Portugal and Hungary have their eyes set on the knockout stages when they meet in Lyon.
It has been a thoroughly disappointing tournament so far for the Portuguese, drawing both their matches despite dominating possession and chances on goal. Hungary surprised with an opening win against Austria, but needed a late equaliser to draw with Iceland and enter the final match on top of Group F. Who can seize their chances at the Stade de Lyon?
Ronaldo must step up
After the completion of the second round of group stage matches, Cristiano Ronaldo had outshot nine teams on his own, despite failing to find the back of the net. As the captain and all-time leading goal-scorer for his nation, Ronaldo has faltered under the weight of expectation, culminating in his penalty miss last time out against Austria.
The difficult part of Ronaldo’s situation is that he is trying too hard on the field. Too often the Real Madrid man drops deep to collect the ball, intent on dribbling past three players before driving a shot in from 25 metres out. The 31-year-old needs to trust his teammates to provide him with chances and focus his energy on finishing them.
Hungary flying high
After qualifying for their first European championship since 1972, many Hungarian fans would simply have been happy with a competitive performance in the group stages against pre-tournament heavyweights Portugal and Austria. However, Hungary have been one of the feel-good stories of the tournament thus far and have a genuine chance of topping their group thanks to their opening win against Austria. Iceland may have forced a draw in their second group match, but having only conceded from a penalty thus far their defence is looking remarkably solid.
The forward line needs to make their chances count against a Portuguese defence featuring the experience of Ricardo Carvalho and Pepe, who have impressed so far in France. Zoltan Stieber and Adam Szalai are the main threats for the Hungarians, and the Bundesliga attackers will need to be on song if Hungary is to win and top the group.
Topping the group – reward or penalty?
All four teams have a chance of progressing, although Austria can only finish as high as second. Typically speaking, finish at the top of a group would give your team a favourable matchup in the knockout rounds, but circumstances have conspired to make things difficult for the teams in Group F. Due to the third-placed teams that have a chance at qualifying for the round of 16, second in the group will meet Roy Hodgson’s England, who finished runners-up in Group B behind Wales. Win the group? You have a potential clash with Belgium, who are currently ranked second in the world.
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