A questioned England meets Slovakia, who wants to write history. The group stage's superior Spain meets the sensation Georgia with super goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Here's everything you need to know before Sunday's round of 16.
What: England-Slovakia, round of 16.
When: Sunday, June 30, 18.00.
Where? Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen.
TV/radio: SVT 2, SVT Play, P4 Radiosporten.
England's results in group C: Serbia 1–0, Denmark 1–1, Slovenia 0–0.
Slovakia's results in group E: Belgium 1–0, Ukraine 1–2, Romania 1–1.
+ A questioned England
England may have won the group. But national team coach Gareth Southgate and his team are still very questioned. The game has looked slow and England has not impressed.
After the goalless event against Slovenia last, he responded to the criticism.
I'm not going to hide from it. The most important thing is that the fans stand behind the players. I've understood the narrative against me, and it's better that I hear it than it affects the players. It creates a demanding environment to perform in, he said according to NTB.
+ Can Slovakia continue to surprise?
Slovakia struck with a surprise already in the first group stage match: a 1–0 win over Belgium.
A loss and a draw later, and the team was through to the playoffs as one of the four best group thirds.
As an independent nation, Slovakia has never gone further than the round of 16 in a World Championship or European Championship. Twice before, the team has played in the round of 16 (World Championship 2010 and European Championship 2016), but both times it ended there.
Will Slovak football history be written against a shaky England?
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What: Spain-Georgia, round of 16.
When: Sunday, June 30, 21.00.
Where? RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne.
TV/radio: TV4, TV4 Play, P4 Radiosporten.
Spain's results in group B: Croatia 3–0, Italy 1–0, Albania 1–0.
Georgia's results in group F: Turkey 1–3, Czech Republic 1–1, Portugal 2–0.
+ Spain – the group stage's superior
One nation has won all matches so far: Spain.
The 3–0 thrashing of Croatia in the premiere set the tone, and 1–0 against Italy was on the low side. In the final match, 1–0 against Albania, national team coach Luis de la Fuente rested players who had previously started.
Ferran Torres got the chance from the start and became the matchwinner:
All players are ready to come into the starting lineup and that's a key. Anyone can decide a match and the players who come in from the bench are just as important, said Torres to AP.
Now awaits a round of 16 against the sensation Georgia, and Spain must come to terms with massive favoritism.
+ The wall Mamardashvili tops the statistics
One of the European Championship's absolute best players so far is Giorgi Mamardashvili. Georgia's nearly two-meter-tall goalkeeper has excelled in the group stage and is one of the main reasons why Georgia has sensationally made it to the playoffs.
According to figures from the European Football Association (Uefa), no other goalkeeper has made as many saves in this year's group stage as Mamardashvili: 20 saves. This can be compared to the second, Florin Nita, Romania, with 13 saves.
Will the Georgian Valencia goalkeeper hold up against Spain?
