The lineup for the Euro 2024 semi-finals is complete.
France and Spain secured their places in the last four yesterday, with England and the Netherlands following suit with wins today.
Both quarter-finals were tense and dramatic in different ways, with England again looking struggling and unimaginative for much of the match against Switzerland but surviving a fine individual goal from Bukayo Saka (which cancelled out Breel Embolo's opener) and some penalty shootout heroics saw them edge through.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands came from behind to beat Turkey and reach the European Championship semi-finals for the first time in 20 years, and will face England in Dortmund on Wednesday.
Our writers analyze the key points.
England's penalty secret is in a bottle
At first it didn't seem like a big deal.
Cole Palmer had just scored England's first penalty in the shootout against Switzerland, and Manuel Akanji was leisurely marching forward in reply. England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford also began to trot in, only to suddenly pull back.
Pickford had forgotten something – a water bottle, curiously wrapped in a towel – picked it up, ran back to the goal and placed the bottle, still wrapped in the towel, next to the side netting.
Pickford stepped forward to check the penalty spot, making Akanji wait a moment before returning to his goal-line. Akanji took a short run-up and struck the ball with his right foot, but Pickford was a step ahead. He dived to his left to deflect the penalty away, and England would never relinquish their advantage.
Luck? Not really. It was actually a triumph of machinations by the analysis team, who studied the penalties of every England and Switzerland player, recorded where they tended to take them and printed the results out for Pickford to stick on his water bottle.
The analysis was filmed by the ground's photographer but Pickford took no chances just before Akanji's penalty – such was his decision to wrap the bottle in a towel.
And England's backroom staff had clearly done their homework: they predicted Akanji was more likely to shoot to the right, so Pickford's best chance of maximising his chances was to dive to his left. And he did just that.
Pickford's water bottle with instructions for Akanji's penalty (circled here).
It was surprising that Pickford didn't follow Bottle's advice for every penalty, even though he got it right once.
Fabian Schar scored the second penalty, but instead of pretending to dive to the right and then actually diving to the left as Bottle had instructed, Pickford did the opposite, pretending to dive to the left and then jumping to the right, and Schar's penalty went wide to his right, where the net was open, as Bottle had instructed.
Pickford also aimed for the bottle for Switzerland's final two penalties, Xherdan Shaqiri shooting to the right but the ball was too well placed and his shot just missed Pickford's fingertips.
The only penalty that proved Bottle wrong was Zeki Amdouni's fourth kick: Pickford stayed put and dived low to his left as instructed, but Amdouni moved to his right to outwit Pickford.
Fortunately for England, that one save was enough and if Wednesday's semi-final against the Netherlands goes into extra time, don't be surprised to see Pickford's bottle and towel make another appearance.
Andrew Fifield
Saka is the star, but where is Kane?
If Saka starts well, England will start well. Saka was England's best player in the first half of their Euro 2024 opener against Serbia, beating his marker Andrija Zivkovic time and time again, and he was again today.
It's no coincidence that today's first half was England's best since the tournament began nearly three weeks ago. In a 3-4-3-like formation, Saka was pushed high and wide with the ball, coming up against left-back Michel Aebischer. Saka easily beat Aebischer.
In the first half, Saka repeatedly took advantage of the fact that England were moving the ball around much quicker than they had in their previous game against Slovakia. He got into good positions, put in crosses and won corners. The only frustration was England's inability to convert their crosses into real shots on goal.
Bukayo Saka was a star for England (Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Striker Harry Kane, who tended to drop deep throughout the game and was forced to play defensively at times in the second half, was unable to receive any of Saka's passes. Kane was substituted in extra time after an accidental collision with England manager Gareth Southgate on the touchline.
Without the ball, Saka had to run to cover for Ruben Vargas, but he did so hard – and just when England needed him most, and just when the team seemed completely out of ideas, Saka scored the decisive equaliser.
Jack Pitt Brook
Can the Netherlands win?
A disappointing record, a manager that not many people are convinced of, a few comebacks and the impression that only a favourable draw was the reason they reached the semi-finals… that's exactly what the Netherlands are like for England.
But they have reached the Euros quarter-finals for the first time since 2004. So what are their chances of winning a major tournament for the second time in their history?
Well, Turkey exploited the Netherlands' weaknesses in today's quarterfinals, especially in set pieces and crosses, while Austria also took advantage of the Netherlands' defensive shortcomings to sink them to third place in the group stage. But the Netherlands still has a lot to offer.
The Netherlands celebrates after beating Turkey (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Like England, when they are confident, on fire, poised and intense, they are a joy to watch, as they were in their 3-0 win over Romania in the round of 16.
Tonight they had to show determination, spirit and, with some second-half substitutions, the tactical acumen of manager Ronald Koeman.
Kody Gakpo is clearly a threat with three goals (Turkey had a good way with him, but he snuck in from behind the post and exploited some defensive sloppiness to score the winner through Mart Mardur's own goal), but give Gerdi Schouten, Tijani Lijnders and Xavi Simons the time and space in midfield and they can play and do more.
Denzel Dumfries is always a threat from the pacey full-back position, while Wout Weghorst, a big man who is great in aerial duels, will come off the bench.
England will have a lot to think about.
On current form, Wednesday's semi-final in Dortmund looks like an open question mark.
Tim Spiers
Guler leaves as a star
While Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal of Spain has rightly garnered attention with his stellar performances throughout the tournament, another player from Barcelona's arch rivals, Real Madrid, has been equally exciting.
Turkey's Arda Güler may not have played much for Madrid last season due to injuries, but he ended his debut year at the Bernabeu in fine form (five goals in five games) and is carrying that momentum into Euro 2024.
Arda Güler was the star player at Euro 2024 (Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images)
His second assist of the tournament today against the Netherlands was a stunning one. After a slow start, Turkey and Guler came out on top with a number of threatening set pieces that the Dutch struggled to deal with, and the opening goal came on an extension of that.
After picking up a cleared corner kick on the right side of the goal box, Guler desperately tried to roll the ball onto his favoured left foot and kick it into the box.
Lacking an angle to do so, the 19-year-old – who also hit the post with a late free-kick – reluctantly took a shot with his right foot and delivered a perfect outswinging cross that left goalkeeper Bert Verbruggen looking like someone who has just crossed the road and flinched at the sight of a motorbike speeding towards him.
Verbruggen did not leap to win the ball or return to his line – he was helpless – and Samet Akaidin, coming on for the suspended Merih Demiral, stepped forward at the back post and easily headed the ball into the net.
Güler's tournament may be over, but it feels like this is just the beginning of a glittering career for club and country.
Tim Spiers
What's next?
- Spain v France (Tuesday, 8pm BST, 3pm ET)
- Netherlands v England (Wednesday, 8pm BST, 3pm ET)
(Top photo: Carl Resene/Getty Images)
