Euro 2016 Second Round: Underdog Hero Hungary Remains Undefeated

Some easy defeats and the first goalless draws were also played. Let’s see what happened at Euro 2016 second round!

Winning the first game gave huge advantage to certain teams, while other sides’ chances were far lower at online sportsbooks in France upon losing in their introductions at Euro 2016. Spain and France march forward with confidence while Germany seemed a bit disinterested against Poland. If you don’t remember what happened at Euro 2016 first round, check it out here. And now, let’s see what happened at Euro 2016 second round!

Group A: Six points for France!

France won their opening game against Romania and despite the fact that they were far superior than their Eastern European rivals, they only managed to win in the last minute thank to Payet’s goal. At Euro 2016 second round, France hosted Albania and managed to seize the game easily by 2-0, which means that they have 6 points and that France qualified for Euro 2016 Round of 16.

On the other game of Group A’s second matchday, Switzerland played against Romania. The central European side were expected to win the game, but they failed to prove that they are the better team: Romania saved a point thanks to a 1-1 draw. With these results, after 2 matchdays, France were group leaders, Switzerland went second with 4 points, while Romania had 1 in the third place and Albania without a single points so far.

Group B: England wins the UK-battle

Euro 2016 second round was actually opened by Group B as Russia played against Slovakia on 15 June at 3 PM (CET). Russia came as favourites thanks to their heroic equalizing against England in the last minute of Euro 2016 first round. However, Slovakia surprised them on many occasions and managed to win by 2-1, putting Russia in a dangerous position in regards of qualification for Euro 2016 Round of 16.

On the other hand, a terrific game was about to be played: the England v Wales rivalry was expected to be incredibly passionate and a delight. Premier League stars faced each other as well as the class of Gareth Bale was going to be shown. And it did: the Real Madrid star took the lead with a fantastic free kick, and a mistake by Joe Hart. However, England manager to come back and win the game by 2-1: Leicester City hero Jamie Vardy equalized and Daniel Sturridge won the game in the last minute.

Group C: Germany v Poland rivalry was not as good as expected…

The most exciting game of Group C in Euro 2016 second round was definitely the Germany v Poland rivalry, which was expected to be a pretty great derby between 2 strong sides. Online betting news in France expected the World Cup holders to win against Poland, but Bundesliga stars like Robert Lewandowski are always there to upset the odds.

Except for this time: despite the fact that Poland had a few chances to score, the first goalless draw of Euro 2016 was played between these 2 sides and well, this result was good enough for both teams. The other game of Group C was a bit surprising as Northern Ireland easily defeated Ukraine by 2-0. Ukraine are out fo the competition by these 2 defeats while the other 3 teams are likely to reach the Round of 16 at Euro 2016.

Group D: Spain records first 3-goal victory at Euro 2016, Croatian fans disgrace football

Many interesting things happened in the Euro 2016 second round at Group D: First of all, let’s see what was expected to be an easy battle, but maybe not this easy: Spain faced Turkey and oh well… Turkey were known to be much weaker than n 2002 and 2008, but nobody expected a 3-0 victory for Spain, especially after how they suffered against the Czech Republic. Former and probably future Real Madrid striker Álvaro Morata scored a double.

The other game of Group D was maybe even better than this one: Croatia played against the Czech Republic. The former team had 3, the latter one had 0 points before the game started. Croatia took the lead and went by 2-0, they seemed to be winning the game. Some Croatian fans, however, decided it would be fun to celebrate the victory by throwing fireworks in the field. The game stopped for 10 minutes and Croatians disturbed their own team so much that Czech Republic stood up and equalized from 2-0: 2-2 and Croatia lost 2 easy points deservedly. Such a disgrace shall not be allowed in football stadiums.

Group E: Italy winning streak goes on, Belgium wins easily

Italy played versus Belgium in Euro 2016 first round which was expected to be the most exciting derby of Group E as these two were favourites to win the group. However, Belgium were rather disappointing and Italy were surprisingly good: they easily defeated Belgium by 2-0. The next round brought an Italy v Sweden match where defensive football dominated, but Italy managed to seize a 1-0 victory thank to a last minute goal by Eder.

On the other hand, Belgium faced Ireland and were forced to perform if they wanted to continue their hopes of Euro 2016 Round of 16 qualification. And oh they did so! Ireland were powerless against Belgium who proved why they were regarded as favourites to win Euro 2016 according to many of those who like to bet on sports in France. Lukaku scored first and last, Axel Witsel scored the middle goal, adding up to the final result of 3-0.

Group F: Hungary still undefeated, Portugal still without win

Portugal were only good for a 1-1 draw against Iceland at Euro 2016 first round, and were hoping to win against Austria in the second round at Euro 2016. However, they are still to prove why they are amongst the favourites to win Euro 2016 as they once again only managed to get 1 points thank to their goalless draw. World class Cristiano Ronaldo could have decided the 3 points but he missed a penalty. Portugal face Hungary in the third match day.

About Hungary, the underdogs are still in terrific form as they proved that their 2-0 victory over Austria was not just a matter of luck: Iceland took the lead with a questionable penalty in the end of the first half. The second half was a delight for all Hungarian football fans: Hungary were playing a free flow, attacking game and created several chances to score. The last passes were, however, always wrong: until the 88th minute when after a beautiful tiki-taka style, an Icelandic own goal secured another point for Bernd Storck’s men. They seem to be the greatest surprise of Euro 2016 so far, we’ll see what they are capable of Portugal which is craving for victory.