UEFA Euro 2016, Last 16: Switzerland-Poland, Wales-Northern Ireland, Croatia-Portugal

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Sunday, June 26, 2016

In the Last 16 knockout phase of UEFA Euro 2016 yesterday, Poland defeated Switzerland 5–4 on penalties, Northern Ireland lost to Wales by an own goal scored by Gareth McAuley, and Portugal defeated Croatia as Ricardo Quaresma scored a late header.

File photo of Ricardo Quaresma, who scored the winning goal for Portugal.
Image: Fanny Schertzer.

Switzerland 1–1 Poland

Poland were leading before the half time whistle as Jakub Błaszczykowski scored a goal in the 39th minute. But an overhead goal by Xherdan Shaqiri in the 82nd minute forced the additional time.

In the additional time, one player of each team was booked and as nobody scored, the match progressed to a penalty shootout decider. Excepting Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka, everyone else scored as Poland won the game 5–4 in penalties and reached the quarter-finals.

Wales 1–0 Northern Ireland

Group B toppers Wales faced Northern Ireland after the United Kingdom in a referendum voted to leave the European Union.

In an attempt to save Gareth Bale's shot, Gareth McAuley scored an own goal in the 75th minute which helped Wales advance to the quarter-finals. Wales is to play the winner of Hungary and Belgium in Lillie on Friday.

Northern Ireland has not defeated Wales in the last 36 years.

Croatia 0–1 Portugal

Group D winners Croatia faced Portugal as Luka Modrić faced his Real Madrid teammates Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe. Nobody was able to score in the 90 minutes of game play. Pepe's header flew over the crossbar, and Ivan Perišić's shot hit the woodwork as the referee signalled additional time.

It seemed the match would be decided over penalties as nobody was able to find the net, but Ricardo Quaresma's header in the 117th minute sealed the victory for the Portuguese.


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