared.
Like the Reggae Girlz, South Africa are also fresh off their participation in the 2023 World Cup, and Busby expects the games to be another tough challenge for his side, much like it was in their last meeting in 2019 when they played out a 1-1 stalemate in Durban.
“Going into these two games against a great-quality opponent in South Africa still gives us a really good litmus test in terms of where we are and, more importantly, where we need to go. So that is the objective. We want to get the wins. We want to improve performance. And we're hoping that these next two games will see a much more improved performance than we have before, that's for sure,” Busby ended.
Squad: Rebecca spencer, Liya Brooks, Allyson Swaby, Konya Plummer, Naya Cardoza, Vyan Sampson, Chantelle Swaby, Deneisha Blackwood, Siobhan Wilson, Atlanta Primus, Destiny Powell, Peyton McNamara, Jade Bailey Drew Spence, Paige Bailey-Gayle, Olufolasade Adamolekun, Khadija Shaw, Kayla McKenna, Davia Richards, Jody Brown, Shania Hayles, Shaniel Buckley, Tiffany Cameron
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