Two of the world’s biggest international soccer tournaments are down to the final eight teams. Here’s a look at the quarterfinal matchups in the Copa America and the European Championship, including Canada’s chance to earn another crack at Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
Copa America
Argentina vs. Ecuador (tonight at 9 p.m. ET): World Cup champion Argentina completed a perfect 3-0-0 group stage on Saturday as Messi sat out with a sore hamstring. He’ll be a game-time decision, but world No. 1 Argentina remains heavily favoured to get past 30th-ranked Ecuador, the runner-up to Venezuela in Group B.
Canada vs. Venezuela (Friday at 9 p.m. ET):
The 48th-ranked Canadians gave Argentina all it could handle in the tournament opener before beating shorthanded Peru 1-0 and playing Chile to a scoreless draw with help from another red card on their opponent. Canada’s 1-1-1 record in its Copa debut was good for second place in Group A, behind the Argentines, and set up a quarterfinal matchup against surprising Venezuela.
La Vinotinto are ranked just 54th in the world, but they’re coming off a full-bodied performance in the group stage, where they went a perfect 3-0-0 with wins over Ecuador, Mexico and Jamaica — all ranked higher than them. Canada will be without talented winger Tajon Buchanan, who suffered a broken tibia during Tuesday’s practice.
The winner of Friday’s match at the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium in Arlington, Texas will likely face Argentina in the semifinals in New Jersey.
Colombia vs. Panama (Saturday at 6 p.m. ET): The 12th-ranked Colombians won Group D and extended their unbeaten streak to 26 matches with Tuesday’s draw against Brazil. That result sent the Brazilians to a tougher quarterfinal matchup against Uruguay while Los Cafeteros get to face Group C runner-up Panama. The 43rd-ranked Panamanians and Canada were the only two non-South American countries to advance after the United States and Mexico (the top two teams in the CONCACAF region) failed to do so.
Brazil vs. Uruguay (Saturday at 9 p.m. ET): The best matchup of the quarterfinals pits fourth-ranked Brazil, winner of a record five World Cups, against No. 14 Uruguay, whose 15 Copa America titles match Argentina for the all-time lead. Brazilian star Vinicius Junior, the MVP of the Champions League this season, will miss the match after being shown his second yellow card of the tournament on Tuesday, triggering an automatic one-game suspension. Oddsmakers now have this matchup dead even, and a lot of people are picking high-scoring Uruguay to go all the way to the final after Darwin Nunez and company swept their three Group C opponents by a combined score of 9-1.
European Championship
Spain vs. Germany (Friday at noon ET): The quarterfinals begin with this heavyweight tilt between two of the top four teams in the betting odds to win the title. Host Germany beat Denmark 2-0 in the round of 16 while Spain bounced back from an early own-goal to close the book on Cinderella-story Georgia 4-1. The winner of this match will face either Portugal or France in a marquee semifinal.
Portugal vs. France (Friday at 3 p.m. ET): Another excellent matchup here as world No. 2 France, the 2018 World Cup champion and 2022 finalist, takes on sixth-ranked Portugal, who beat them in the 2016 Euro final. Two of the biggest stars in the sport will be on the field, though perhaps not at the top of their game. Portuguese icon Cristiano Ronaldo, 39, has no goals in what he says is “without doubt” his last Euro (though he did score in Monday’s penalty shootout win over Slovenia after missing from the spot in extra time). Twenty-five year-old French forward Kylian Mbappe has just one goal in the tournament (from the penalty spot) as he plays in a mask to protect his broken nose. France snuck past Belgium 1-0 on a late own-goal in their round-of-16 match.
England vs. Switzerland (Saturday at noon ET): Fifth-ranked England remains the slight betting favourite to win the tournament (just ahead of Spain, France and Germany) despite nearly suffering a catastrophic loss to Slovakia in the round of 16. Jude Bellingham’s incredible bicycle kick in the dying moments of the second half forced extra time before Harry Kane’s goal sent the Three Lions through. The 19th-ranked Swiss will be a tough out after eliminating defending champion Italy 2-0.
Netherlands vs. Turkey (Saturday at 3 p.m. ET): The seventh-ranked Dutch backed into the knockout stage as a third-place wild card before beating No. 47 Romania 3-0. They get another cushy matchup here against 42nd-ranked Turkey, which took out Austria 2-1.
Source Agencies
