Tyler Adams believes winning a knockout match is the real measure of success for the United States at the Copa America.

The USA are the host nation of the 2024 Copa America, and they kick-start their campaign against Bolivia on Sunday.

Gregg Berhalter's team will also face Panama and Uruguay in Group C, which they are predicted to progress from in second place, according to Opta's supercomputer.

And while taking nothing for granted ahead of facing the tournament's worst-ranked team, Adams believes a true litmus test for the USA would be progressing beyond the quarter-finals.

"For me, it's getting past the quarter-final," said Adams.

"We need to – in a pressure situation – win in a knockout. That's going to measure a lot of our success."

Defender Mark McKenzie added: "When you talk about some of the most watched games, I think aside from the World Cup, you look at the Copa America.

"You talk about countries that have won multiple World Cups, in Uruguay and Argentina and Brazil.

"You have the opportunity now to step into this tournament and go head-to-head with them. Ultimately, it's usually a South American tournament and now we have the opportunity to play against them."

Carlos Zago won the Copa America with Brazil in 1999, and the Bolivia head coach is out to cause an upset at the AT&T Stadium.

"The most important thing is for us to compete," Zago said.

"We have to try to play on an equal footing with the big teams in terms of intensity and physicality."

Bournemouth midfielder Adams also made a bullish statement in regards to his own ability.

"When I'm healthy and playing consistently, I'm one of the best midfielders at what I do in the world," he said, as reported by the Daily Mail.

"I'm not a politician, I don't need to persuade anyone."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

United States - Christian Pulisic

Pulisic, who will captain the Stars and Stripes at this tournament, is their chief playmaker and also a potent goal threat.

Indeed, he is coming off his best season in terms of goals scored at club level, having netted 15 times for Milan in 2023-24.

Bolivia - Carlos Lampe

Carlos Lampe (nine) is two matches away from equalling Arturo Lopez (11) for the third-most appearances among goalkeepers for Bolivia in the Copa America.

Only Eduardo Gutierrez (12) and Vicente Arraya (20) have played more matches in goal for Bolivia in the competition.

MATCH PREDICTION: UNITED STATES WIN

The USA and Bolivia have faced each other only once in the Copa America, and it was a victory for the South American team, 1-0 at Estadio Parque Artigas in Uruguay during the group stage of the 1995 edition, thanks to a goal by Marco Etcheverry.

However, the USA are backed to win this time, even though CONMEBOL teams have won eight of the last 10 matches against the Stars and Stripes in the Copa America, including the two most recent: Argentina 4-0 USA (semifinals in 2016) and Colombia 1-0 USA (third-place match in 2016).

Bolivia will seek a win against a CONCACAF opponent in the competition for the first time since the 1997 edition when they defeated Mexico 3-1 in the semi-finals of the tournament they hosted.

Expect Bolivia to go long more often than not. So far in the South American Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, Bolivia (along with Paraguay) have the highest average passing distance (20.5 meters).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

USA - 58%

Bolivia - 21%

Draw - 21%

West Indies all-rounder Roston Chase believes it is his country's destiny to win the T20 World Cup following their nine-wicket victory over fellow co-hosts the United States.

The 32-year-old took 3-19 as the USA were bowled out for 128, with Shai Hope hitting an unbeaten 82 from 39 balls as the Windies leapfrogged England in the race for the semi-finals. 

"It is our destiny and our goal to win this World Cup," Chase said after the victory. "We want teams to know they have to beat us to win this World Cup."

Rovman Powell's side equalled the record for the West Indies' most wins in a single calendar year (W9 in 2021) in T20Is, and face South Africa in Antigua next Monday. 

The triumph continued their impressive T20 record at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, and they have now won five of their previous seven T20Is at the venue. 

The last and only previous time they won more consecutive games in Barbados was a four-game streak from May 2010 to March 2014, which has got the West Indies believing they can claim a third title. 

"It's very special," captain Powell said. "Kensington brings special memories for us. We had no better opportunity to come out and play some good cricket."

The USA still holds on to the hopes of qualifying for the competition's semi-finals but knows their hopes of progression lie elsewhere. 

