The Open Half Of The Euro 2020 Bracket

UEFA Euro 2020 has served as one hell of a rollercoaster ride up to this point with so many twists and turns to try and unpack. Of course, in many ways we’re only just getting started, with many looking ahead to the rest of the tournament to see what we’re going to be served with in the knockout stage.

One thing we think is that expecting the unexpected at the elite level is the right way to go and in the perceived “weaker” half of the bracket, that’s exactly what has happened with the Netherlands and Wales already both being dumped out in somewhat surprising circumstances.

It means, for the remaining six nations in that half, there is a very clear route to the final that previously didn’t exist – and that’s something to get hyped up about.

Today, we’re going to run through the three games that are coming up for this side of the bracket because right now, we’re pretty intrigued to see how it’s all going to go down.

We all have an idea in our mind regarding what’s actually going to happen but these are the Euros we’re talking about here. Forget France, Spain, Belgium and Italy because this is where the excitement is being generated.

Round of 16 – England vs Germany

It’s easily one of the most exciting games of the knockout stage so far with old rivals England and Germany meeting once again. The Three Lions, strangely enough, are seen as the favourites, but Germany proved against Portugal that taking them lightly would be a huge mistake.

We think this is going to be quite a defensive meeting of the minds but if the Germans can even get a sniff at goal, they could turn this into a bit of a brawl.

Round of 16 – Sweden vs Ukraine

Sweden have actually gone under the radar in this tournament but they seem to possess a consistent structure that was on full display in the group stage. Sure, they don’t have superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but they’ve already proven that they don’t need him to find success.

Ukraine are pretty lucky to even get through to this point courtesy of a win over North Macedonia but if they can win this game, it would serve as an absolutely huge achievement when you consider how little pundits have thought of their performances so far at the Euros.

Quarter-Final – Czech Republic vs Denmark

The Czechs are one of the major surprise packages of the tournament so far and their win over the Dutch just signals that taking them lightly could be an absolutely huge mistake.

On the flip side, Denmark seem to have been spurred on by what happened to Christian Eriksen, to the point where they seem to have the best team unity in the entire tournament.

Whether or not that can guide them all the way through to the final and beyond is unknown as of this writing but it should make for a tense and competitive quarter-final between two big underdogs.