Soccer on TV: Italy-Austria, Belgium-Portugal, and Croatia-Spain headline the Euros’ round of 16

Saturday, noon (ESPN, PrendeTV)

Denmark’s 4-1 win over Russia at the end of the group stage was the kind of joyous story that made soccer fans around the world swoon. The Danes won’t have home-field advantage anymore, but Amsterdam should be a home away from home. Danish fans will be allowed in the stands, and the Johan Cruyff Arena is where Christian Eriksen began his professional career with Ajax.

Wales knows a few things about Euro fairy-tale stories, too, having reached the semifinals in 2016. Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey lead the Dragons’ effort to get back there this time.

Saturday, 3 p.m. (6ABC, PrendeTV)

How often have we called an Italy team entertaining? No team made a better impression in the group stage than this young, freewheeling Azzurri squad. It swept to a perfect record with three impressive wins, scoring seven goals and conceding none. The team’s overall unbeaten streak stands at 29 games.

Austria has an underrated squad led by David Alaba and Marcel Sabitzer, but Italy will be favored to win and advance. ABC will also be favored to win, because Italy’s big U.S. fan base will tune in at an ideal time for a big viewership number.

Saturday, 7 p.m. (Paramount+)

The stars on both teams make this the NWSL’s biggest game. But this time, the spotlight will shine on somebody else. Portland’s Sophia Smith was a candidate to be an Olympic alternate but didn’t make it. It will be the last major-tournament U.S. squad that the 20-year-old misses for a long time. And because she isn’t going to Tokyo, she immediately becomes a top candidate to win this year’s NWSL Golden Boot.

» READ MORE: Carli Lloyd, Kristie Mewis make U.S. Olympic women’s soccer team

Sunday, noon (ESPN, PrendeTV)

Plenty of people had the Dutch advancing to the round of 16, but few had a team coached by the notoriously rigid Frank de Boer scoring the group stage’s most goals. It’s right there in the standings though: eight goals for, with Georginio Wijnaldum accounting for three and Memphis Depay for two.

The Czech Republic advanced narrowly with a win over Scotland and a tie against Croatia. The winner of this game will face Wales or Denmark in the quarterfinals.

Sunday, 3 p.m. (ABC, Univision, TUDN)

This is the most star-studded Euros round-of-16 game, as Romelu Lukaku and Kevin de Bruyne face off against Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes. It might not be a goal-fest because these teams play defense as well as they play offense. But it will certainly have the world’s attention.

Sunday, 5 p.m. (Fox, Univision, TUDN)

Sunday, 5 p.m. (FS2, Galavisión)

Most fans who tune in to these simultaneous Copa América kickoffs will watch Neymar try to lead Brazil to a perfect four-win record in the group stage. But in Philadelphia, the bigger game is Venezuela-Peru.

José Andrés Martínez and the Vinotinto will reach the quarterfinals with a win and will do so with a tie if Ecuador loses. They could even advance with a loss if Ecuador is routed and falls into last place on goal difference.

Sunday, 8 p.m. (FS1, Fox Deportes)

The game of the weekend in MLS pits the Crew against the team that the Crew almost became. Austin FC owner Anthony Precourt originally wanted to move the Crew to Austin, but a massive fan protest led new owners to buy the Columbus franchise.

Precourt got his team anyway as an expansion outfit, which left everyone in the owners’ suites happy. But bad feelings rightly still linger among Columbus fans. If this game was in Ohio instead of Texas, it would be the game of the year.

» READ MORE: The Union’s superb defense held its ground against MLS-champion Columbus

Monday, noon (ESPN, PrendeTV)

If you assume this will be a matchup between Croatia’s Luka Modrić and his Spanish Real Madrid teammates, you’re wrong. This Spain squad has no Real players. But it has plenty of players familiar to Modric. Ten members of the squad play in La Liga, and many others have faced him in the Champions League.

Monday, 3 p.m. (ESPN, PrendeTV)

The last time a French team this stacked was this underwhelming in a group stage, it won the 2018 World Cup. No one is surprised that manager Didier Deschamps’ squad hasn’t turned on the style much so far, but it’s still been disappointing. That said, Kylian Mbappé and Paul Pogba have been outstanding. Will Deschamps let the rest of his team turn it loose?

» READ MORE: Wawa gives Philadelphia’s 2026 World Cup bid a boost as FIFA gets to know the city

Monday, 8 p.m. (FS1, UniMás, TUDN)

Monday, 8 p.m. (FS2, Galavisión)

Paraguay’s 2-0 upset of Chile on Thursday means Argentina hasn’t officially clinched first place in the Copa América’s Group B yet. It should be done Monday, though, as Bolivia has lost all three of its games. Uruguay is in fourth but would jump to second at Paraguay’s expense with a win.