Having lost their opening Super 8 fixture to South Africa, they will be hoping the Proteas can do them a favour in defeating the West Indies but would need a comprehensive victory of their own against current champions England. 

"We lost wickets in clusters," captain Aaron Jones said. "I don't think we ever truly recovered from that. It was bad in the middle.

"We'll go back to the drawing board and come back hard against England on Sunday."

Andy Murray will undergo back surgery in an attempt to be fit for what will be his final appearance at Wimbledon, which begins in nine days. 

The two-time competition winner was forced to retire from his second-round match at the Queen's Championships against Jordan Thompson after just five games. 

It was later revealed by the 37-year-old that he had been suffering with back pain which eventually spread to his right leg, forcing him to withdraw from the competition. 

The two-time Olympic gold medallist is set to call time on his illustrious career later this year, with Wimbledon and the Paris games described as a fitting end to his 20-year spell on the court by Murray. 

But the former world number one faces a race against time to fit for Wimbledon, which starts on July 1, where he is also set to feature in the men's doubles with his older brother, Jamie. 

“He saw a specialist yesterday evening and he’s basically trying to decide what his next move is," his brother told BBC Two on Friday. 

"I don’t think it’s right for me to go into that personally, that’s up to him, but I think he has got a few decisions to make.

"It’s obviously incredibly disappointing for him that this was potentially going to be his last Queen’s, last Wimbledon and Olympics, and there’s a potential that that might not be able to happen.

"I think he’s got to make a few decisions, and see where he goes from there.”

England are "desperate" to win Euro 2024, but Declan Rice feels the Three Lions "put too much pressure on ourselves".

Gareth Southgate and his team have faced plenty of scrutiny in the media following unconvincing displays in their matches so far.

England beat Serbia 1-0 in their Group C opener before drawing 1-1 with Denmark on Thursday.

While they sit in pole position to progress as group winners ahead of facing Slovenia, England – particularly in attack – do not look up to the standard of some of the other teams to have impressed so far at the tournament.

But Rice believes adding extra pressure does not help.

He said: "We are all so desperate to win, to be leaders, to go out there and give people memories for lifetimes and sometimes I maybe feel like we put too much pressure on ourselves where we could just go out there and let it just take care of ourselves.

"We know we can be better in and out of possession and there is lots to improve on, which is a positive in a way.

"I think there is probably more pressure now from the outside just because of the seasons some of our players have had.

"If you look at the goals that our front four have scored this year, it’s over 100 between them. Of course, there is expectation because they are the best players in the world. And that goes for everyone throughout the team.

"There's going to be that pressure. This is England [at] a major tournament. But this is our job and this is what we have to deal with."

England's questionable displays have seen them drop from being Euro 2024 favourites, at least according to Opta's supercomputer, to the third-most likely team to win the tournament, behind France and hosts Germany.

England round out their Group C campaign against Slovenia on Tuesday.

Ricardo Gareca is not concerned about Chile's chances of making it out of Group A at the Copa America despite their opening draw with Peru.

Friday's clash in Arlington finished 0-0 as the teams mustered just five shots on target and an accumulative expected goals tally of just 1.76 between them, but there were 37 fouls – Chile committing 19 and Peru 18.

Gareca pointed to the aggressive nature of the game as a reason for Chile's lack of rhythm against the nation he coached in the last four editions of the Copa America, though he did not look to make excuses.

"We were not able to create many plays and execute them. We were under a lot of pressure and sometimes we were not accurate in our passes," said Gareca, who is the fourth coach to participate in five consecutive editions of the Copa America, after Guillermo Stabile, Luis Tirado and Oscar Tabarez.

"I'm not concerned. I think this will be useful for us to analyse our game to improve our game.

"We of course hoped to win the match. But I think it's very important that we're able to take a point and we still have two matches ahead of us."

This was the first 0-0 draw in a match between Chile and Peru since 1989, when they faced each other in a friendly, with the teams having met 34 times between the scoreless draws. In fact, it was the first draw between these teams since 2004 (1-1 in a friendly), with 14 Chilean victories and six Peruvian victories since then.

