Belgium finished off Hungary 4-0 in their Round 1/8 clash early on June 27 to make it through to the Euro 2016 quarterfinals for the first time since losing the 1980 final.

The Red Devils were dominant throughout the match played at Stadium de Toulouse after Toby Alderweireld headed them into the lead in the 10th minute.

With time running out, Marc Wilmots side wasted several chances to put the game to rest, as De Bruyne failed to make use of a free kick which was deflected and another two shots which ended up over Kiraly’s crossbar.

It was not until the 78th minute that the advantage was doubled for Belgium. Michy Batshuayi came off the bench to punish Hungary when he ran in unmarked to fire a close-range shot past Kiraly.

Eden Hazard made it 3-0 for the Red Devils with a strike from the edge of the area two minutes later before Carrasco added their fourth on the stroke of time as he powered down the middle on the counter to beat Kiraly.

The resounding victory helped Belgium set up a July 2 quarterfinal clash with Wales who edged out Northern Ireland 1-0 earlier on June 25.

In other Round 1/8 matches, Poland beat Switzerland 5-4 in penalties following a 1-1 draw; Portugal saw off Croatia with Quaresma’s solitary goal in extra time; France knocked out Ireland 2-1; and Germany thrashed Slovakia 3-0.

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Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to help Portugal tie 3-3 with Hungary in the last Group F matchup early on June 23 and make it through to the last 16 of the Euro 2016 as one of the four best third-placed teams.

Portuguese players entered the match with strong determination targeting at least a draw, which was a must to secure them a possible place in the knockout stage.

However, their hopes were dealt a big blow after 19 minutes as Gera drove a powerful strike from outside the box to put Hungary in front.

It was not until three minutes before halftime that Nani fired home Ronaldo’s smart cross to relieve the pressure from the Santos side.

Two minutes after the break, Portugal lagged behind for the second time, with Hungarian captain Dzsudzsak producing an unstoppable free-kick to make it 2-1.

After two games of silence, Ronaldo lived up to expectation this time with a second equaliser for Portugal three minutes later.

Dzsudzsak completed his double to restore Hungary’s advantage at the 54th minute mark, only to see his Portuguese counterpart Ronaldo level the score again on 63 minutes to secure the Santos side a precious point.

The dramatic draw fired Hungary to the last 16 as Group F leaders with five points, while it was also enough to put Portugal through as one of the four best third-place finishers with three points.

In the remaining Group F matchup, Iceland edged out Austria 2-1 to advance as the runners-up with five points.

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Turkey beat Czech Republic 2-0 in their last Group D clash early on June 22, keeping alive hopes to reach the Euro 2016 final 16.

The defeat eliminated the Czech Republic, who had already suffered at Turkish hands in a previous Euro finals.

Eighteen year-old Emre Mor burst down the right side of the field after 10 minutes and passed the ball to Burak Yılmaz for a powerful shot into the corner.

Goalkeeper Volkan Babacan worked hard to block two consecutive strikes by Kaderabek in the 24th minutes and Jaroslav Plasil 14 minutes later.

The Czech Republic pressed forward in the second half seeking an equaliser but Turkey dealt a big blow on their efforts with a second goal at the 65 minute mark.

Selcuk Inan made use of a free-kick which Mehmet Topal managed to make a head-pass to Tufan who smashed the tight angle shot past Petr Cech.

The three points revived Turkey’s hopes to reach the knockout stage, at least until the final round of group matches early tomorrow.

The three points ensured that Turkey could still reach the final 16, at least until the final round of group matches on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the bitter loss officially knocked the Czech Republic out of the tournament as Group D bottom-place team with just one point after four matches.

Croatia came from behind to beat Spain 2-1 in another group matchup at the same time, thus making it through to the final 16 as Group D leaders with seven points. Spain are also through as the runners-up.

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Wales cruised into the last 16 as winners of Group B with a resounding 3-0 victory against Russia early on June 21.

Russia needed the win to stand a chance of going through after a 1-1 draw with England and a 2-1 defeat to Slovakia left them at the bottom of Group B.

Wales enjoyed a promising start in opening minute before Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey put them ahead after 11 minutes of play.

Ramsey ran on to Joe Allen’s superb pass that split the Russian defence and dinked the ball over the onrushing Akinfeev and in the net.

Neil Taylor doubled the advantage for Wales nine minutes later beating goalkeeper Akinfeev on his second attempt after a very smart pass from Gareth Bale.

In the remainder of the match, Welsh star Bale constantly threatened the Russian goal, forcing goalie Akinfeev to work hard for blocks in the 39th and 47th minute.

Bale had his third Euro goal seven minutes after the hour mark. Ramsey ran across the edge of the area and chipped a pass through to Bale, who found himself one-on-one with Akinfeev before coolly dinking the ball past the veteran keeper to seal a famous Welsh win.

The convincing victory fired Wales through to the knockout stage as Group B leaders with six points, while England was the second team to advance following their goalless draw with Slovakia in another game the same day.

With just one point after three matches, Russia became the third East European team to be out of the tournament, after Ukraine and Romania.

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Switzerland held France to a sweet goalless draw in the last Group A match on June 20, which was enough to fire coach Vladimir Petkovic’s team through to the Euro knockout stage for the first time in history.

France entered the match comfortably and were under no pressure as the two previous wins had secured them a place in the last 16. Meanwhile, Switzerland would need at least a draw against the host team to be able to decide their-own fate.

