Day Nine in France

With all sides now having played two games there is still not a clear favourite and, thanks to the expanded format, not many teams confirming their return tickets home.

Belgium finally showed their killer instinct against a poor Republic of Ireland side. They must be poor because Lukaku scored twice in their 3-0 victory. Although the Belgian striker had a terrible end of season for Everton (as did his club) and looked out of sorts in Belgium's first match he is a very good striker and a couple of goals will really boost his confidence.

Ireland will complain that they should have had a penalty when it was still 0-0 but they were outplayed yesterday and keeping Belgium down to just the three goals is probably an achievement in itself.

Group F's surprise leaders Hungary met Iceland in the second match of the day knowing that a win would put them through to the second round with a game - against Portugal - to spare. They started really well so it was unlucky for the all new Magnificent Magyars when Iceland got a penalty just before half time. It was unclear whether the culprit was tracksuit trouser enthusiast Gabor Kiraly but Sigurdsson put away the spot kick to put Iceland one up going into the break.

It looked like Iceland was going to get all three points but once again we saw a goal in the last few minutes with Saevarsson turning the ball into his own net to give Hungary a point. Iceland are still unbeaten going into their last game and Hungary stayed top of the group thanks to the result of the last game of the day.

Portugal had 23 shots compared to just four from Austria but they just couldn't make any of them pay as Ronaldo's men drew another game they had been expected to win. Nothing went right for Ronaldo who even missed a penalty to raise his already peaking levels of frustration. Ricardo Quaresma started but for all their invention and skill, Portugal couldn't break the deadlock.

The draw leaves the group wide open going into the final matches so both games should be tight affairs.

Other things I noticed yesterday...

• There was a lot of police in front of the Hungarian fans for a majority of the match
• Given his levels of frustration during the match it was a surprise that Ronaldo seemed fine posing for a photo with the guy who ran onto the pitch. Anything to look good for the cameras I guess?
• Austria celebrated their draw against Portugal like they had won. They seem to think they will have no problem getting three points against Iceland to take them through

We're down to the wire in the groups now so just two games played at the same time today. A draw would put both France and Switzerland through to the next round but I think France will want to keep up their unbeaten form and go for all three points. Switzerland have been largely unimpressive in their two games so far and I can see current player of the tournament Dimitri Payet scoring again tonight. I'm going for 2-0 to France.

Romania should be able to beat Albania so (if my other prediction remarkably comes true) it will come down to goal difference as they drew with Switzerland last Wednesday. Romania have only scored penalties so far so it will be interesting to see if they have the attacking strength to get through the Albanian defence. I can't see that happening so a 1-0 win is on the cards.

Day Eight in France

Some of the better looking sides from the first round of matches were in action on day eight - with decidedly mixed results.

Italy, who looked so impressive in their defeat of Belgium, reverted to type against Zlatan's Sweden in what was largely a very uneventful game. Although the Swedish captain was more involved than in their draw with Ireland, he couldn't inspire the rest of his side into anything too adventurous in what was probably the least exciting game of the tournament so far.

Eder finally put us out of our misery by scoring, admittedly, a very well finished goal in the 88th minute and put Italy through to the knock out stage. Unsurprisingly a foul throw from Chiellini went unpunished and Eder worked some space for himself for a shot after Zaza's vital flick.

Sweden actually started the match quite well but they really haven't looked like they would go very far in the tournament - especially if Zlatan is not performing.

The second game of the day will largely be remembered for the flares thrown on the pitch by disgruntled Croatian fans, but this was the first match to have more than three goals and was a real treat to watch.

Croatia played the majority of the match like they had in their first game and carried on looking like they might have a real chance of winning the whole thing. The Czechs just couldn't cope with the skill and invention of Modric and Rakitic and if was no surprise when they took the lead through Perisic just before half time.

Croatia added a second with about half an hour to go when Rakitic chipped over the advancing Cech after the keeper had put his defender under far too much pressure with a lazy goal kick.

At this point it seemed more a question of how many more Croatia would get than whether the Czech Republic would get back into the match but substitutes once again changed the day.

A wonderful cross from the outside of the Rosicky's boot was met by Skoda whose header flew into the corner of the net. It was sweetly met but I thought the Croatian keeper could have done a much better job of keeping it out.

Modric had already gone off by this time and it was now that the Croatian fans threw a number of flares onto the pitch stopping the match. Seemingly intent on causing the Croatian FA maximum embarrassment and in the hope of incurring a fine - if not more serious repercussions - six or seven flares had to be removed from the pitch while the fans started fighting among themselves.

The whole spectacle seemed to break the Croatian side's concentration and a stupid handball right at the end gave the Czechs a penalty which Necid - another sub - powered past the keeper.

The Czech Republic will now be confident of beating Turkey to qualify for the next round while Croatia, who will also go through, will wait anxiously to see how UEFA react to their fans' behaviour.

In the last game of the day Spain brushed aside Turkey on their way to the next round. Two from Morata and one from Nolito gave Spain the victory in a match where they could easily have scored four or five.

The third goal was a sheer delight with Spain showing everyone that they still know how to move the ball around with 22 passes being made before Morata finished the move off. According to the official statistics Spain had 61% of possession but it is questionable whether De Gea even touched the ball - he wasn't even on screen for the entirety of the evening's highlights package.

The defending champions are looking very good and although I doubted whether they could repeat their feat of four years ago they seem to easily brushing aside their Group D opponents so far.

Other things I noticed yesterday...

• The vibrancy and colour of the Swedish fans are always a great addition to any tournament. Shame the team aren't doing their part
• Not sure it was really necessary for the camera to stay on Croatian captain Srna during the national anthems knowing that his father had died just days before
• Turkey's second kit should always be a white shirt with a red band across the chest. The fact that it is not in this tournament is probably why they were so poor against Spain
• Although there are complex reasons for the disruption in the Croatia game it should be said that their fans have an unsavoury history that is sometimes forgotten - perhaps as Croatia are always seen, in a vastly simplistic manner, as the good guys compared to their Serbian neighbours?
• Modric ran the show against the Czech Republic and will be badly missed for the game against Spain

And so to today's matches. Belgium v Ireland could be a real cracker and although I have no doubt the Irish will be right up for the match, surely Belgium will realise that they need to get a win here if they are to do anything in this tournament. I expect them to be much better than against Italy but still only scrape through 1-0.

Both Iceland and Hungary have an excellent chance to progress thanks to their first games in the group so today's match is vitally important for both sides. As much as I would love Iceland to push on from their draw against Portugal I have a feeling that Hungary will sneak a win, 1-0 again.

The ever lovable Ronaldo will lead his Portugal side against Austria in the evening match knowing that a victory should put them through to the next round. Portugal were very disappointing in their draw with Iceland but should have too much for potential pit ponies Austria even if their captain decides to have a strop again. I'm going 2-0 to Portugal.