With Day 9 of Euro 2016 in the books, we have collated some of the best of our content from the last 24 hours in one place. All the latests news, plus group guides, kick-off times and news from around the teams can be found at our special microsite.
Unconvincing France top Group A
With two wins and a draw, hosts France are comfortably through to the knockout stages of Euro 2016, avoiding the sort of disaster the England rugby team could not at the 2015 Rugby World Cup held in their own country. Billed by many as favourites to win the tournament on home soil, France have done well in places, but failed to fully convince in the group stages. They needed a moment of Dimitri Payet brilliance in the opening game against Romania in the final moments to earn victory, it took until the 90th minute to find the breakthrough against Albania, and on Sunday night were held to a goalless draw by Group A runners-up Switzerland.
Richard Jolly provides his analysis from a game that saw Paul Pogba find some form, but France run out of luck.
Albania’s anxious wait
Armando Sadiku scored Albania’s first goal at a major tournament in a historic 1-0 win over Romania on Sunday to keep alive their slender hopes of progressing to the Euro 2016 knockout phase.
Albania will be hoping to see results go their way in the other groups with the possibility of their third place finish being enough to secure one of the places in the last 16.
Read the full match report from Lyon on Sunday night as well as a photo gallery comprising the best pictures from the game.
Hodsgon’s striker decision
The order of Group A has been decided, and on Monday, it is the turn of Group B as England face Slovakia, and Wales take on Russia. England may be leading the group with four points after an opening draw against Russia and a last-gasp win over Wales, but manager Roy Hodgson has a big decision to make regarding his strikers. Tottenham Hotspur forward Harry Kane entered Euro 2016 as England’s undisputed No 9, but a sluggish first two games, combined with the goalscoring cameos of Daniel Sturridge and Jamie Vardy against Wales, leaves Hodgson with a dilemma.
Richard Jolly argues why Hodgson should reward Sturridge and Vardy with starting berths against Slovakia.
St Etienne’s rich football history
Euro 2016 matches are being held all around France, and among the host cities is St Etienne in the eastern central part of France. One of the smaller cities to host tournament matches, St Etienne’s steep football history has worked in its favour, as has the football club’s impressive stadium, the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
Our man in France, Andy Mitten, is in St Etienne ahead of England's Group B match with Slovakia, and his latest diary entry explores the history of AS St Etienne, and the city's relationship with football.
Greg Lea talking points
In his daily Euro 2016 talking points, Greg Lea writes on the surface of it, France seem to be on a convincing run after having tallied seven points from three games. But scratch that surface and you see some issues with the team – the form of Olivier Giroud, Didier Deschamps's confused strategy and inexplicable changing of the starting line-ups. Lea also discusses Albania's albeit slim chances of making it the knockout stages, who he thinks was the player of the day and more.
