Belgium scraped through to the Round of 16 at UEFA Euro 2024 as Group E runners-up, after a goalless draw against Ukraine in Stuttgart.
A dull contest saw neither team produce much quality but Koen Casteels saved Belgium from elimination with a 83rd minute block of Ruslan Malinovskyi’s corner.
Romania however finished Group E top with a 1-1 draw against Slovakia who advance as one of the four best third-placed teams, alongside Netherlands and Slovenia.
Group E also made history as the first group in the European Championships to end with all four teams on four points apiece.
Romania will face Netherlands in their Round of 16 tie whilst Belgium will face France.
With all four teams in Group E locked on three points apiece and various permutations in play coming into this final round of games, Belgium knew that a draw would be enough but Ukraine needed to ideally win.
Ukraine however made a stronger start in a first half which lacked much quality until Roman Yaremchuk attempted a long range shot in the 20th minute, which Casteels comfortably saved.
Across in the other Group E game in Frankfurt, Slovakia took a 25th minute lead through Ondrej Duda’s header to go top with Belgium down to second, whilst Ukraine moved above Romania into third place.
Three minutes later, Ukraine almost found the opening goal in Stuttgart but Artem Dovbyk dawdled in possession, and consequently laid the ball off for an incoming Heorhiy Sudakov to smash over the bar.
Across in Frankfurt, Romania pulled level with Slovakia after Razvan Marin converted a 37th minute penalty after Ianis Hagi was fouled, which put Belgium and Romania on course for the last 16 ahead of Slovakia and Ukraine as the table stood at half-time.
Belgium though were largely lacklustre aside from Kevin De Bruyne’s late shot which was saved by Anatoliy Trubin, with De Bruyne also having had to deal with a laser waved in his eyes prior to a free-kick just past the half-hour mark.
The start of the second half continued with the same quality of the first half as Belgium struggled to trouble Trubin with Jeremy Doku’s 50th minute tame shot, and likewise Romelu Lukaku 15 minutes later.
Belgium substitute, Yannick Carrasco saw a 67th minute shot deflected by Oleksandr Tymchyk and Trubin was alert to make a crucial save.
Ukraine went close to a 79th minute winner which at that moment would of eliminated Belgium but Artem Dovbyk could only smash his shot into the side-netting, before Casteels narrowly kept Malinovskyi’s 83rd minute corner kick out of goal on the line at near right post.
Belgium ultimately dug deep defensively in the closing minutes to secure their passage and eliminate Ukraine, but will now face France in the Round of 16 on 1 July after they were beaten to top spot in Group E by Romania.
Romania will meanwhile face Netherlands in their Last 16 tie, whilst Slovakia will look to spring a cupset against tournament favourites, England – with the Three Lions going into that game below par.
Georgia Stun Group F
Tournament debutants, Georgia produced a huge shock in Group F with a 2-0 win over Portugal, which came from goals by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze, which saw them advance as one of four best third-placed finishers.
Turkey finished as runners-up after ex Everton striker, Cenk Tosun struck a 94th minute winner to beat ten-men Czech Republic 2-1, after Hakan Calhanoglu’s opening goal was cancelled out by Tomas Soucek despite the Czechs’ Antonin Barak having been sent off in the first half.
Teams
Ukraine – Anatoliy Trubin, Oleksandr Tymchyk, Iliya Zabarnyi, Oleksandr Svatok (Yarmolenko 81′), Mykola Matviyenko, Vitaliy Mykolenko (Zinchenko 58′), Mykola Shaparenko (Vanat 70′), Volodymyr Brazhko (Stepanenko 70′), Heorhiy Sudakov, Roman Yaremchuk (Malinovskyi 70′), Artem Dovbyk
Substitutes: Heorhiy Bushchan, Andriy Lunin, Yukhum Konoplya, Maksym Talovyerov, Serhiy Sydorchuk, Taras Stepanenko, Andriy Yarmolenko, Ruslan Malinovskyi, Mykhailo Mudryk, Viktor Tsyhankov, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Oleksandr Zubkov, Valeriy Bondar, Vladyslav Vanat, Bohdan Mykhaylichenko
Belgium – Koen Casteels, Arthur Theate, Jan Vertonghen, Wout Faes, Timothy Castagne, Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans (Mangala 62′), Leandro Trossard (Carrasco 62′), Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku (Bakayoko 77′), Romelu Lukaku (Openda 90′)
Substitutes: Johan Bakayoko, Maxim De Cuyper, Charles De Ketelaere, Zeno Debast, Yannick Carrasco, Thomas Kaminski, Orel Mangala, Lois Openda, Matz Sels, Arthur Vermeeren, Aster Vranckx