Chile fielded the oldest starting line-up in the Copa America this century (31 years and 168 days), while Peru's starting eleven was the third oldest in the same period (30 years and 363 days).

"It was a very strategic and tactical game," said Peru coach Jorge Fossati.

"We knew that if we gave some leeway to the opponent, if we let them run and made them feel comfortable, it was giving them a tool or a weapon that could really hurt us.

"We were aggressive but I don't think one team was more aggressive than the other. It was an even and fair game."

Group A also includes tournament favourites Argentina, who kick-started their campaign with a 2-0 win over Canada.

West Indies hammered their fellow T20 World Cup hosts the United States by nine wickets to put themselves in the driving seat for a semi-final spot.

Having lost their opening Super 8s match to England, the Windies bounced back in style in Barbados on Friday.

Shai Hope's unbeaten 82, which came from 39 balls and included eight sixes, three of which came on the bounce, saw West Indies surpass the target of just 129 within 11 overs.

Hope was recalled to the team after an injury to Brandon King, but will be a tough drop for Rovman Powell now.

The USA had made a promising start, but slipped from 51-1 to 65-4 in the space of three overs, with Andre Russell the pick of the Windies' bowlers (3-31). Andre Gous (29) and Nitish Kumar (20) were the best scores on the board, as they were skittled out for 128.

Hope, Johnson Charles (15) and Nicholas Pooran (27 not out) then wasted little time in securing a margin of victory that sends West Indies above England in Group 2, while their net run rate is also superior to South Africa's.

The Proteas are West Indies' final opponents, while defending champions England face the USA in their last Super 8s match.

Data Debrief: Windies in fine fettle

West Indies have now won nine of their 11 T20Is in 2024, after winning eight games in each of 2022 and 2023.

Their tally of victories this year matches 2021 as their best effort in a single calendar year.

They have also won five of their last seven T20Is at Kensington Oval, and their last three in a row.

West Indies hammered their fellow T20 World Cup hosts the United States by nine wickets to put themselves in the driving seat for a semi-final spot.

Having lost their opening Super 8s match to England, the Windies bounced back in style in Barbados on Friday.

Shai Hope's unbeaten 82, which came from 39 balls and included eight sixes, three of which came on the bounce, saw West Indies surpass the target of just 129 within 11 overs.

Hope was recalled to the team after an injury to Brandon King, but will be a tough drop for Rovman Powell now.

The USA had made a promising start, but slipped from 51-1 to 65-4 in the space of three overs, with Andre Russell the pick of the Windies' bowlers (3-31).

They were skittled out for 128, with Hope, Johnson Charles (15) and Nicholas Pooran (27 not out) wasting little time in securing a margin of victory that sends West Indies above England in Group 2, while their net run rate is also superior to South Africa's.

The Proteas are West Indies' final opponents, while defending champions England face the USA in their last Super 8s match.

Data Debrief: Windies in fine fettle

West Indies have now won nine of their 11 T20Is in 2024, after winning eight games in each of 2022 and 2023.

Their tally of victories this year matches 2021 as their best effort in a single calendar year.

They have also won five of their last seven T20Is at Kensington Oval, and their last three in a row.

Chris Sale became the third in the majors to reach 10 wins and Ozzie Albies, Matt Olson and Austin Riley homered off Carlos Rodon as the surging Atlanta Braves rolled to an 8-1 rout of the New York Yankees on Friday night.

Sale allowed one hit and one run over five innings with three walks and eight strikeouts to join Philadelphia’s Ranger Suarez and Kansas City’s Seth Lugo as 10-game winners.

Four relievers finished up the three-hitter.

The Braves built a 2-0 lead on Rodon’s first two pitches as Jarred Kelenic singled before Albies homered to left.

Riley added his seventh home run later in the inning for a 3-0 lead. He finished 2 for 3 with two walks and has 12 hits in his last 22 at-bats, including four homers and four doubles.

