EURO 2024 Semi-Finals: Spain Calls, France Answers

The first two quarter-finals of EURO 2024 have ended with victories for Spain and France. Both will make up a highly anticipated semi-final.

The Spanish team defeated Germany 2-1 to enter the semi-finals. Photo: THX/TTXVN

In the first quarter-final, with the brilliance of Dani Olmo and Mikel Merino, the Spanish team defeated Germany 2-1. Spain

After conceding the goal, coach Nagelsmann made adjustments. The German team switched to attacking with high balls. However, the effectiveness of this attack was not high, as the Spanish team’s defense supported each other too well.

Luck was not on the German team’s side either, when in the 77th minute, Florian Wirtz rushed down and passed the ball to Niclas Füllkrug to finish; goalkeeper Unai Simon stood rooted to the spot, but the ball hit the post.

The final minutes witnessed the tireless attacking efforts of the home team Germany. And Florian Wirtz’s equalizer in the 89th minute forced this remarkable quarter-final into extra time.

The extra time was quite exciting and it seemed that the winner would have to be decided by a penalty shootout, but in the 119th minute, Mikel Merino scored the goal that sealed an emotional 2-1 victory for Spain. There was

too little time left for the German team to find an equalizer. Even when Carvajaj on the Spanish side received a red card, the home team could not react in time.

Thus, after 36 years, since EURO 1988, the German team has still not been able to beat Spain in a major tournament.

The joy of French players. Photo: Eurosports

In the second quarter-final, in the two regular halves, a very tight match
was created by the French and Portuguese players at the Volksparkstadion. Both teams focused on defense and played with minimal mistakes.

In extra time, the most notable star on the French team, Kylian Mbappe, had to leave the field. His nose injury had not fully recovered and the protective mask had significantly limited his playing style.

After this striker left the field, France’s performance declined, almost conceding at least 3 goals and luckily goalkeeper Mike Maignan’s goal remained firm.

The score was 0-0 after 120 minutes of play, and both sides had to enter a nerve-wracking penalty shootout. Notably, France have failed in their last two EURO matches when they had to go into extra time, when they lost to Switzerland in the round of 16 of EURO 2020 and lost to Portugal in the 2016 final.

This time, fate did not turn its back on the “Gaulois” army when all 5 of their players successfully shot, while on the Portuguese side, Joao Felix’s shot hit the post and went out. Coach Didier Deschamps and his team won 5-3 on penalties to send Ronaldo and the “European Selecao” home.

Thus, France and Spain are the two teams participating in the last 4 strongest teams of EURO 2024. There will be another big match in the semi-finals of EURO 2024.

The last time the two teams “competed” at EURO was in 2012, when France under coach Laurent Blanc lost to Spain under coach Vicente Del Bosque with a score of 0-2 in the quarter-finals. However, everything has changed a lot in this meeting. France is the current world runner-up, the leading candidate for the championship. Spain also played very impressively, but is in the process of rebuilding with a squad of young players and a new style of play.

Facing France in the upcoming match, La Roja will be without Robin Le Normand and Dani Carvajal, who are suspended, while Pedri is out due to a knee injury. Meanwhile, Les Bleus have no suspended players in the semi-finals.