Neither co-hosts Poland or Ukraine survived the group stage, but still produced memorable moments.
Germany's Champions League semi-finalists went on scoring sprees in the Bundesliga on Saturday with Borussia Dortmund blasting five first-half goals in a 6-1 win at Greuther Fuerth and champions Bayern Munich beating Nuremberg 4-0.
A spectacular strike by captain Jakub Blaszczykowski allowed Poland to fight back to draw 1-1 against Group A favourites Russia on Tuesday in a game marred by violent clashes between rival fans outside the stadium.
As England tightened their grip on Euro 2024 qualifying and France maintained their perfect run, hosts Germany's troubles deepened.
Poland reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 on Saturday when they beat Switzerland 5-4 in a penalty shootout after the sides had drawn 1-1 after extra-time. Granit Xhaka missed the second penalty for the Swiss when he fired his shot wide of the post.
A superb shootout save by Portugal's Rui Patricio allowed Ricardo Quaresma to be the hero again as his spot kick against Poland sent them into the Euro 2016 semi-finals 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 finish following extra time.
Jakub Blaszczykowski's goal gave Poland a 1-0 win over Ukraine in their final Euro 2016 Group C match on Tuesday and sent them into the knockout stages of the tournament for the first time.
It was The Blue Samurai's first win under coach Akira Nishino, who had lost friendlies against Ghana and Switzerland since taking over in April.
Poland rested striker Robert Lewandowski and missed his firepower as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Lithuania in a Euro 2016 warm-up in the former capital city of Krakow on Monday. The stalemate before a 30,000 crowd against a determined Lithuania side playing on the counter followed Poland's 2-1 loss to the Netherlands in a friendly last week. Poland coach Adam Nawalka fielded an experimental defence with Thiago Cionek in central defence and talented teenage midfielder Bartosz Kapustka deployed at right back to try to beef up the rearguard but they still looked vulnerable. The hosts played with more urgency in the second half against the Lithuanians, who failed to qualify for the finals in France, and almost scored on the hour when winger Jakub Blaszczykowski hit the post after marauding down the right. Despite attacking relentlessly they could not find the net without talisman Lewandowski, who watched from the bench as 'Ajax Amsterdam forward Arek Milik toiled alone up front.
Julian Draxler has said he wants to leave German side VfL Wolfsburg, a month after the club claimed he was "100 percent certain" to stay.
Switzerland's Xherdan Shaqiri astonishing equalising goal against Poland in their Euro 2016 last-16 match brought back memories of great goals of the past from club and international football.
Robert Lewandowski became Poland's all-time leading scorer with 49 goals after netting twice in the first half of their World Cup qualifier in Armenia on Thursday.
Poland striker Robert Lewandowski is still the team's driving force despite the goal drought he is currently enduring, his coach Adam Nawalka said on Tuesday.
Borussia Dortmund's Ciro Immobile struck twice in the second half to secure a 2-0 victory.
It is a measure of the importance of captain Robert Lewandowski to Poland that the striker is the first name coach Adam Nawalka writes on the team sheet despite his goal drought at Euro 2016. Most forwards who go more than 10 hours without scoring would be warming the bench and facing criticism from the media and fans. But the Bayern Munich striker will be a key part of Poland's efforts to defeat Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in Thursday's quarter-final in Marseille. After scoring 13 goals in the qualifying, Lewandowski's statistics in his first four games in France make disappointing reading: no goals, two attempts on target, three attempts off target and three blocked attempts.
Poland's Arkadiusz Milik scored the winner as they downed Northern Ireland 1-0 in their Euro 2016 Group C opening match in Nice on Sunday.
Polish fans had bittersweet feelings about their quarter-final exit from Euro 2016 on Friday, frustrated by the shootout loss to Portugal but still rejoicing in their team's best run in a major tournament for decades.
World Cup hosts Russia got their Nations League campaign off to a flying start with a 2-1 win away to Turkey thanks to goals from Dennis Cheryshev and Artem Dzyuba on Friday.
Striker Robert Lewandowski scored a second-half hat-trick as Borussia Dortmund reclaimed top spot in the Bundesliga with an awe-inspiring 6-1 demolition of VfB Stuttgart on Friday.
Champions Juventus continued their resurgence by beating Hellas Verona 3-0 at home for an eighth successive Serie A victory as Inter Milan remained top after winning 1-0 at Empoli.
Borussia Dortmund steam-rollered hapless Freiburg 5-0 while Bayern Munich plodded past VfL Wolfsburg 1-0 as the two unbeaten arch-rivals remained level on points at the top of the Bundesliga on Saturday.
A round-up of Friday's Euro 2020 qualifying matches.
France substitute Kylian Mbappe engineered two late goals to rescue a 2-2 draw against Iceland and spare the blushes of the world champions in their friendly.
Chelsea reached the Champions League knock-out stage on Tuesday despite a 1-0 defeat by Basel in Group E after a late Mohamed Salah goal shocked the 2012 title winners, with Jose Mourinho saying they deserved to lose. Barcelona, without Lionel Messi but already into the last 16, went two goals down in Amsterdam but looked a different side in the second half after Ajax's Joel Veltman was sent off.
Serge Gnabry continued his impressive scoring run for Germany, netting in second-half stoppage time for his ninth goal in his 10th international, completing Germany's eighth consecutive win over Northern Ireland.
The world champions now have 19 points while Poland, 8-1 winners over Gibraltar, are on 17.
Schuerrle hits treble for the world champs; Lewandowski helps Poland thrash Georgia
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