With the group stages behind us, Euro 2024 now enters the business end of the tournament, when there's no more margin for error.
The favourites are all through in the main, with Croatia the biggest name to drop out in the group stage.
There are some surprise packages that have made the last 16 too, though: tournament debutants Georgia stunned Portugal to reach this stage, while Austria finished above France and the Netherlands to top Group D.
But as the tournament goes on, there are some serious questions being asked of the respective coaches when it comes to team selections, while other players nurse knocks ahead of the knockouts.
And here, using Opta data, we take a look at some of those selection dilemmas.
Should Southgate drop Foden and can Shaw stay fit?
Phil Foden came into Euro 2024 on the back of a magnificent season for Manchester City. He was named the Premier League Player of the Year, scoring 19 goals in 35 top-flight appearances in 2023-24.
Yet playing out on the left side of England's attack, with Jude Bellingham deployed centrally, Foden has failed to replicate that form for the Three Lions.
Anthony Gordon directly contributed to 21 Premier League goals for Newcastle United (11 goals, 10 assists), and appears able to offer the kind of directness that seems to be missing from England's attack.
Gordon would seemingly replace Foden if he were to start, so what is England's recent record at major tournaments without the City star?
Foden has featured in 10 games at the World Cup and Euros for England, who have won six of those games, drawing three and losing one. They score 1.8 goals per game with him in the team compared to 1.6 in the five tournament matches in which he has not featured.
Defensively, England do seem a little more solid when Foden does not feature, with their goals conceded per game dropping from 0.6 with him in, to 0.2 without the 24-year-old.
Behind Foden, though, the left-back position is an issue. Luke Shaw has not played for club or country since February, but Kieran Trippier has failed to offer the same attacking output or balance while deputising, and could be an injury doubt ahead of England's clash with Slovakia.
The sense of Southgate in taking an unfit Shaw can certainly be questioned, though when factoring in major tournaments only, you can understand why.
England have a 58.3% win percentage (7/12) when Shaw is in the team compared to a 35.3% (6/17) success rate when he is not, while conceding double the amount of goals per 90 without Shaw (1.0 to 0.5).
Does Ronaldo deserve Martinez's backing?
Cristiano Ronaldo is the record appearance maker (28) and goalscorer (14) at the Euros, but at 39, should he be spearheading Portugal's attack?
Ronaldo failed to score from 12 shots in the group stage, as for the first time at a major tournament, he did not manage to hit the back of the net in the first round.
The Al-Nassr striker scored 10 goals from qualifying, but against more resilient defences, he has found it tougher, and against Georgia he was kept quiet, though he did spurn one Opta-defined 'big chance'.
Ronaldo's appearance against Georgia marked his 50th such match at a major tournament, a European record, with the five-time Ballon d'Or winner having only sat out two fixtures at a World Cup or Euros since 2004. Portugal have a 46% win ratio with him in their team in major competitions, but is it time to cut the cord?
France need Mbappe's magic
Kylian Mbappe recovered from a broken nose to play, while donning a mask, for France against Poland last time out, and it was his penalty that put Les Bleus ahead before Robert Lewandowski equalised from the spot.
That marked Mbappe's first goal at the Euros, while he is now just one behind Michel Platini (14) in France's all-time list of record goalscorers at major tournaments.
France recorded 2.32 xG against Poland, with Mbappe accounting for 1.31 of that. In the match that he missed, a 0-0 draw against the Netherlands, Les Bleus mustered only 1.43 xG, showing how much Mbappe was missed.
Missing out
There are some big players who definitely will not be featuring in the last 16, and that is due to the fact they are suspended after picking up two yellow cards throughout the group stage.
Italy's Riccardo Calafiori has been one of the stars of the tournament, but the Bologna defender will not play against Switzerland on Saturday.
Hosts Germany will also be without a key defender in Jonathan Tah.
This campaign has been Tah's first at a major tournament, but the Bayer Leverkusen centre-back has been impressive so far and will be a miss when Germany go up against Denmark.
Turkiye, meanwhile, will have to play Austria without Hakan Calhanoglu.
The Inter playmaker has only missed one match for his country at a major tournament, though Turkiye did win that one, but facing in-form Austria without their best player is a daunting prospect.
Spalletti urges Italy to learn from Belgium mistake against Israel
Luciano Spalletti lauded Italy's spirit but warned his side must learn from their mistakes when they host Israel in Monday's Nations League clash.
Italy are top of their group, one point ahead of France, who smashed Israel 4-1 on Thursday.
Spalletti's side were held to a 2-2 draw with Belgium on the same day, throwing away an early two-goal lead after Lorenzo Pellegrini was dismissed for striking out at Arthur Theate.
The Azzurri manager referenced that error as Spalleti urged his side to use the Belgium draw as a learning curve.
"The team is working hard, sweating for the shirt, sacrificing themselves," the former Napoli head coach said at Sunday's press conference.
"The problem we learned from the last game is that in football one incident can ruin all the good work, so we must always learn from our mistakes."
Italy defeated Israel 2-1 in their first group-stage meeting thanks to goals from Davide Frattesi and Moise Kean in Budapest.
Spalletti expects another stern examination, however, as Israel aim to bounce back from their thrashing by France last time out.
"I don't know exactly who will start because it's a very delicate game with many hidden dangers," Spalletti added before confirming Guglielmo Vicario will start in goal instead of Gianluigi Donnarumma.
"Israel are a good team that can play football, so we have to keep our balance and organisation. I hope our team can take control of the game.
