This weekend sees the last Quarter Finals of the European Championships 2016 in full flight, with three matches to be contested this weekend. Wales face off against Belgium in the Friday evening kick off, with Germany playing against Italy on Saturday evening with hosts France against Iceland in the final of the quarter final round of matches on Sunday evening.
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Wales vs Belgium – Friday 1st July 2016 – 20:00 - BBC One
Wales face off against Belgium at the Stade Pierre Mauroy in the second of the quarter final fixtures, this is a huge match match for both sides with progression to the semi finals at stake.
Wales come into this match having finished top of Group B ahead of rivals England by one point. They have an excellent record in the competition with their last performance seeing them win 1-0 against Northern Ireland in the second battle of Britain. Given that they had led through a Gareth McAuley own goal does make Wales seem very fortunate to have progressed but they have been excellent so far.
They managed to win a very even contest between the sides and to go with their two wins in the group stages they will be very confident ahead of this huge tie. They were unbeaten against Belgium in qualification to this tournament, beating them 1-0 in Wales and securing a 0-0 draw away and Marc Wilmott's will be hoping its third time lucky for them.
Wales have been one of the standout performers of the tournament and they opened their account in the tournament by beating Slovakia 2-1 and they followed that up with a 2-1 defeat against England and followed that up with a 3-0 demolition of Russia to end.
Wales have conceded three goals in the tournament so far and this is an excellent achievement and one that bodes well heading into this stage of the tournament.
Wales were one of the favourites to crash out at the group stage but given their excellent returns against Slovakia and Russia they were able to top the group, despite losing a last gasp goal against rivals England in the process.
Wales remain the underdogs in this tie, they will be looking to beat a Belgium side that have not won in their last three encounters with the Welsh.
Wales remain the underdogs at 17/4 with Gareth Bale at 11/2 the favourite to score first for Wales.
Belgium come into this match having finished second in Group E in one of the more difficult groups that contained Italy, Republic of Ireland and Sweden and they progress to this quarter final tie with an excellent record.
They will be looking to better what has been a good campaign so far with a win and if they do so they will progress to the semi-finals of the competition which would be an excellent achievement for a side that is finding form at the right time at the European Championships.
Belgium headed into this tournament as one of the dark horses to win the tournament outright and despite losing to Italy in their first game they have flourished. They have won their last three matches by good margins, particularly their last match against Hungary in the last 16 saw them record a 4-0 win.
It will be a tough task to progress as Wales have had an excellent group stage campaign but Belgium themselves are finding form at just the right time.
Belgium have a good squad of individuals but they will need to gel as a team but as it stands they are in an excellent position to hit form at the latter stages of the tournament. They are the favourites in this match and to progress to the Semi Finals but they have an poor record against Wales and are without a win in their last three matches against them.
Belgium are the favourites at 8/11 with Romelu Lukaku the favourite to score first at 7/2.
Germany vs Italy – Saturday 2nd July 2016 – 20:00 - BBC One
Germany face off against Italy at the Stade de Bordeaux in the third of the quarter final fixtures, this is a huge match match for both sides and arguably the tie of the round with progression to the semi finals at stake.
Germany come into this match having finished top of Group C ahead of rivals Poland by goal difference. They have an excellent record in the competition with their last performance seeing them complete a resounding win 3-0 against Slovakia in the second battle between the sides in the last few weeks.
They dominated the game from start to finish and goals from Boateng in the 8th minute as well as from Mario Gomez just before half time and the final nail in the coffin came from Draxler in the 63rd minute. They dominated possession and had 19 attempts with 7 on target. They remain unbeaten in the tournament, having secured three wins and a goalless draw against Poland and they are clicking into gear at the right time.
Germany have been one of the standout performers of the tournament and they opened their account in the tournament by beating Ukraine 2-0 and they followed that up with a 0-0 draw against Poland and followed that up with a narrow 1-0 win against Northern Ireland to end.
Germany are yet to concede any goals in the tournament so far and this is an excellent achievement and one that bodes well heading into this stage of the tournament.
Joachim Lowe's men are were one of the pre tournament favourites and given their performances so far in the tournament there has been nothing to suggest that has changed, although in Italy and Antonio Conte they face a very stern test.
Germany remain slight favourites in this tie, they will be looking to beat an Italy side that knocked Germany out in the last edition of the European Championships in 2012.
Germany are the favoruites in this match and are 23/20 on to win with Mario Gomez the favourite to score first at 9/2.
