Euro 2024 Football Semi-Final Line-Up: Spain vs France and Netherlands vs England
The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship is entering the home stretch. The teams have three matches left to play. Four teams that have reached the 1/2 finals are still competing for the European Cup.
There are no debutants at the semi-final stage. The Netherlands had the longest streak without a Euro semi-final, having last played there in 2004.
Euro 2024 play-off grid for the 1/2 finals
Tuesday, 9 July, 22:00. Spain vs France
Wednesday, 10 July, 22:00. Netherlands - England
Spain continues to lead the tournament with a 100% win rate, having won all the matches in the group and defeated two opponents without a penalty shoot-out.
One team from the third place in the group also qualified for the semi-finals - the Netherlands beat Turkey (2:1), becoming the only team that did not play extra time at this stage. The rivals started the playoffs with two different victories: Turkey narrowly defeated Austria (2-1), and the Netherlands defeated Romania 3-0.
Spain and France will play in the Euros for the first time since 2012. Back then, the teams met in the quarter-finals, with the Spaniards winning 2-0.
The Netherlands and England last met at the Euros back in 1996. In the group stage match, the English defeated the Dutch 4-1.
The French national team has not scored a single goal in regular time. All the French goals in the tournament are either from penalties or free kicks.
England is the only team that has not won the European Football Championship. In 2021, the English stopped one step short of this, reaching the final, where they lost to Italy.
The UEFA European Football Championship will start on Friday, 14 June, with Germany playing Scotland in the first match of the tournament.
Prior to the start of Euro 2024, UEFA expanded the number of national teams applying for the tournament from 23 to 26 players. Despite this, not all players were able to get to the tournament. In particular, Erlin Holland, from the Norwegian national team, was not selected at all.
As for the rest of the players, the reasons for their absence are varied. Some will miss Euro 2024 due to injuries and lost fitness, and there are players who were not included in the application due to the decision of the coaching staff.