Preview of today’s Euro 2016 matches

From group F, two matches will be played at 6 p.m. At the Stade de France, Austria will face Iceland, while Portugal will play against Hungary at the Stade de Lyon. These two games should be of great interest as group F is still widely open.

Group E matches will be played later on at 9 p.m. At the Stade Pierre Mauroy, Italy will be up against the Republic of Ireland, whereas Belgium will face Sweden at the Stade de Nice.

Austria vs Iceland

Both these teams need to win if they are to go deeper in this competition. Iceland will feel unlucky after failing to take the three points in their previous encounter against Hungary. On the other hand, Austria will be coming from a 0-0 draw against Portugal.

These two teams only played against each other three times in their histories. Austria won one of these games, while the remaining two ended up in a draw. This might give a slight advantage to Austria; however, Iceland showed that they are not an easy team to beat.

The referee of this match will be Szymon Marciniak from Poland.

Hungary vs Portugal

This match will be a do or die clash for Portugal. Although, they were expected to top the group, they are now sharing second place together with Iceland on two points. It seems that Santos’s men can’t show their strength yet, especially with Christiano Ronaldo failing to leave an impact. On the contrary, Hungary are top of the group with four points after gaining a dramatic equaliser against Iceland.

These two teams played against each other in ten previous encounters. Portugal won seven games, while three of them ended up in a draw The question that will be answered tomorrow is whether Portugal can beat Hungary again and possibly go on top of group F.

The referee of this match will be Martin Atkinson from England.

Italy vs Republic of Ireland

After producing two excellent performances which saw them going past Belgium and Sweden, the Italians will be aiming for maximum points in their match against the Republic of Ireland, who are still to collect their first points in the group.

Antonio Conte is set to make some changes to his squad in preparation for the knock out stages; however, Italy will surely be a hard team for the Irish.

Italy and the Republic of Ireland played against each other thirteen times in their history. Italy won eight of such encounters, while Ireland won two. The remaining three matches ended up in a draw.

The match will be controlled by Ovidiu Haţegan from Romania.

Belgium vs Sweden

Belgium will surely need to build up  momentum if they are to keep up to expectations and challenge for glory. The Belgians started with a 2-0 defeat to Italy, but bounced back with a solid 3-0 win over the Republic of Ireland.

On the other hand, Sweden are struggling after taking a draw against the Irish, while losing to Italy. They will surely need Zlatan Ibrahimovic to produce some magic if they are to go through. However, the Swedish striker is yet to score a goal in this competition.

When looking at history, Belgium and Sweden faced each other fourteen times. Belgium won seven games, while Sweden won five. The remaining two matches ended up in a draw.

The match will be controlled by Felix Brych from Germany.