Belgium held, but advance; Romania, Slovakia also thru

Images from the Euro 2024 Group E matches between Slovakia and Romania, Ukraine and Belgium, in Germany on Wednesday.

Belgium played out a nervy scoreless draw with Ukraine to eventually wrap up second place in Group E and set up a last-16 tie with France, with the Ukrainians eliminated on goal difference, finishing bottom of the group behind Slovakia.

Romania finished as group winners after they drew with Slovakia 1-1 in the other match.

All teams finished on four points, but Romania pushed the Belgians into second on goals scored. Slovakia finished above Ukraine on goal difference to advance as one of the four best third-place finishers.

With all four sides locked on points as the final games began there was no margin for error, while a win would see any team through, and both sides went hunting for goals from the kick-off.

The best early chance fell to Romelu Lukaku, who was played in by a trademark defence-splitting pass from Kevin De Bruyne in the seventh minute, but as so often in this tournament, the burly striker fluffed his finish and the danger was easily averted, setting the tone for Belgium's evening.

Stringing five across the back, defending was the focus for Ukraine and they did so all over the pitch, pressing hard and tackling aggressively, but not recklessly, as they sought to contain the Belgians.

They had chances of their own too, and Roman Yaremchuk will regret not being more selfish when he was played in and, rather than shooting, opted to square to Artem Dovbyk, but his pass was too hard and flew harmlessly across the goal.

By half-time all four teams in the group had still only gained a point, with the Romanians and Slovakians adding a goal each in a 1-1 draw in Frankfurt, and eventually Ukraine had to release the handbrake to go for victory.

A triple substitution by Serhiy Rebrov in the 70th minute didn't quite have the desired effect however, and substitute Yannick Carrasco almost scored for Belgium with a stinging shot that was parried away by Anatoliy Trubin.

Malanovsky almost netted with a low corner whipped in at the near post but Koen Casteels was alive to the danger, and Taras Stepanenko headed over from the resulting corner as the Ukrainians increased the pressure.

Belgium could have snatched a late winner but Bakayoko curled his shot past the far post, and Georgiy Sudakov wasted a glorious stoppage-time chance for Ukraine after a storming attack through the middle, but he fired his shot straight at Casteels.

The referee's whistle went, yet Belgian joy was short-lived as boos and whistles rained down from the stands after another unimpressive display, although they will at least have a chance to redeem themselves while Ukraine head home.

Romania, Slovakia into last 16 after draw

Romania's Razvan Marin scored a first-half penalty to cancel out Ondrej Duda’s headed goal for Slovakia as the teams played out a 1-1 Euro 2024 Group E draw in Frankfurt on Wednesday to both reach the last 16.

All four sides in Group E finished on four points, with Romania earning top spot on goals scored from Belgium, and Slovakia ending third, ahead Ukraine on goal difference.

Romania and Slovakia must wait until the completion of the group stage on Wednesday to learn their last-16 opponents, but Belgium go to Duesseldorf and face France on Monday.

Romania reached the knockout stages of the Euros for the first time since 2000, while for Slovakia it will be a second appearance in the last 16 after 2016, when they lost to Germany.

The game in Frankfurt was played in a feverish atmosphere, with the fervour in the stands matched by the helter-skelter nature of a match that was not high on quality, but had plenty of entertainment and intrigue.

The teams came into the game knowing a draw would be enough to send both through and there was plenty of talk in the build-up of the potential for them to contrive that, something the coaches denied vehemently.

Certainly, there was no lack of energy and endeavour, which slowed only towards the end of the game.

Slovakia opened the scoring midway through the first half with the simplest of goals that will have left Romania coach Edward Iordanescu fuming.

Juraj Kucka curled in a cross from the right and Duda was left unmarked between two defenders to head across goal and into the net.

Romania were restricted to shots from range, none of which troubled Slovakia goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

That was until they were awarded a penalty when Ianis Hagi was felled by Slovakia defender David Hancko.

German referee Daniel Siebert initially gave a free kick as the contact looked outside the box, but compatriot Bastian Dankert in the Video Assistant Referee booth ruled it was inside.

Marin made no mistake with the spot-kick as he rifled it into the top corner, signalling a thunderous eruption of joy from the Romanian fans in the stadium, who appeared to outnumber their Slovak counterparts by four to one.

Lukas Haraslin’s storming run down the left wing created a shooting chance, but his fierce effort was straight at Romania goalkeeper Florin Nita.

The Romanian fans sang non-stop through the second half, only pausing momentarily when lightning struck in the vicinity of the stadium, creating a massive clap of thunder not even they could drown out.

The chances continued at either end, with handling made more difficult for the goalkeepers by a sudden torrential downpour as the heat turned to driving wind and rain, but both sets of supporters were left to celebrate wildly at the final whistle.