French coach Didier Deschamps did not hide his ambition to safeguard the hosts’ Group A top position, still sending on his strongest lineup, with the presence of Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba in the attack line.

Pogba emerged as France’s most outstanding player in the first 20 minutes constantly threatening the Swiss goal. The Juventus midfielder would have put his team in front if his 18th strike had not hit the crossbar or if goalkeeper Sommer had failed to block his shots in the 12th and 13th minutes.

After the break, France remained on course with attack waves towards the Swiss field. Griezmann had the first chance of the second-half in the 57th minute with a close-range strike that was again blocked by Sommer.

Dimitri Prayet, France’s superstar in previous matches, was sent to the field four minutes after the hour mark, with the hope of breaking the deadlock for the home side. The West Ham midfielder played energetically and left a strong impression with a volley at the crossbar in the 75th-minute; however, his efforts were still not enough to make France the first team to conclude the group stage with three straight victories.

Despite no goals scored, the aggregate result proved to be enough to satisfy the coach of each side. With one more point, the Deschamps’ side advanced to the last 16 as Group A leaders with seven points, while the draw helped Switzerland end-up in second place with five points overall, thus booking a place into the knockout stage for the first time in history.

In another Group A clash, Albania edged Romania 1-0 to settle for third position with three points.

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A double by Lukaku and another strike by Witsel helped Belgium emerge as 3-0 victors against Ireland in their second Group E match on the evening of June 18.

Belgium showed their determination to bag the full three points by proactively putting pressure on the Irish side right from the first whistle.

Confronted with strong attacks from the “Red Devils”, Ireland chose to play counterattack, and this tactic proved effective enabling them to block offensive waves from Belgium until the halftime.

The match’s turning point came three minutes after the break as Lukaku fired a left-footed shot at the far corner to put Belgium in front.

The sudden loss robbed the Irish of their patience. Instead of retaining the same tactic as the first half, Ireland began to deploy attacks seeking to equalise, which unexpectedly made holes in their defensive wall, allowing Axel Witsel and Lukaku scoring twice at 61 and 70 minutes to seal an aggregate 3-0 victory for Belgium.

The convincing performance against Ireland lifted the “Red Devils” to second place in Group E with four points, thus giving them a huge advantage in the race for the group’s remaining official place in the last 16. Earlier, Italy edged Sweden 1-0 to become the first Group E team to advance despite having one match to play.

The two Group F matches concluded early on June 19 with the four teams scoring one point each.

Despite taking the lead at 40 minutes thanks to Sigurdsson’s successful penalty converter, Iceland could not preserve the advantage till the final whistle as defender Seavarsoon unluckily brought the ball into his own net with two minutes to go to gift Hungary a precious 1-1 draw.

Meanwhile, Portugal were held by Austria to a goalless draw on a day when Cristiano Ronaldo missed a 78th-minute penalty.

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Spain became the first Group D representative in the last 16 of the 2016 Euro in France following their overwhelming 3-0 victory against Turkey in their second group match early on June 18.

Morata opened the scoring for La Roja at 34 minutes heading home an accurate cross from Nolito. Earlier, the Juventus striker missed two chances to put Spain ahead with a strike from outside the box blocked by goalkeeper Volkan and another hitting the post.

The advantage was doubled for the defending champions three minutes later as Nolito made use of Turkey’s defensive mistake to fire a close-range strike past Volkan.

Inspired by the goals, the Spanish played confidently and put increasing pressure on Turkey, which paid off with a third goal by Morata three minutes after the break. Iniesta chipped a delightful cross into the box for Jordi Alba who then passed the ball to Morata for an easy finish into the empty net.

The remainder of the match saw a number of scoring opportunities created by Turkey; however, their attacks were not cunning enough to break through Spain’s experienced defensive line.

The 3-0 victory put Spain on top of Group D with six points and officially put them into the last 16 despite having one match to go.

In another Group D game, Croatia drew 2-2 with Czech Republic to remain second with four points.

Italy have become the first team of Group E to book an early place in the knockout round following their narrow 1-0 win against Sweden on June 17 night, which lifted them to top of the group with six points.

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Two goals by Gareth McAuley and Niall McGinn helped Northern Ireland emerged as 2-0 victors against Ukraine in their second Group C matchup on early on June 17.

Despite dominating ball possession in the first half, Ukraine failed to create a concrete chance to open the scoring.

It was an impressive display from Northern Ireland, who fought their way back into the game after having struggled for the first-half possession – winning just 35% in the first 45 minutes.

The deadlock was broken by Northern Ireland four minutes after the break, with McAuley heading home a brilliant cross from Oliver Norwood to beat goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov.

Both teams struggled in the sodden conditions as a hail storm then battered the pitch and on 58 minutes Czech referee Pavel Kralovec decided to halt the game.

The players were back out three minutes later and Ukraine fought for the equaliser.

Ukraine peppered their opponents’ goal with long-range shots before McGinn slammed in injury time to wrap up a famous win for Northern Ireland.

Germany were held to a goalless draw by Poland in another Group C match later the same day.

Germany are leading Group C with four points, followed by Poland with four and Northern Ireland with three.

Germany will play Northern Ireland and Ukraine face Poland on June 21. A draw will be enough to fire either Germany or Poland towards the knockout stage.

Earlier on June 16, Daniel Sturridge struck deep into stoppage time to hand England a 2-1 win over rivals Wales to move top of Euro 2016 Group B with four points.

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