Belgium

T. Hazard led the Belgian national team to victory against the now former European champions, Portugal, with an impressive strike at the end of the first half. The match against Portugal could have been rated even better if not for the injuries to two of the team's key players – K. De Bruyne and E. Hazard were injured in the second half.

Belgium's victory over Portugal marked their 14th consecutive win, counting the European Championship qualifiers and the Euro 2020 tournament. Moreover, the Belgian team scored at least one goal in 34 consecutive matches and won 23 of their last 27 games. The Belgians started the group stage in excellent form, but as the tournament progressed, it seemed their performance plateaued or even slightly declined.

In the match against Denmark, Belgium looked completely unprepared in the first half but showed character and came back to win 2-1. In the match against Portugal, they avoided a first-half fiasco, but if not for T. Hazard's stunning strike, we might say that Portugal had more chances and played better in the first half. Indeed, the Belgians were fortunate that the Portuguese did not capitalize on many good opportunities in the second half, as without K. De Bruyne and E. Hazard, if the match had gone into extra time, there would be a good chance we would now be writing about Portugal vs. Italy.

Italy

After an impressive performance in the group stage, practically everyone – both football fans and sports analysts – expected that the Italian national team would have no problems with the Austrian team, which showed average play in the group stage, and would calmly reach the quarterfinals. However, the Austrian team was just a few centimeters short of having a goal counted, and Italy would have been trailing 1-0 just before the end of regular time. In extra time, there was no longer any question about which team was better – the Italians proved their superiority and advanced to the quarterfinals.

The Italians scored 9 goals in 4 matches in this championship, and the goal conceded against Austria was the first in the last 11 matches. The last time the Italians lost an international match was in 2018, so it is clear that this team is currently in impressive form. No player in the Italian team has scored more than 2 goals, and several players have scored one goal each. This shows that the Italians share the ball well and find the best possible opportunity to shoot, regardless of which player gets the chance.

Predicted starting lineups:

Belgium:
Courtois; Alderweireld, Vermaelen, Vertonghen; T. Hazard, Witsel, Tielemans, Meunier; Mertens, Lukaku, Carrasco;

Italy:
Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Spinazzola; Barella, Jorginho, Verratti; Chiesa, Immobile, Insigne.

Prediction

Predicting which team will advance to the semifinals is very difficult. Both teams have more positives than negatives, and it will all depend on who handles the pressure better and imposes their playing style. The reason why the Italian team is considered the favorite in this match is that K. De Bruyne and E. Hazard may miss the game, which will be a significant loss for the Belgian team in their quest for victory. The Italians have a good chance to take advantage of the situation and advance to the semifinals.