Italy come into this match having finished top in Group E in one of the more difficult groups that contained Belgium, Republic of Ireland and Sweden and they progress to this quarter final tie with an excellent record.
They will be looking to better what has been an excellent campaign so far with a win and if they do so they will progress to the semi-finals of the competition, which would be an excellent achievement for a side that has been tactically the best team in the tournament.
Italy headed into this tournament as one of the dark horses to win the tournament outright, and since the first game against Belgium they have flourished. They won their first match 2-0 against the Belgians, a narrow win against Sweden and an excellent win against Spain in their last match.
They did experience a rare defeat to Republic of Ireland but given that they made 8 changes and they had already won the group regardless.
It will be a tough task to progress as Germany have had an excellent group stage campaign but Italy themselves are in excellent form and they have the wood over Germany in tournament football.
Italy have a some good individuals but they have gelled as a team very well and with their manager Antonio Conte's tactics they are in an excellent position to hit form at the latter stages of the tournament.
They are the underdogs in this match and to progress to the Semi Finals but they have an excellent record against Germany and knocked them out of the Euros in 2012.
Italy are the favourites in this tie and to secure the win they are 14/5 with Graziano Pelle at 13/2 to score first.
France vs Iceland – Sunday 3rd July 2016 – 20:00 - ITV
France face off against Iceland at the Stade de France in the final match of the quarter final fixtures, this is a huge match match for both sides and one that will leave many England fans with tears in their eyes.
France come into this match having finished top of Group A ahead of rivals Switzerland by two points. They have an excellent record in the competition with their last performance seeing them complete a great comeback to win 2-1 against Republic of Ireland in a match that saw them go 1-0 down courtesy of a Robbie Brady penalty.
Republic of Ireland went ahead through an early goal and they were very comfortable against a French side that seemed devoid of answers, but the quality of the squad told in the end with Antoine Griezmann scoring twice in the space of three minutes to hand the tie to France. Their cause was helped when Duffy was sent off in the 66th minute for a foul outside the penalty box and this effectively handed France a much needed win.
France have been one of the standout performers of the tournament and they opened their account by beating Romania 2-1 and they followed that up with a 2-0 win against Albania and followed that up with a terrible 0-0 draw against Switzerland to end.
Didier Deschamps men have only conceded two goals in the tournament so far and this is an excellent achievement for a side that have been shaky at the back and one that bodes well heading into this stage of the tournament.
France men are were one of the pre tournament favourites and given their performances so far in the tournament there has been nothing to suggest that has changed, although if they underestimate Iceland it will be at their peril.
France remain favourites in this tie, they will be looking to beat an Iceland side that knocked England out in their last 16 round of the European Championships.
France are the favourites at 2/5 with Olivier Giroud at 7/2 to score first.
Iceland come into this match having finished second in Group F in one of the easier groups that contained Belgium, Republic of Ireland and Sweden and they progress to this quarter final tie with an excellent record.
They will be looking to continue what has been an fairy tale campaign so far with a win and if they do so they will progress to the semi-finals of the competition, which would be an unbelievable achievement for a side that has been one of the success stories.
Iceland headed into this tournament as one of the favourites to depart at the group stage with Ronaldo's now famous quote of "they won't achieve anything in this tournament" seemingly fuelling the Iceland side.
They have had a wonderful tournament and despite being continually labelled underdogs but they managed to register a second place finish in their group above much fancied Portugal in what was seemingly the group of the underdog. Their record is played four, won two and drawn two and in their last match they produced the result of the tournament by beating England 2-1.
It was a result that no one saw coming but despite falling behind to an early Wayne Rooney penalty in the fourth minute they scored in the 6th minute through Sigurdsson and then they scored a goal in the 19th minute through front man Sigthorsson and that was enough to send them through.
Iceland have a an excellent team spirit and they have gelled as a team very well, with experienced manager Lars Largerback's tactics they have progressed to this stage, which is an excellent achievement and there is no reason they cannot knock the hosts out as well.
They are the underdogs in this match and to progress to the Semi Finals but they have an excellent record in this tournament and remain unbeaten.
Iceland remain underdogs and are at 8/1 with Kolbeinn Sigthorsson to score first at 11/1.
Today's Selections
Tip 1 – Belgium to win 3-1 @ 14/1 and Gareth Bale to score first @ 11/2
Tip 2 – 2-2 draw @ 20/1 and Thomas Muller to score first @ 5/1
Tip 3 - France to win 3-2 @ 40/1 with Olivier Giroud at 7/2 to score first.
All Tips Courtesy Of Sky Bet.