Trossard and Belgium through to knockouts

Leandro Trossard and Oleksandr Zinchenko were both in action during the Group E decider between Belgium and Ukraine at Euro 2024.

With all four teams locked at three points each going into the final game, our two Gunners went head-to-head in Stuttgart for a place in the knockout stages. This marked the first-ever meeting between Belgium and Ukraine. 

Trossard started for Belgium on the right wing and despite Romelu Lukaku's golden chance to score in the opening minutes, the Red Devils' possession rarely translated to major goalscoring chances in the first half.  

Zinchenko came on to replace Vitaliy Mykolenko in the 58th minute, just as Trossard made way for Yannick Carrasco.

With Slovakia and Romania locked in a 1-1 draw elsewhere, Ukraine's fate was in their own hands and they upped the pressure on the Belgians. Ruslan Malinovskyi's curling corner nearly beat Koen Casteels at the near post and Georgiy Sudakov came desperately close in the dying minutes, but it proved to be not enough.

The 0-0 draw means that Ukraine are the first team in tournament history to record four points in the group stage and still finish bottom. 

Trossard and Belgium face a last-16 tie with William Saliba's France on July 1.