Euros news LIVE! England vs Denmark, Italy vs Spain; semi-final latest updates and build-up

The build-up continues to the European Championship semi-finals after an unforgettable two nights of last-eight action.

England will be bidding to reach their first major tournament final since the 1966 World Cup when they battle Denmark on home soil at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday evening.

After the euphoria of beating old rivals Germany in the last 16, Gareth Southgate’s Group D winners were impeccable at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico on Saturday night, with captain Harry Kane’s brace and further goals from Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson – his first senior England goal on his 62nd cap – earning a rousing 4-0 quarter-final victory over Andriy Shevchenko’s Ukraine.

Denmark will hope to spoil England’s hopes of reaching next Sunday night’s Wembley final after first-half goals from Thomas Delaney and Kasper Dolberg were enough to see off the Czech Republic in Baku despite Patrik Schick’s fifth goal of the tournament after the interval.

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But 24 hours before that contest is the small matter of a heavyweight showdown between Italy and Spain in north west London.

Excellent goals from Nicolo Barella and Lorenzo Insigne saw the Azzurri – now unbeaten in 32 matches and winners of 13 straight – outlast Belgium 2-1 in Munich on Friday night, with Romelu Lukaku’s penalty not enough to spark a fightback from the world’s no1-ranked team.

Meanwhile, Spain held their nerve in a penalty shootout against 10-man Switzerland following a tense 1-1 draw in Saint Petersburg, with Mikel Oyarzabal netting the decisive spot-kick after three costly misses from the Swiss.

Follow all the latest Euro 2020 news, updates and semi-final build-up in our daily live blog below!

Live updates Show latest updates 1623500911 An almost derby

Away from Wales, there’s a small matter of a (sort of) Scandinavian derby today as Denmark face Finland. It promises to be a game full of heart…

Kasper Hjulmand, Denmark coach said yesterday: “We shouldn’t go out and lose a match because we’re not well enough prepared.

“We shouldn’t lose because we didn’t want it more than our opponents. And we shouldn’t lose because we don’t play our best. We must leave everything on the pitch and do everything we can to win.”

1623499467 Rallying call from the skipper

A strong message from Harry Kane.

1623498567 Wales vs Switzerland

The second game in Group A is just over an hour away.

1623497920 Italy team news

Italy full-back Alessandro Florenzi is a doubt for their clash with Switzerland next week.

The right-back is understood to have tweaked his calf in the win over Turkey on Friday and, Sky Italia, saying he may have to miss the next match.

Italy beat Turkey 3-0 and have been tipped to go far at Euro 2020

1623495574 Southgate: It’s time to unite the country

England’s performance at the Euros can help in uniting the country, says Gareth Southgate.

Build-up to the tournament has been marred by some fans booing players taking the knee in solidarity with the fight against racism.

“I think it’s time for the country to unite, full stop,” Southgate said. “If the team can be a catalyst for that then that’s brilliant. I think the England team is often a catalyst for bringing people together … so of course in the process of doing that we want to play well, we want to win, we want to excite people, but not all of that falls upon us.”

Southgate says it was time for England to “remember what a strong nation we are”, adding: “We’ve had lots of division and sometimes we need to remember what a strong island we are, what a strong nation we are, the great qualities that we have.

“There were moments at the beginning of the pandemic that were so powerful where people did pull together, I think we should always be striving towards that.

England v Romania – International Friendly – Riverside Stadium

/ PA Wire 1623494322 England training

The England squad are currently being put through their paces at St George’s Park, by throwing a rubber chicken about.

Harry Kane and Gareth Southgate will be addressing the media from 6.30pm BST.

PA 1623493199 Day 2 schedule

Here’s the lay of the land today.

2pm: Wales vs Switzerland, Group A, Baku

5pm: Denmark vs Finland, Group B, Copenhagen

8pm: Belgium vs Russia; Group B, St Petersburg

REUTERS 1623489834 England tactical look

England finally kick off their Euro 2020 campaign on Sunday, facing Croatia in a revenge job three years on from their World Cup semi-final showdown.

PA 1623488242 About last night

A flurry of second-half goals gave Italy a 3-0 win over Turkey in the opening match.

Ciro Immobile kicked in a rebound from close range and Lorenzo Insigne added another following a poor clearance. Both came after an own-goal from Turkey defender Merih Demiral had given Italy the lead.

The Italians dominated from the start but were denied in the first half by a superb save from Turkey goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir and a decision by the referee not to award a penalty for an apparent handball.

The Stadio Olimpico was only 25% full because of coronavirus measures and fans sat in small groups safely distanced from one another. The crowd of about 16,000 was still the largest gathering in Italy for a year and a half.

Getty Images 1623486507 Day 2!

The Euros move to Baku on Day 2 of the tournament before heading to Copenhagen and then St. Petersburg.

The first match on today’s schedule is between Wales and Switzerland in Baku, following Italy’s win over Turkey.

The middle match pits Denmark against Finland in Copenhagen in Group B. And the final game of the day in that same group will be between Belgium and Russia in St. Petersburg.

Getty Images