Sweden, surprising first in their group ahead of Spain, face Ukraine for a round of 16 as unexpected as it is open.
The winner of this duel will meet in the quarter-finals the winner between England and Germany, favorites of the competition.
It is the most intriguing poster of these round of 16 of the Euro.
Sweden faces Ukraine on Tuesday evening at 9 pm, for a duel a priori balanced between two "average" nations of European football.
The Swedes surprised by finishing at the top of their group, while Ukraine were drafted among the best third.
This poster, a priori very open, therefore appears as a golden chance for the two teams to reach the quarter-finals, where the winner will face Germany or England.
Europe 1 presents this meeting to you.
Historical statistics: Sweden wants to repeat the coup of 1992, a big first for Ukraine
Many observers worried about Sweden with the absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. But it is clear that life without the star of AC Milan is going well for the Scandinavians. The Swedes reached the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup without the former PSG striker, who retired internationally before reversing his decision a few months ago. But Zlatan was unable to make his comeback due to an injury. And here again, his country manages to make up for his absence. The Swedes, who drew against Spain (0-0) and beat Slovakia (1-0) and Poland (3-2) in the first round, even hope to do as well as at the Euro 1992. At home, they reached the semi-finals, beaten by Germany (3-2).
Ukraine is playing for the first time in its history a knockout match at the Euro.
The Ukrainians, coached by legend Andriy Shevchenko (Ballon d'Or 2004 with AC Milan), qualified despite only one victory (against North Macedonia) and two losses (against the Netherlands and Austria) .
But they remain a solid and difficult team to maneuver, as the France team saw last March in the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup (1-1 at the Stade de France).
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The duel: Forsberg against Yarmolenko, the gunners
This Sweden-Ukraine will also be worth a look for the distance duel between Emil Forsberg and Andriy Yarmolenko, the two players in the form of their selection. Scorer on penalty against Slovakia (1-0) then twice against Poland (3-2), the Swedish midfielder is celebrating. "I'm proud and of course I want to score even more," said the RB Leipzig player, who has 12 goals in 61 caps. Forsberg knows in any case to be present in major events: he qualified his people for the quarter-finals of the last World Cup by scoring the only goal against Switzerland (1-0).
At 31, Andriy Yarmolenko is also coming of age. He scored two of his team's four goals in this Euro, two spectacular goals, a skylight clean-up against the Netherlands (3-2 loss) and a close-angle recovery against North Macedonia (2-1 victory) ). Her maturity, the captain tanned her with the energy and mind of the survivors, after three seasons largely disrupted by injuries, then by the loss of her status at West Ham, where her stays in the infirmary ended up being get out of the team, even after returning. The winger with 42 goals in 97 selections knows it: a change of club status requires another big performance at this Euro.