Belgium will be going all out to win against Ukraine in their final group game despite a draw being enough for them to reach the last 16 of Euro 2024, coach Domenico Tedesco insists.
Group E has the extraordinary situation of all four teams being locked on three points and a number of finishing-position permutations possible should Belgium draw with Ukraine (Live on RTÉ2/Player) and Romania draw with Slovakia (Live on RTÉ News/Player).
However, Tedesco said there was no way his side would sit back and settle for a point.
"We are going out to win the game. We can't start to calculate or speculate, we want to win this game. In the last seven minutes of the game maybe we know what we want to do to keep a result but from the beginning there is no issue, we go to win," the 38-year-old told a press conference.
Tedesco said they would make sure they were aware of the result in the other match at some point during the evening.
"Not smart from our side not to know it but not from the beginning... We have to focus on our game and then the result is coming automatically," he added.
It's the first meeting between Ukraine and Belgium. Both sides recovered from opening losses in the group to win their second matches and Tedesco was wary of the threat Serhiy Rebrov's side had posed for big teams recently.
"Of course we need to be confident, normally there is no reason not to be confident but in football you can never be sure," Tedesco said.
"We are sure we need a big game tomorrow because Ukraine is a big team. We saw several games of them, not just during the qualifiers against England, but now also games here at the Euros and before the friendly (0-0 draw) against Germany - I think they were the better team."
Belgium will be hoping that their all-time top goalscorer Romelu Lukaku will get off the mark finally in Germany having seen three strikes disallowed after Video Assistant Referee (VAR) checks.
However, team-mate Amadou Onana backed the 31-year-old to get over his disappointment and continue to be a leading figure in the team.
"Without Romelu's goals in qualification we wouldn’t be here so we know what he brings to the table," Onana said.
"He knows what it means to play with pressure, so I’m not concerned. He's going to be key all throughout this tournament."
Tedesco also hopes not to have his spontaneous joy on the touchline cut short again.
"The VAR is postponing celebrations or stopping them at all so that’s why in the last game after three goals were cancelled I waited a bit for the celebrations (when Belgium scored)," he said.
"But sometimes emotions should be there so if I make a jump or a sprint I hope VAR is not stopping it again!"
Ukraine coach Serhiy Rebrov had said he wanted to see his side qualify to alleviate some of the misery caused by the Russian invasion of his homeland.
"What will it mean for the country is that we will go on with this fairytale, this really fantastic fairytale for several more days for the whole country, because we are at war for almost 900 days," midfielder Serhiy Sydorchuk said.
"For the Ukrainians, every game, every event like that means a lot, it means for them that they can come back to the usual pre-war times."
Slovakia will not tinker with their style of play and go all out for victory when they take on Group E rivals Romania, seeking three points to ensure progression to the knockout rounds.
It is the tightest of pools with Slovakia, Romania, Belgium and Ukraine all locked on three points and with everything to play for in the final round of matches.
Slovakia are at their third continental finals in a row, reaching the last-16 in 2016 before a group stage exit three years ago in a campaign that mirrors this one.
On that occasion they beat Poland in their opener, lost to Sweden in their second game and were then thumped 5-0 by Spain in Seville to exit the competition with three points.
After a shock 1-0 win over Belgium in Frankfurt in their first game of Euro 2024, they let a lead slip against Ukraine to lose 2-1 and are now faced with likely needing a point from their final game again to advance.
"Romania are a physical team and have a tactical game that is very good, so it is a hard match for us," said Slovakia coach Francesco Calzona.
"But we have our own style of play. I don't like to change much of what has led us to be here in Germany, and therefore we will continue with that against Romania."
Calzona did not single out a particular dangerman in the Romania team, but says, like his side, they are dangerous as a collective with their team spirit and never-say-die attitude.
"I like the fact they never give up. I don’t want to talk about one player in particular, I am afraid of them as a group," he said. "I am concerned about the whole team, they are a great squad of players."
With a draw likely to send both teams into the last-16, there has been talk they may contrive to each earn a point at the Frankfurt Arena, but Calzona dismisses this.
"I am not going to comment on that, we are professionals and while we know a draw might help us to qualify, we want to play our own match and we deserve the opportunity to seal our own progression. No-one will give us anything for free," he said.
"Tomorrow we are going to play our own game. We hope we can win but if in the end a draw does allow us to progress, we will welcome that."
Romania coach Edward Iordanescu brushed aside the suggestion his team and Slovakia would play for a mutually beneficial draw.
Belgium take on Ukraine in the other game in the tightest of pools in which all four teams have three points, but Romania head the group going into the last round of fixtures and Iordanescu says his side will go all out for the win to stay there.
"We can’t control what people talk about, but we have full concentration on the game tomorrow," said Iordanescu.
"We are playing to qualify and we do want to finish first. If we win the group, at least theoretically, you have a certain advantage in terms of extra rest days and a (weaker) opponent.
"But the most important thing is to qualify, this is our main objective. This is a historic moment for the national team, a moment that is special and the greatest moment in our careers."
Romania brushed aside Ukraine 3-0 in their opening pool game (highlights below) but lost 2-0 to Belgium in their second. Slovakia, Iordanescu believes, will be a very challenging opponent too.
"Slovakia are one of the best organised teams at this tournament," he said. "I have studied them a lot in the qualification competition and here in Germany. Their coach (Francesco Calzona) has built a clear identity and a balanced team with experience.
"They have had an extra day of rest, but tomorrow we won’t care about tiredness or pressure, it is only the heart that matters. There is no other scenario for us, we want to qualify, no matter how."
Romania have reached the knockout rounds of the Euros once before, in 2000, and the chance to repeat that feat after 24 years will make the battle in Frankfurt a mental one as well as physical, according to Iordanescu.
"If you look at their statistics, Slovakia are a very precise team who have clear mechanisms and a very complex way of playing. Players who balance effort and technique, and they have three or four players who are the pillars of their team.
"They are a solid team, an emotional team, and it will be a mental battle. Both teams have the chance to qualify, but both have to keep their cool and react to what happens on the pitch."
Watch every game from Euro 2024 on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player as well as highlights and goals as they happen on RTÉ Sport digital platforms
