The Italians have marched into the round of 16, and now it's the Netherlands and Belgium’s turn to become the talk of the town. Seven years after returning to a major international tournament, the Dutch will look to make the most of home advantage against Austria, while the Belgians, with the round of 16 berth in sight, will face an emotionally charged Denmark in Copenhagen. The Danes, who lost their opening game to tournament debutants Finland after Christian Eriksen’s on-field collapse, are expected to fight tooth and nail for a revival. And Ukraine and North Macedonia, who are clutching at straws after losing their respective opening games, will fight for supremacy at the National Arena.

Ukraine vs North Macedonia (6:30 pm IST)
Venue: National Arena

Late goals have unsettled both Ukraine and North Macedonia. Now, it’s time for them to face each other.

Ukraine managed to recover from two goals down against the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Sunday, but Denzel Dumfries headed in an 85th-minute winner for the Dutch. “We come back after 2-0 down and it's so frustrating to lose a game in the last minutes. We have two more games to go and we will still play with the same energy,” said Ukraine captain Andriy Yarmolenko.

North Macedonia had held Austria to a 1-1 scoreline before substitutes Michael Gregoritsch and Marko Arnautovic scored a goal each in the dying minutes at the National Arena on Sunday.

North Macedonia captain Goran Pandev, who scored his 38th international goal in the match, said a loss at a major tournament can help his team grow. “It was a great experience for us as a first match at this kind of tournament. I think we played an excellent 80 minutes,” he said.

Both Ukraine and North Macedonia were in good touch before the tournament.

Sunday’s loss was the first for Ukraine in seven matches this year, while North Macedonia recorded eight wins and only three losses in its last 15 games including a shock away win over Germany in World Cup qualifying in March.

Ukraine are appearing in their third European Championship, including co-hosting the event in 2012, but have only won one match and have never progressed out of the group stage.

Players to watch out for:

Yarmolenko will be expected to deliver again, after he showed a fine display, as well as a stunner of a goal, in the previous outing versus the Netherlands. And coach Andriy Shevchenko will expect more from Roman Yaremchuk up front.

Versus Austria, North Macedonia’s solitary Euro 2020 goal came from captain Goran Pandev. And the responsibility of helping his team survive in the tournament will rest on his shoulders.

Denmark vs Belgium (9:30 pm IST)
Venue: Parken Stadium

After Christian Eriksen’s unfortunate collapse, the Danes will return to Parken Stadium to face tournament favourites Belgium in a Group B game.

Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand believes his players are ready to focus only on football, and not be emotional about Eriksen’s condition. “We are ready to show who we are once again. We showed it on the pitch (and) off the pitch Saturday. And again Thursday we will show who we really are, and how we play, and how we fight,” Hjulmand said.

Fans are planning a tribute to Eriksen by giving him a standing ovation in the 10th minute of the game in honor of his no. 10 shirt, and will likely be chanting his name throughout.

The problem for Denmark is that, after losing to Finland 1-0, they now face one of the top teams in the tournament. Belgium beat Russia 3-0 in their first game and could see the return of playmaker Kevin De Bruyne after he was back in full training this week following a facial fracture. Midfielder Axel Witsel could also make a return, six months after tearing his Achilles tendon.

It will likely be a strange experience for Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku as well. Lukaku is teammates with Eriksen at Inter and said he cried a lot before the Russia game after hearing about the collapse. Now his task is to ruin the moment for Denmark.

For Hjulmand, Eriksen's absence also presents a purely practical problem: How to replace the team's best player?

“It's not possible to replace him. But together we’ll do something else, we'll do something different. Because you cannot replace Christian Eriksen. But we'll definitely have a strong team on the pitch with a lot of quality. And we have a very, very strong team united together, ready to fight,” he said.

Belgium midfielder Nacer Chadli, Eriksen's former teammate at Tottenham, said it's difficult to know what to expect from this Denmark team given the circumstances.

Players to watch out for:

Kevin De Bruyne has been training after recovering from an operation on his facial injuries, and is fit to play. Belgium can become stronger if he returns. And, of course, no one can underestimate Romelu Lukaku’s goal scoring acumen. For Denmark, who will badly miss Eriksen in the midfield, captain Simon Kjaer will be expected to lead from the front

Netherlands vs Austria (12:30 am IST, Friday)
Venue: Amsterdam Arena

After beating Ukraine in their opening clash, the Netherlands will look to book a round of 16 berth, but Austria will also hope for the same having won their opening Euro 2020 game. Austria lead Group C after beating North Macedonia 3-1 in their opener. It was the country’s first win at a major soccer tournament in 31 years and their first ever at the European Championship.

But the celebrations were cut short. The North Macedonian soccer federation submitted a request to UEFA asking for Austria striker Marko Arnautovic to be punished for a nationalist outburst after he scored in the match in Bucharest.

Austria defender Martin Hinteregger said the Netherlands match will be very different from the team's opener. “We’ll have less of the ball, but that could be good as it will give us more chances to play on the counter,” Hinteregger said. “The Netherlands have incredible players, so we'll need a top, united team performance to defend against their strong attacks.”

The Dutch have won their last six matches against Austria. The Austrians' last victory over the Netherlands dates back to a friendly in Vienna in 1990.

A notable exception is goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, at 38 the oldest player ever to play for the Netherlands at a major tournament.

Stekelenburg was a backup at Ajax last season until being called into the first team when Andre Onana was banned for a year by UEFA in a doping case. The Court of Arbitration for Sport last week cut the ban to nine months.

Players to watch out for:

Netherlands defender Matthijs de Ligt, who missed the first match with a groin injury, should make his return. De Ligt looked relaxed on Wednesday as he cycled to training next to former Ajax teammate Frenkie De Jong. Georgino Wijnaldum will also be expected to deliver again. Austria coach Franco Foda will rely on captain David Alaba to keep the defence intact.