France
A home loss to Germany and a wobbly 3-2 win over Chile in Marseille were not good for Didier Deschamps’ team.
Kylian Mbappé, the captain, had a rough few days, and Antoine Griezmann, who missed his first France game in seven years due to injury, was missed.
Highlights were 18-year-old Warren Zaïre-Emery’s strong performance against Germany and Randal Kolo Muani’s scoring and assisting against Chile.
Deschamps made nine changes for the second game, starting William Saliba in Marseille despite saying the Arsenal player “does things he doesn’t like”. The team to beat.
England
These friendlies won’t count in the Euros, but England’s jubilation after Jude Bellingham’s 95th-minute equalizer against Belgium on Tuesday night proved they didn’t want another loss.
“We knew the rubbish we would get,” stated the scorer. Kobbie Mainoo, an 18-year-old midfielder, thrived against the Red Devils after losing to Brazil on Saturday.
However, the two games revealed that Gareth Southgate needs Harry Kane fit in Germany to challenge the best.
Germany
Crisis, what crisis? After beating France (away) and the Netherlands (home), the Euro 2024 hosts will enter the tournament with a huge bounce in their stride.
Florian Wirtz’s seven-second goal in Lyon’s 2-0 triumph was spectacular, but the margin could have been larger. Toni Kroos again ruled central midfield, with Robert Andrich of Bayer Leverkusen impressing.
Stuttgart’s 27-year-old left-back Maximilian Mittelstädt, who was on the bench for Hertha Berlin as they were relegated last season, might start for the Euros after Julian Nagelsmann made no changes.
Spain
“A game against Brazil is never a friendly,” Dani Olmo stated after the 3-3 tie at the Bernabéu on Tuesday night, which featured magnificent goals, furious tackles, and terrible blunders.
Tempers flared after Brazil’s late equalizer and celebrations, with Spain coach Luis de la Fuente upset by crowd booing of Atlético Madrid striker Álvaro Morata.
The first half was great for Spain, but Unai Simón made a mistake after 40 minutes with Spain 2-0 ahead.
The 16-year-old Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal was great on the right wing and might be one of the most intriguing Euros players.
The fireworks at the Bernabéu made up for the dismal performance in the 1-0 loss to Colombia in London on Friday. De la Fuente observed, “We learn more from defeats than from victories.”
Portugal
Roberto Martínez’s Portugal suffered its first defeat in the 12th game of his tenure.
Portugal lost 2-0 in Slovenia after a lackluster effort following a perfect qualification record with 10 wins in 10 games and a goal differential of +34, including a 5-2 win over Sweden on Thursday.
It should be a wake-up call without panic buttons. The game did demonstrate Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva’s value, even though they did not play in Ljubljana.
“The goal of these fixtures was not to win,” Martínez stated, adding, “although we never like to lose”. The Spaniard called up almost 30 players for the two games and gave most an opportunity.
The Netherlands
Ronald Koeman’s team had mixed results, performances, and formations against Scotland and Germany. They beat the Scots 4-0 in Amsterdam after Koeman lined them up in a 4-3-3 formation.
Despite the scoreline, the visitors dominated, creating many chances but failing to take any, and were punished by three Dutch goals in the last 18 minutes, scored by Georginio Wijnaldum, Wout Weghorst, and Donyell Malen, following Tijjani Reijnders’ strike five minutes before halftime.
Joey Veerman’s well-taken volley took the Dutch the lead in Frankfurt four minutes into Tuesday’s encounter against Germany, demonstrating their ruthlessness. In a more customary 3-5-2 system, the Netherlands threatened on the counterattack but failed to score again, allowing Mittelstädt and Niclas Füllkrug to score twice for Germany.
Koeman’s team is threatening but needs to improve defensively to succeed in Germany this summer.
Belgium
Domenico Tedesco’s Belgium was undefeated in 12 international games, but that was mostly it for encouragement. The world’s fourth-best team looked anything but in a goalless draw with Republic of Ireland in Dublin on Saturday, a game that could have ended in defeat had Evan Ferguson not missed an early penalty for the hosts.
While a stronger lineup were better against England on Tuesday, they were also lucky to escape Wembley with a 2-2 draw, with Tedesco admitting that he could not bemoan Jude Bellingham‘s 95th-minute equaliser given how much Belgium only had 37% possession and scored twice through Youri Tielemans due to opponent defensive blunders.
Kevin De Bruyne will return, but the Red Devils don’t appear to be serious challengers for the title in Germany this summer.
Italy
Luciano Spalletti’s team won two games against Ecuador and Venezuela in the US, scoring four goals and keeping one clean sheet.
Despite challenges, Gli Azzurri’s pushing and work ethic set the tone, while Nicolò Barella and Lorenzo Pellegrini demonstrated their top performance.
Genoa’s Mateo Retegui scored twice against Venezuela to cement his spot as the first-choice No. 9 (although Spalletti is worried about the low number of choices at the Euros).
Happy Spalletti called the visit “very positive,” “very well organized by the federation and the team played two good games.”
Croatia
Luka Modric won a trophy after 18 years and 174 caps. Though it was “only” the ACUD Cup, a friendly tournament in Cairo, the image was remarkable.
Croatia played two distinct games. The final against the hosts, sans Mohamed Salah, drew 83,350 fans at the Misr Stadium following a dull semi-final against Tunisia that went to penalties after little chances.
To win 4-2, the Vatreni switched to a 4-2-3-1 configuration from their customary 4-3-3 and tried out new back-up alternatives like Josko Gvardiol at left-back instead of centre-back.
Austria
Ralf Rangnick’s team started fast this weekend, following Christoph Baumgartner’s world-record goal against Slovakia after six seconds with a lead against Turkey after 103 seconds.
In front of 38,000 fans at the Ernst-Happel Stadium, they won 6-1 despite missing key players David Alaba, Marko Arnautovic, and Marcel Sabitzer, who were sick before the game.
Austria won its fifth straight and Michael Gregoritsch scored a hat-trick. “The second half was close to perfection,” Rangnick beams.
