Euro 2020: Denmark and Austria join Holland and Belgium in knockout stages

While wins for Austria and Denmark guaranteed their place in the last 16, there was good news for several other nations, including England, with Monday night's results.

With both Ukraine and Finland finishing third in their respective groups on three points, it means every nation currently sitting on four points is guaranteed to reach the second round as, a bare minimum, one of the best fourth-placed teams.

It meant England, Switzerland, France, Sweden and the Czech Republic all went through without kicking a ball.

Denmark 4-1 Russia

Denmark will face Wales in the Euro 2020 last 16 after clinching second place in Group B with a superb 4-1 victory over Russia in Copenhagen.

The Danes took the lead in the 38th minute through a stunning Mikkel Damsgaard strike and Yussuf Poulsen doubled the advantage just before the hour mark as he punished a mistake by Roman Zobnin.

Russia replied with Artem Dzyuba’s 70th-minute penalty before strikes from Andreas Christensen in the 79th minute and Joakim Maehle three minutes later wrapped up victory in front of a delirious crowd at the Parken Stadium.

The result, combined with Belgium’s 2-0 win over Finland, sees Kasper Hjulmand’s Denmark through to take on Wales in Amsterdam on Saturday as Group B runners-up, while Stanislav Cherchesov’s Russia, having started the match lying second in the pool, are out having ended up bottom.

It has been a remarkable turnaround for Denmark in their emotional campaign at the tournament, having lost their first two matches, at the same venue, after the shock of midfielder Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest in the opener against Finland.

Finland 0-2 Belgium

An own goal from Finland goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky and a smart Romelu Lukaku finish sent Belgium into the last 16 of Euro 2020 with a perfect record from Group B after a 2-0 win in St Petersburg.

The Finns had fought an increasingly desperate rearguard action in the hunt for the point they hoped would prove enough to seal qualification but were ultimately left to almost certainly exit the tournament.

Thomas Vermaelen’s 73rd minute header from a corner struck a post before dropping over the line after striking the hand of the unfortunate Hradecky, who had earlier kept his side in the game.

And Belgium consigned the Finns to their fate in the 81st minute after a clinical turn and shot in the box by Lukaku, making up for an earlier effort that had been ruled out by VAR.

Lukaku’s clinical finish left Finland, who ended the group in third place on three points, hoping for a mathematical miracle if they are to avoid an early trip home.

Ukraine 0-1 Austria

Austria progressed to the knockout stages of the European Championship for the first time after Christoph Baumgartner’s goal secured a 1-0 win over Ukraine in Bucharest.

Baumgartner produced what proved the decisive moment with a 21st-minute finish as Franco Foda’s men leapfrogged their opponents to claim second spot in Group C and set up a last-16 meeting with Italy at Wembley on Saturday.

Andriy Shevchenko’s Ukraine, meanwhile, must wait to see if they have done enough among the third-placed finishers to advance themselves, having ended up with three points from their three group matches.

Ukraine went close with two minutes of normal time remaining, with Roman Yaremchuk flashing a shot across the face of goal as Shevchenko’s side failed to rescue a draw that would have seen them retain second place.

North Macedonia 0-3 Holland

Georginio Wijnaldum claimed a double as Holland completed a perfect Group C campaign with a 3-0 victory over North Macedonia in Amsterdam.

On an evening when Goran Pandev made his 122nd and final appearance for the Macedonians, Wijnaldum scored twice inside seven second-half minutes to cement a win which had been set up by Memphis Depay’s 24th-minute strike at the Johan Cruyff Arena.

The Dutch, who were already assured of top spot, will now head for Budapest and a last-16 clash with one of the best third-placed teams in Groups D, E or F on Sunday, while the tournament debutants will return home pointless, but certainly having made an impression.

They were unlucky not to score against the Dutch and, indeed, had the ball in the net with just nine minutes gone when Ivan Trickovski ran on to Pandev’s clever flick and fired past Maarten Stekelenburg, only for an agonisingly tight offside decision to end his celebrations.

Their luck did not improve with 22 minutes gone when Aleksandar Trajkovski – with Pandev once again the architect – beat Stekelenburg with a fine strike only to see it come back off the upright, and their dismay was to increase within seconds.

Daley Blind’s challenge on Pandev left the striker in a heap, but sparked a blistering counter-attack at the end of which Depay exchanged passes with Donyell Malen before sliding the ball past Stole Dimitrievski to open the scoring despite a VAR check on Blind’s contribution.

Wijnaldum timed his run to perfection to meet Depay’s cross and extend Holland’s lead, also ensuring their run of scoring two or more goals in consecutive games extended to 10. Then, after Dimitrievski had palmed away Depay’s effort, Wijnaldum followed up to make it 3-0.

More from Sporting Life

• Download our free iOS and Android app
• Football and other sports tips
• Podcasts and video content