Euro 2024 Round of 16 in Pictures: Plenty of emotion with Italy’s despair and Bellingham’s goal

BERLIN (AP) — The round of 16 at Euro 2024 saw joy and despair as a spectacular overhead kick kept England in the competition, defending champion Italy was eliminated and fans danced in the rain. AP photographers captured the drama on and off the field of play.

Italy was hoping to become only the second team to successfully defend the men’s European Championship title, but was eliminated 2-0 by Switzerland, leaving players and fans dejected. Belgium and Austria too saw their campaigns end earlier than they’d hoped.

Host nation Germany had more to celebrate after reaching the quarterfinals with a win over Denmark, but only after a thunderstorm had delayed the game. Some Danish fans partied in a torrent of water pouring off the stadium roof.

Dutch forward Donyell Malen and Turkish defender Merih Demiral both celebrated scoring two goals each to send their teams into the quarterfinals, but the most spectacular goal yet was England’s.

Jude Bellingham hit an acrobatic overhead kick to send his team’s contest with Slovakia to extra time with seconds remaining. Bellingham then joined the celebrations when Harry Kane scored the winning goal in extra time to send England through to the next round.

The quarterfinals are played Friday and Saturday, with host nation Germany taking on Spain in Stuttgart on Friday.

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AP Euro 2024: https://apnews.com/hub/euro-2024

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