Poland became the first team to reach the quarter-finals after knocking out Switzerland in a penalty shootout at the Geoffroy-Guichard.
The Poles broke the deadlock a few minutes before half time when Blaszczykowski finished off a lightning counter-attack that began with a throw from Łukasz Fabianski.
Switzerland pushed hard for an equaliser in the second half and were rewarded through a sublime, Goal of the Tournament contender, from Xherdan Shaqiri who struck an acrobatic overhead bicycle kick from the edge of the area.
Both teams cancelled each other out in extra time and had to settle for a penalty shootout.
Poland scored all of their five penalties, whereas Switzerland will lament what might have been after Granit Xhaka put his penalty wide to see his side crash out of the tournament.
SWITZERLAND 1 (4) POLAND 1 (5)
In a tense match Wales scraped through thanks to a Gareth McAuley own goal.
A stolid, stodgy 94 minutes this was, garnished with precious few chances and even fewer moments of fluidity.
In the end, Gareth Bale – as he so often does for his country – forced the issue, as it was from his super, spinning cross that McAuley couldn’t avoid turning the ball past his own goalkeeper.
WALES 1 NORTHERN IRELAND 0
Croatia dominated early on but they weakened over time against Portugal as the two sides had a hard fought and tepid 0-0 draw until Portugal dramatically stole a 1-0 victory in extra time.
Despite Croatia’s dominance, they failed to produce a shot on target in the entire first half and Portugal remained mostly anonymous with Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani being starved of the service they require.
Extra time was no different as both sides seemed happy to wait for penalties, but a quick flurry of action in the final minutes saw Ricardo Quaresma steal victory for Portugal.
CROATIA 0 PORTUGAL 1 (AET)
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
