Yahoo News 
Euro 2016 bettingexpert preview: Who will be victorious in Saturday’s last-16 games?
Now that the group stage is done and dusted, we can look forward to three days of intense knockout competition with the last 16 set to be whittled down to eight - starting with three Saturday games.
bettingexpert and SmartBets have tracked how the best performing teams have fared in terms of their Euro 2016 trophy chances over the course of the first two weeks as a handy guide into the bargain.
Saturday, 25 June
Switzerland v Poland
The first game of the knockout stages sees one of the weaker teams in Switzerland facing a Polish side packed with attacking threats and, arguably, the best strike force in the tournament.
Granit Xhaka was the star performer for the Swiss in the group stages, his commanding midfield displays helping them overcome Albania before two draws against Romania and France sealed their progress. Their play going forward, though, has been less than stellar which is a big worry.
Even though Robert Lewandowski has been relatively quiet thus far for Poland, his strike partner Arkadiusz Milik has been causing defences no end of problems. If one or both of them thrives, then you fear for a Swiss defence despite the X Factor they possess with Breel Embolo and Xherdan Shaqiri.
Wales v Northern Ireland
Any Welsh fan who saw how they dismantled Russia, albeit a pretty woeful version of a once proud team, in their final group game will harbour hopes they can go a long way in this summer’s competition.
Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey destroyed the Russian defence with a potent mixture of speed, industry and poise that was also in evidence during their victory over Slovakia. The only worry for boss Chris Coleman is how England managed to nullify those two players, something Northern Ireland coach Michael O’Neill will have studied in great detail ahead of the match in Paris.
The underdogs have produced heroics of their own in moving out of the group stage, the 2-0 victory over Ukraine a tremendous mixture of stout defending and clinical finishing let alone the wonderful rearguard performance epitomised by keeper Michael McGovern in the 1-0 loss to Germany. If they can keep the score level past half-time, an upset could be on, but Wales are still fancied.
Croatia v Portugal
Even though Portugal flirted with elimination against a Hungary side packed to the brim with attacking intent, you get the sense Cristiano Ronaldo will not allow such a slipshod repeat performance against Croatia.
Unfortunately the Portuguese defence has looked extremely porous throughout the group stage with veteran Ricardo Carvalho looking suspect alongside the notoriously volatile Pepe. Croatia, on the other hand, have been the most impressive team overall in qualifying for the knockout stages.
Luka Modric, Darijo Srna and Ivan Perisic have been the standout players for Ante Cacic’s flair side, who have combined defensive resilience with dynamic forward play to see off Turkey and Spain - the only worrying aspect the way they caved in late doors to the Czech Republic. Ronaldo and co take note.
Prediction: Croatia win 2-1 after extra-time
Follow @mattogborn on Twitter