Kelenic singled home a run in the second and Ramon Laureano doubled home another run in the third. Olson’s two-run blast in the fourth made it 7-1 and an error by left fielder Jahmai Jones allowed the eighth run to score.

Atlanta has won four in a row and seven of its last eight games.

Rodon, who also was bidding for his 10th victory, was tagged for season highs of eight runs and 11 hits in 3 2/3 innings. He lost his second straight start following a personal seven-game winning streak.

The Yankees have lost three straight and five of six after winning 12 of 15.

Ohtani homers against former team in loss

Shohei Ohtani hit a two-run homer in his first game against his former team, but Taylor Ward singled home the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning to lift the Los Angeles Angels to a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Nolan Schanuel sacrificed automatic runner Jo Adell to third to open the 10th. Evan Phillips then retired Luis Rengifo on a groundout with Adell holding, but Ward followed with a single to left to give the Angels their first lead of the game.

Ohtani’s two-run blast off reliever Matt Moore in the fifth opened the scoring. It was his National League-leading 22nd homer of the season and seventh in the last 11 games.

He finished 2 for 3 with two RBIs and two walks in his first game against the Angels, the team he spent his first six major league seasons with before signing a 10-year contract with the Dodgers in December.

The Angels tied it in the next inning when Zach Neto was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and an RBI groundout from Mickey Moniak.  

Mets hammer Imanaga, Cubs

J.D. Martinez, Francisco Alvarez and Brandon Nimmo homered against Shota Imanaga to power the New York Mets to an 11-1 drubbing of the Chicago Cubs.

Francisco Lindor had three hits and two runs and Jose Iglesias added four hits and three RBIs to help the Mets win for the eighth time in nine games.

They are 12-3 in their last 15 games and averaging 6.6 runs during that stretch.

Imanaga was roughed up for 10 runs and 11 hits in three-plus innings after he pitched seven innings of three-hit ball in a 1-0 win over the Mets on May 1. His ERA ballooned from 1.89 to 2.96 following the shortest outing of his rookie season.

Jose Quintana allowed one unearned run and four hits over 6 1/3 innings while striking out eight in his second straight win.

Adam Henrique and Zach Hyman scored second-period goals and Stuart Skinner was great again with 20 saves as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 for their third straight win on Friday night to push the Stanley Cup Final to Game 7.

Warren Foegele also scored and Ryan McLeod and Darnell Nurse added late empty-net goals to help the Oilers stave off elimination again and even a series that seemed a lost cause a week ago.

Leon Draisaitl remained without a goal in this series but set up Foegele’s early goal that gave Edmonton a lead it would not relinquish, and now it has a chance to complete an improbable comeback Monday night in Sunrise, Florida.

The Oilers are the first team to tie the Cup final after falling behind 3-0 in the series since the Detroit Red Wings in 1945.

Edmonton is a win away from becoming just the second team in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup after losing the first three games. The only team to do it was the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs.

That victory would end Canada’s three-decade-long Cup drought.

Skinner made timely saves despite allowing Aleksander Barkov’s goal early in the third period. He has stopped 81 of 86 shots in the last three games after he gave up nine goals on 68 shots in the first three games of the series.

We are now a full week into Euro 2024, and the tournament continues to serve up plenty of entertainment – sometimes in the places fans least expect.

While there was nothing to separate the Netherlands and France in a dour goalless draw on Friday, Austria put on a show in Group D's other match, eliminating Poland with a 3-1 win.

Earlier on, there were emotional scenes as Ukraine claimed their first major tournament win since Euro 2020, fighting back to beat Slovakia 2-1 in Group C.

There was also plenty more happening away from the pitch, and we run through the best of the day's content here, in our social media round-up.

Tears of joy for Ukraine 

Ukraine's first game at the tournament fell flat as they were thrashed 3-0 by Romania, and they were staring at an early exit when they went 1-0 down to Slovakia on Friday.

However, second-half goals from Mykola Shaparenko and Roman Yaremchuk turned the game on its head, throwing up the prospect of all four Group E teams entering the final matchday on three points.

It was an understandably emotional occasion for Ukraine and for winning goalscorer Yaremchuk, who was pictured in tears at the full-time whistle. 

