The European Championship will brace for a battle of the titans as World Cup runners-up take on Belgium on Monday.

In the other knock-out match of the day, Cristiano Ronaldo-led Portugal will look to tackle underdogs Slovenia.

By this stage of the European Championship, favorites France and contenders Belgium would have wanted to be well into their stride and hitting their straps as they enter the knockout stages.

Instead, the neighbors go spluttering into the last 16 and into a head-on collision in Duesseldorf after both failed to finish top of their first-round group.

France’s much-vaunted attack is suffering from a crisis of confidence and coach Didier Deschamps, usually a steady hand guiding the squad, looks unsure of what his next move will be.

Belgium will have had some motivation sucked out of their cause following an astonishingly hostile reaction from their own supporters after they limped into the next stage of the tournament in Germany.

Despite Wednesday’s draw with Ukraine assuring them progress, they were subjected to loud barracking from their fans and have since closed ranks.

Captain Kevin De Bruyne did not take kindly to the abuse. His attitude and demeanor will set the tone for the rest of the Belgian side as they look to leave behind them the limp performances from the group stage.

Romelu Lukaku needs to find his scoring touch after several missed opportunities in the tournament. His record 85 goals for Belgium does not include any from Euro 2024, and overall he has a poor scoring record at major tournaments.

Few would have envisaged a French forward line failing to score in open play in their opening three matches at the tournament. One of their two goals was a penalty from Kylian Mbappe and the other was an own goal from Austria in their opening game.

Deschamps must now decide whether to restore Antoine Griezmann to the line-up and pair him up front with Mbappe.

Griezmann has been a long-time mainstay for Deschamps but was dropped for their last game, a 1-1 draw with Poland, which allowed Austria to emerge as unexpected winners of Group D, which also included the Netherlands.

Belgium is France’s oldest and most frequent opponent. The first international for both countries was a 3-3 draw in Brussels 120 years ago.

Belgium lead the win count of 75 past meetings 30-26 but France won the last two – the semifinal at the 2018 World Cup in St. Petersburg and the Nations League semifinal in Turin in October 2021.

The winner of Monday’s clash at the Duesseldorf Arena will take on Portugal or Slovenia in the quarterfinals.

Portugal under pressure

Portugal's talented squad led by captain Cristiano Ronaldo will be under scrutiny when they step onto the Frankfurt Arena pitch to face underdogs Slovenia in their Euro 2024 Round-of-16 clash Monday.

Despite finishing top of Group F with six points, Portugal stumbled to an unexpected defeat against lowly Georgia that raised many questions after they arrived in Germany with high expectations as one of the odds-on favorites to win the title.

Even though the defeat came with Portugal fielding a second-string side, they were still led by Ronaldo and were never able to get a foothold against a Georgia team who seemed to enter every challenge as if it was their last.

Georgia played locked down with a deep back five, a defensive style that has been causing headaches for Portugal manager Roberto Martinez.

It was reminiscent of the match against the Czech Republic in their Euro opener when Portugal had to dig deep to fight back and snatch a 2-1 victory with a stoppage-time winner.

It is also similar to the approach Slovenia are expected to take on Monday – a disciplined, deep back five who offer little space, and explosive counterattacks from long balls.

In March, Portugal struggled against Slovenia who gave Martinez his first defeat after 12 games in charge since taking over from long-time manager Fernando Santos following a disappointing loss to Morocco in the 2022 World Cup quarterfinals.

Slovenia won 2-0 in Ljubljana in a friendly which saw Portugal have almost 75% of the possession but appear clueless on how to beat their rivals' back five. They ended up getting caught in quick counters, much like they did against Georgia on Wednesday.

Martinez led Belgium's golden generation to No. 1 in the world and third place at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. But his Belgium side were also a major disappointment at the 2022 finals in Qatar when they were knocked out in the group stage after finishing third behind Morocco and Croatia.

Now, Spaniard Martinez has a similar responsibility with Portugal and must help their talented squad to reach their potential and shake off the underachiever tag that seems to dog them already.

Monday's game, with Ronaldo on a mission to keep breaking records and a squad that need to make a statement on the big stage, will be the perfect chance to prove their critics wrong as Portugal seek their second European Championship title.