Italy heads into the quarterfinals at Euro 2016 against Germany on Saturday having already beaten both Belgium, ranked No. 2 in the world behind only Argentina in the June FIFA rankings, and two-time European champion Spain, by 2-0 scores. Forwards Graziano Pelle and Eder have been one of the most unlikely but effective partnerships, building on their work together in Italy's Serie B only four years ago.

Belgium's 2-0 loss to Italy in its opening game at Euro 2016 was a wakeup call for the Red Devils, winners of their next three games, all by shutout. The key to the turnaround has been Belgium's much-maligned star Eden Hazard

Iceland's upset for the ages over England made headlines across the world, and sees a country with a population less than that of Honolulu joining a Euro 2016 quarterfinal that finds Europe's best teams having finally decided to play like it.

We all know what happened when the USA and England played at the 1950 World Cup in Belo Horizonte. The USA beat England, 1-0, in what is considered the greatest upset in the history of soccer.

Of the five teams competing in the European Championship for the first time since a group format was adopted, four advanced to the round of 16. Who would have predicted that?

The Mexican soccer federation (FMF) has a long history of dumping its national team coaches -- it employed four in the space of a month in 2013 -- but when El Tri suffered its worst defeat ever in an official match, what did it do?

Iceland, the smallest nation that ever qualified for the European Championship, is now the smallest nation that ever qualified for the knockout stage of the Euros. Arnor Ingvi Traustason's goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time gave Iceland a 2-1 win over Austria and set off wild celebrations at the Stade de France.

Ivan Perisic capped off a magnificent performance in Croatia's comeback win over Spain with a 88th minute goal that won Group D, turning Euro 2016 on its head. The result put five World Cup champions on one side of the bracket, and finds group runner-up Spain facing Italy in the round of 16.

At the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada, stars balked at playing on artificial turf. At the 2013 Gold Cup, the poor condition of the temporary grass field at Cowboys Stadium came under scrutiny. Euro 2016 was supposed to offer model field conditions -- all-grass or hybrid grass fields -- but the embarrassing field conditions for French games in Marseille and Nice have UEFA and French organizers pointing fingers at each other.

Aside from the problem of what to name a Centenario-type competition matching the nations of Conmebol and Concacaf -- there can't be another Centenario, obviously -- the primary issue will be when to play it.

Host France became the first team to advance to the knockout stage of Euro 2016 when it beat Albania, 2-0, on Wednesday, but the performance did little to convince French supporters that the Bleus will win the tournament.

In the start of this soccer-crazy summer with simultaneous continental national team tournaments, the Western Hemisphere has been delivering the most entertaining soccer, by a good stretch, compared to the European Championship.

Hosting the largest European Championship in history, France has now seen all 24 countries play their first group-stage games. After 12 games in group play, there has yet to be a scoreless game in this year's Euros, but there wasn't any team whose offense looked overly explosive, as of yet. No team scored more than two goals, and no game saw more than three goals thus far.

So who's to blame for the trouble in Marseille before, during and after Saturday's Euro 2016 match between England and Russia at the Stade Velodrome? Where do we begin?

Five nations will play in the Euros for the first time under its group format and this field of 24 teams is the biggest in tournament history. They hope to do more than just make up the numbers.