Heartbreak for Tierney

From ecstasy to agony. Friday began with the news that Scotland full-back Kieran Tierney would miss the remainder of the tournament with the hamstring injury he sustained against Switzerland earlier this week.

Taking to Instagram, Tierney said he was "heartbroken" after it was confirmed he would return to Arsenal for tests.

Scotland will be hoping to give him something to cheer on Sunday, when a victory over Hungary would likely book a last-16 place. 

Leipzig turns Oranje

There is nothing quite like the sight of the Netherlands' fans turning a host city orange, and that is precisely what happened ahead of their meeting with France. 

Bouncing in tandem at the team's fan zone, these supporters certainly brought the party to Leipzig.

Some might even have regretted leaving for the Red Bull Arena, after sitting through the tournament's first goalless draw.

The masked crusader

After he suffered a broken nose during France's opening game against Austria, Kylian Mbappe's condition has been a hot topic of debate.

On Thursday, he was seen going through his paces in a tricolour protective mask sure to impress French patriots.

However, with UEFA regulations stipulating that any mask he wears competitively must be all one colour, he unveiled a new, sleek look on Friday.

He did not get off the bench against the Netherlands, but France's masked crusader will be itching to return to the field against Poland on matchday three.

Scenes to savour for Austria

A huge contingent of Austrian fans made the short trip to Berlin to witness another highly impressive display from Ralf Rangnick's team on Friday.

This one was capped with three points, too, as second-half goals from Christoph Baumgartner and Marko Arnautovic handed them a deserved 3-1 win over Poland.

Arnautovic appeared overcome with emotion when he was substituted late on, and he was later seen directing the celebrations as Austria underlined their status as potential dark horses. 

Ronald Koeman and Virgil van Dijk believe Xavi Simon's disallowed goal should have stood after the Netherlands' goalless draw with France on Friday.

The midfielder thought he had given his side the lead in the 69th minute after latching onto Memphis Depay's saved shot and picking out the bottom corner.

However, a lengthy VAR check saw the goal ruled out as Denzel Dumfries was judged to be blocking Mike Maignan from getting to it.

The Oranje were not happy with the decision at the time, and their ire continued into post-match, with a frustrated Koeman adamant they should have come away with all three points.

"I think the position of Dumfries is offside, that's true, but he isn't disturbing the goalkeeper and when that happens, then it's a legal goal," Koeman said.

"You need five minutes to check it because it's so difficult? I don't understand. He's not disturbing the goalkeeper. I think the goal should have stood.

"I asked the referee, and he said it was offside, but I saw the clip about the offside. And after that, I have my opinion about the legal goal, but that was in the dressing room."

A win would have ensured the Netherlands a place in the last 16 with a game to spare.

Although four points are likely to see them through, it will go down to their final match against Austria on Tuesday to decide where they finish in the table.

While Van Dijk echoed his manager's frustrations over the VAR decision, he remained optimistic about the result.

"In my opinion, Xavi Simons' goal that was disallowed was a valid goal," said Van Dijk. "But one point is a bonus, we have to be that realistic.

"We are playing against France, so I don't think it is strange that you have difficulty in some phase of the match. The fighting spirit we have shown is very positive.

"Now we are on four points, and we continue towards Tuesday against Austria. We tried to remain compact at the back and still hurt France on the counter.

"We almost succeeded a few times, but we didn't play it out well. We don't lose, and we still have everything in our own hands."

Didier Deschamps bemoaned France's lack of a clinical edge as they played out a 0-0 draw with the Netherlands on Friday.

Les Bleus, without talisman Kylian Mbappe due to a broken nose he suffered against Austria in their opener, struggled in front of goal, managing only three shots on target out of their 15.

Xavi Simons thought he had broken the deadlock in the 69th minute, only to have it chalked off due to Denzel Dumfries impeding Mike Maignan from an offside position.

After a wasteful performance in the final third, Deschamps was not willing to speculate if the situation would have been different if Mbappe played.

"The only regret is the efficiency," Deschamps told M6. "It was a match with great intensity, a Dutch team more cautious than usual.

