De Bruyne: Belgium ready to engage France in Euro 2024 Round of 16

Belgium will play France in the Round of 16 at Euro 2024 in Dusseldorf on July 1. Though "Les Bleus" will be seen by many as the more favored side of the two, Belgium's superstar midfielder Kevin De Bruyne told reporters that the "Red Devils" are ready for the challenging battle.

"We are prepared, we are ready for that challenging game," De Bruyne said. "This is only about getting into the next round. Here we are and now, it's France. We can make it."

Belgium advanced to the knockout stage as No. 2 in Group E after scoring only two goals in three games. They lost to Slovakia 1-0 and were held 0-0 by Ukraine.

"We face a top team, and everything is possible," Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco said. "Therefore, why shouldn't we make it against France? We can unleash our true potential. These are the games we always want and are looking for. This is the magic of a Euro."

France remained undefeated in Group D, but won only one of their three games, which explained why they were only advanced in second place in the group behind Austria. The team's ace Kylian Mbappe broke his nose in their tournament opener against Austria, missed their second game with the Netherlands, and returned to play Poland.

"It is a new competition that is starting. You cannot always read a competition just from the group stage. We deserve to be second, I am satisfied," France coach Didier Deschamps told reporters. "Now it [the competition] is going to be a little bit more down to the wire; now we’ve only got the big teams but that is the name of the game."

"I would be a lot more concerned if we were not creating chances but obviously there is room for improvement," he added. "It is a new competition that is starting for us and it will start on 1 July."