"Israel won't have the same attitude they showed against us or with France, as at times they sit deep and wait, at others they try to press you."
Juventus midfielder Nicolo Fagioli will be pushing for a starting berth in Udine, though questions remain as to whether he can partner Torino's Samuele Ricci.
"Fagioli deserves more playing time and he is working hard, but this time I won't be able to give you too many hints on the line-up," continued Spalletti.
"He can play with Ricci, I gave him the role in front of the defence because I think it can suit him, but he must also know how to change tempo and direction, shake off man-marking and use the midfield like a trampoline to bounce the ball from one side to another."
Mona, Hillel kickstart 2024 Canopy Insurance/JISA Alberga Cup season quest with impressive victories
The 2023 Canopy Insurance/JISA Under-12 Alberga Cup finalists, Mona Preparatory and Hillel Academy kickstarted their quest for victory on Saturday when they played opening matches against St. Hughs Preparatory and American International School of Kingston (AISK) at the National Water Commission’s (NWC) Mona field and the AISK field respectively. The 2023 Cup finalists were 2 of 17 matches played across 5 zones set for both Kingston & St. Catherine.
Mona, who played in Zone 4, won their opener against St. Hugh’s and were in high spirits as they believe they have a chance to repeat history. Coached by Vivian Nelson they clocked 11-0; while unsure if his team is ready, he is looking forward to them playing some good football.
"I’m not sure if we’re ready but the season [already] started so we’ll just play. At 11-0, they’re just showing that they picked up from where they left off so, it was a good game, the first game; we just want to see where they are after the pre-season, so [it] never really looked bad, the playing is okay, but I think as we go along we expect some improvement.”
Nelson said that compared to last year, it’s more or less the same results from the first match.
“If we judge by that [match] then, the season is the same; we’re hoping to get there [on the top spot] again. We have an ongoing program plus some of these youngsters play football right round [the year] so when they’re not with me they’re with the Dare to Dream Football Academy; we put in some work in pre-season; expect youngsters [to be] youngsters and score. [But] I’m looking at how they play the position, their discipline and how they control the game.
Noting that while they’re playing for victory, he’s not looking at teams now, he’s focused on his team to see where the season takes them, whilst praising his competent returning players.
Their opening opponent’s coach, Pryce of St. Hughs Prep believes they can get better.
“We have a fairly young team this year, a group of grade 5 boys coming out to play some really nice football, they were up against the defending champions which is very good and for me they performed the best they could.” said Pryce.
“The boys are growing, they are coming along, they have a lot more experience to gain so the more they play, the better they’ll get over the years. They’re just here to put on a good show for themselves this year and get some confidence going into next year’s season. They just need to play faster and a bit more confident.”
In another St. Andrew match, 2023 finalist Hillel, the Zone 2 favorite, took home the gold with a 7-2 score at the end of the match to secure their move to the next round. While both teams were tied at halftime, Hillel took things up a notch in the second half to score 5 more points.
“It was our first game and we just wanted to see how the boys would play real competitively, and they did well; apart from a few mistakes we got back in our game in the second half and scored some goals, tried to get the benchers in and get some experience for the new ones but all in all, we have more work to do because I’m quite sure there are better teams out there to play; we’re looking forward to that; we need the challenge to ensure our team is ready.” said coach Nicholas Locke of Hillel Academy.
Coach-nominated Players of the Match for the 2024 season’s opener included St. Hugh’s James Whittingham and Hillel’s Jace Lowe.
Other matches played in Saturday’s season opener included: Lannaman’s Prep VS Mount Alvernia Prep (2-0), Creative Kids VS Ardenne Prep (0-1), Emmanuel Christian Academy VS Portmore Missionary Prep (8-0) and Sts. Peter and Paul VS Our Lady of the Angels Prep (11-0).
Skinner compares 'immense and intense' Terland to Haaland
Erling Haaland may have hit unprecedented heights for Manchester City but Marc Skinner believes Manchester United have a similar talisman in Elisabeth Terland.
United boss Skinner likened Women's Super League star Terland to City's Premier League hero Haaland after the Norwegian scored twice in Sunday's 3-0 victory over Tottenham.
That marked her first two goals for United since joining from Brighton, having first blasted a volley home before looping another header over Becky Spencer.
Asked to describe Terland, Skinner said: "Intense in a good way. She is a person who is always focused, she doesn't dip off her focus whether it's pressing or whatever the task is, she's all in.
"I think she knows Haaland personally and I don't want to compare the two but the immense and intense action of both of them, that's how she performs."
Terland's heroics helped to ensure United's 100% record in the WSL this season stayed intact, with three wins and three clean sheets from three games.
The former Brighton forward, who found the net 13 times in the league last season, appeared all over the place against Spurs, attempting a game-high five shots with three of those on target.
Her two goals came from an expected goals tally of just 0.65, though, suggesting superior finishing from lower quality chances, something that will delight Skinner.
"I came to a club that wants to achieve big things. I know playing in a better team will make me better," Terland told Sky Sports.
"Part of my job is to score goals, it is great to get the first one for the club. A good win and I am proud of the team."
United finished fifth last campaign and lacked a regular scorer, with Nikita Parris finishing the term as the club's top scorer in the WSL with only eight goals.
Skinner knows the tide may now turn, however, with Terland firing up top.
"I just think she's an incredible talent," Skinner added.
"The beauty of her is I think she slows the moment and sees the opportunity under the most immense pressure."
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