"Compared to the opponent, we had no less 36 hours less recovery. We responded on an athletic level despite everything we did everything we had to do to recover as much as possible but hey..."

"Kylian, it's Kylian, we're not going to compare him to the others.

"[Bradley] Barcola has qualities, that's why he's there, he does good things in training. But he's never been with us. In a match like that, it's never easy to put it at the end to make the difference, but the team was rather well-balanced, we were able to create danger and defend well."

France could have sealed their place in the round of 16 with a win in Leipzig, though they will likely qualify anyway after moving onto four points with this draw.

Antoine Griezmann had the most shots for France (five), including two big chances, and he admitted that the side needed to work on their finishing ahead of their final match against Poland on Tuesday.

"I have two 'opportunities' where it stays in my feet. It's a real shame," Griezmann told beIN Sports.

"That's what we're missing in the two matches, we have to work on it. Defensively, we were good. Tactically, we were good. We're missing that little goal; it's going to happen."

Friday's action at Euro 2024 was headlined by a heavyweight Group D clash which did not quite live up to its billing, as France and the Netherlands played out a goalless draw.

While France misfired in the absence of Kylian Mbappe, who was an unused substitute after breaking his nose in Les Bleus' opener, it was VAR that frustrated the Dutch as Xavi Simons saw a potential winner chalked off for an offside call against Denzel Dumfries.  

Fortunately, there was plenty of entertainment to be had in the day's early games, as Ukraine fought back to beat Slovakia 2-1 and Austria dumped Poland out of the tournament with a 3-1 success in Berlin.

Here, we run through all the best Opta stats to emerge from the day's matches.

Slovakia 1-2 Ukraine: Shaparenko follows in Shevchenko's footsteps

The first game of the day was an emotional one for Ukraine, as they fought back from 1-0 down to clinch a 2-1 victory over Slovakia and blow Group E wide open.

Ivan Schranz's goal had put Slovakia on course for a second win in two games, as he became just the second player to net multiple goals at Euro 2024 after Germany's Jamal Musiala.

He is also just the second Slovakian player to score more than one goal at a major tournament, after Robert Vittek struck four times at the 2010 World Cup.

It was, in many ways, a case of experience versus youth in this match, as 37-year-olds Peter Pekarík and Juraj Kucka both made their 12th major tournament appearances for Slovakia (World Cup/Euros), overtaking Marek Hamsik (11) for the most in the nation's history.

Ukraine, meanwhile, named a starting lineup with an average age of just 25 years and 259 days – the youngest at this year's tournament so far and the first to come in under the 26 mark.

Youthful exuberance won the day as Ukraine came on strong in the second half, Mykola Shaparenko levelling after 54 minutes.

He became the first Dynamo Kyiv player to score at the Euros since the legendary Andriy Shevchenko did so on home soil at the 2012 tournament.

Roman Yaremchuk then came off the bench to decide the contest with a composed touch and finish in the 80th minute, becoming just the second Ukrainian substitute to net at a major tournament, after Artem Dovbyk did so against Sweden at Euro 2020.

It was also Yaremchuk's third major tournament goal, with only Shevchenko (four) boasting more for Ukraine.

Poland 1-3 Austria: Veteran Arnautovic on the spot

Austria won plenty of plaudits for their display against France on matchday one, but it did not translate into points.

That was not the case on Friday, though, as second-half goals from Christoph Baumgartner and Marko Arnautovic downed Poland, who had seen Krzysztof Piatek cancel out Gernot Trauner's early opener.

Trauner's ninth-minute header, his first competitive goal for Austria, made him just the second player to score on his first Euros start for the country, after Stefan Lainer versus North Macedonia three years ago.

It was also the fastest goal Austria have scored at the Euros, and their earliest in any tournament match since they netted twice in the first four minutes versus Czechoslovakia at the 1954 World Cup.

Ralf Rangnick's high-pressing side could not hold their lead until the interval, though, as Piatek levelled, becoming the seventh Poland player to net at the Euros and the fifth to do so on his competition debut, after Robert Lewandowski (2012), Arkadiusz Milik (2016), Karol Linetty (2020) and Adam Buksa (2024).

