At the dawn of September 26th, with the last matches of UEFA Group A and Group D coming to an end, Croatia and the Netherlands successfully advanced to the UEFA quarterfinals stage as the top of the group, respectively, thanks to their outstanding performances.
In the final showdown in Group A, Croatia beat Austria 3-1 in a tightly contested match, while Denmark defeated the French men's soccer team with a 2-0 record in the crucial final round, thus overtaking Croatia in the standings with a 12-point advantage to take the second spot in the group. France, however, bid an early farewell to their UEFA tour with the loss.
In Group D, the Netherlands finished six points ahead of Belgium with a whopping 16 points, and thanks to Van Dyke's killer strike, eventually sealed qualification with a 10-point points advantage. Meanwhile, Poland managed to stay up in the competition with a 1-0 win over Wales, while Wales were relegated due to their low points tally.
With Croatia and the Netherlands advancing, Portugal and Spain in Group B, as well as Hungary and Italy in Group C, will battle it out for the two remaining quarterfinal spots. In Group B, Portugal and Hungary lead the group with 10 points, followed by Spain and Italy with 8 points. In the final round of the competition, Portugal and Hungary drew to advance. Portugal will host Spain at 2:45 a.m. Beijing time on the 28th, while Hungary will host Italy at 2:45 a.m. on the 27th.
