6/24/24
Group B
Albania 0 vs. Spain 1

Ferran the man as Albania canned

Alex Bowmer, 13 min ago
Ferran Torres’ 20th international goal led Spain to a 100% group record at a major tournament for the first time in 16 years as they beat Albania 1-0 in Düsseldorf, with the Red and Blacks exiting UEFA Euro 2024 in the process.

Spain manager Luis de la Fuente rang the changes for this match as his side had already progressed to the knockout phase as Group B winners, with only Aymeric Laporte remaining in the starting XI from the 1-0 win over Italy that secured qualification for the last 16. Given their precarious situation in the group, Albania started with lots of purpose here, as they did when scoring in the first 15 minutes against both Italy and Croatia at this tournament. However, their opponents registered the first effort of target in the game as Mikel Merino’s downward header was shovelled away by Thomas Strakosha, and after Joselu saw a header of his own go narrowly wide, La Roja got their noses in front on 13 minutes. Laporte’s incisive pass through the middle of the pitch found Dani Olmo, who timed his through-ball for Torres to perfection, allowing the Barcelona attacker to superbly slot in off Strakosha’s right-hand post.

From that point on, Spain were largely in control, with David Raya only really stretched before the break when he had to spring to his left to keep out Kristjan Asllani’s strike. Just after HT, it could have been easily 2-0 when Álex Grimaldo’s venomous cross was met spectacularly by Joselu, but the ball flew mercifully wide from Strakosha’s perspective. Just shy of the hour mark, Albania boss Sylvinho finally made his first substitution of the night as Armando Broja replaced Rey Manaj, and the Chelsea man should soon have equalised, with Raya stretching to paw away his close-range shot. The fanatical Albania fans, encouraged by that opportunity, upped the noise levels at Merkur Spiel-Arena, but their team failed to sufficiently build on that moment as Arbër Hoxha blazed over late on when in an inviting position before a late Broja effort was held by the flying Raya.

That victory means that Spain’s H2H record is now nine wins from nine as they wait to discover the identity of their last-16 opponents. By contrast, Albania head home, but they can be proud of their efforts after some spirited performances in a tough group during what was only their second-ever major tournament.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Dani Olmo (Spain)

Spain Albania

6/24/24
Group B
Croatia 1 vs. Italy 1

Italian job breaks Croatian hearts in stoppage time

Chris Wilson, 4 min ago
Italy booked their spot in the UEFA Euro 2024 knockout stages in incredible circumstances, netting a stoppage-time equalsier to secure a dramatic 1-1 draw against Croatia to guarantee a fifth-successive knockout appearance at the Euros.

Knowing nothing less than a win would be enough to keep their faint hopes of a top-two finish alive, Croatia flew out of the traps in search of an early goal. That so nearly arrived within five minutes when Luka Sučić’s curling effort from the edge of the area forced Gianluigi Donnarumma to tip away to safety at full stretch. But for all their early pressure, Croatia’s defensive frailties were almost exposed midway through the first half, yet fortunately for them, Mateo Retegui could only head Riccardo Calafiori’s cross narrowly wide of the target.

Raining crosses into the box was proving to be Italy’s best route to goal, as they proved again when Nicolò Barella planted one perfectly onto the head of an unmarked Alessandro Bastoni six yards from goal. What they couldn’t account for though, was the inspired form of Dominik Livaković, who produced a stunning save to tip over the bar. That save looked even more key after the break as this time Croatia’s fast start was rewarded with a penalty when Davide Frattesi handled in the area. Veteran Luka Modrić stepped forward to take the penalty, but his rather tame effort was beaten away by Donnarumma.

The pair were resuming their duel just seconds later, and this time it was Croatia’s all-time record appearance maker who came out on top, slamming the ball into the roof of the net to become the Euros oldest-ever goalscorer after Donnarumma had initially produced a top-drawer save to deny Andrej Kramarić. Without a clean sheet in nine consecutive Euros matches prior to today, seeing the game out was always likely to be tricky, and they were almost undone instantaneously when an unmarked Bastoni powered a header over from close range.

A raft of Italian changes looked to have stunted their momentum, but with seconds to spare, one of them, Mattia Zaccagni, popped up to curl home a stunning last-gasp equaliser to break Croatian hearts and send Italy through to the knockouts. Croatia now face a nervous wait to see if their two-point haul is enough to secure them a spot in the knockouts by virtue of being a best third-place finisher. Italy won’t have to wait for anything – they already know their opponents in the last 16 will be Switzerland – a game which kicks off the knockout phase on June 29th.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Josip Stanišić (Croatia)

Italy Croatia