Lewandowski was later introduced from the bench after missing Poland's opener due to injury, as the striker (35 years, 305 days) became his nation's oldest player to feature at the Euros. That record lasted all of 15 minutes, with fellow substitute Kamil Grosicki coming on at the age of 36 years and 13 days.

A double salvo from Austria would later hand them a deserved victory, with Baumgartner and Arnautovic becoming the first players to net more than once for them at the Euros, having both scored at the 2020 edition.

Arnautovic's goal, a composed finish from the penalty spot after Marcel Sabitzer was fouled by Wojciech Szczesny, made him Austria's second-oldest goalscorer at a major tournament after Ivica Vastic (38 years, 257 days), who also netted a penalty against Poland in 2008.

Netherlands 0-0 France: Long wait for goalless draw over

Poland later became the first team to be officially eliminated from Euro 2024, courtesy of a goalless draw between the Netherlands and France in Leipzig.

Much of the pre-match talk centred on whether Mbappe would play after suffering a broken nose in Les Blues' 1-0 win over Austria on Monday. He had been fitted with a protective mask ahead of kick-off, yet was relegated to the bench, where he stayed throughout. 

France struggled in attack without their talisman, with Antoine Griezmann guilty of spurning several good chances. 

Griezmann did gain a slice of history, though, as his 32nd major tournament appearance equalled Lilian Thuram's record for the most by any outfield France player.

The Atletico Madrid man has also started each of France's last 11 games at the Euros, with Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (18) and Germany's Toni Kroos (13) the only outfielders currently on longer such streaks for their nation.

France's failure to find the breakthrough means they have failed to win any of their last seven games when Mbappe has not been in their starting lineup, drawing five and losing two such matches since the start of June 2022.

In fact, it was the Netherlands who went closest to victory as Simons saw a potential winner controversially chalked off in the second half, ensuring we got the first goalless draw of this year's tournament.

In fact, the result ended a run of 50 European Championship games without a 0-0 draw dating back to the group stages at the delayed 2020 tournament, when there was nothing to separate England and Scotland.

England captain Jos Buttler believes his side lost their match against South Africa in the powerplay after losing by seven runs in the Super 8s.

South Africa registered their second-most productive powerplay in the tournament so far, with Quinton de Kock proving invaluable with 49 runs during that time.

In England's powerplay, they managed to get just 41 runs, their lowest such tally of the year, and though they pushed late on, they came up just short in the chase.

Buttler admitted that in hindsight, it was South Africa's start that cost England in the end, despite giving themselves a reachable target.

"I'd say it was lost in the powerplay," Buttler said. "Quinton de Kock came out and played with really good intent, and we couldn't really match that. I think we were about 20 behind them at the end of our first six.

"The wicket did slow up, which allowed us to pull it back in the middle, and we were happy to be chasing 160. But yeah, that innings was the difference.

"It's still a good pitch but a little slower than we probably expected. I'm proud of how we responded with the ball after their good powerplay, and Brook and Livingstone had an excellent partnership there to take us so close.

"At one stage, we were favourites but T20 cricket is never that simple, and credit to South Africa for closing it out.

"We know we're still in it. We played well today; we just didn't quite get over the line."

De Kock, who finished on 65, was named Player of the Match for his impressive turn – he equalled the fastest half-century of the tournament (22 balls, level with USA's Aaron Jones), and broke his own record for the most runs in a powerplay by a South Africa batter at a men's T20 World Cup.

South Africa remain unbeaten in the tournament so far and have put themselves in a good position to qualify for the semi-finals, and De Kock was pleased with how they got the win on Friday.

"My plan was to just bat as long as I can and score as many runs I can," De Kock said. "That was pretty much it. I don't really carry or lose confidence; I just get on with my game. So that is what I focused on.

"I thought we bowled really well, especially in the powerplay. We controlled it really nicely. Overall, we were pretty solid and to defend on 160 on a decent pitch is a good effort."

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