UEFA said it would replace the pitch at the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille after Wednesday's final group E match between Italy and Ireland.
France entered Euro 2016 supposedly as an attacking side with defensive weaknesses, yet Les Bleus have confounded that image by conceding only one goal while scoring four in the group phase.
While France and Switzerland largely got what they wanted with a 0-0 draw at Euro 2016 on Sunday, it was a night of shame for ground staff and sports manufacturers.
Russia striker Fyodor Smolov insists that English and Welsh fans were guilty of antagonising their Russian counterparts during scuffles that broke out in Lille earlier in Euro 2016.
Olympiakos coach taken to hospital, match abandoned after crowd trouble
Iceland were within two minutes of a famous victory on their first appearance at a major tournament on Saturday only for Birkir Saevarsson to put through his own net to hand Hungary a 1-1 draw that leaves Euro 2016 Group F wide open.
After a couple of solid defensive performances in defeats by Switzerland and France, Albania need to discover some scoring form against Romania, their Italian coach Gianni De Biasi said ahead of Sunday's vital Euro 2016 Group A fixture.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called the football hooligan violence at Euro 2016 a "disgrace" but questioned how Russian fans could have overpowered a far larger contingent of English supporters. "The fighting between Russian fans with the English, that is a disgrace," he said at Russia's annual economic forum in Saint Petersburg. "But I truly don't understand how 200 of our fans could beat up several thousand English," he said, to laughs and applause from the audience.
England coach Roy Hodgson, basking in a 2-1 victory over Wales on Thursday clinched by goals from two substitutes, said fringe players would be a major factor at Euro 2016. Gareth Bale put Wales in front before Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge replied, the latter in stoppage time, after both came on in the second half. Hodgson said it was hard to remember if he had made a better double substitution in his 40-year career.
A French court jailed three Russian football supporters for up to two years for their role in violence before the England-Russia Euro 2016 match in Marseille. Alexei Yerunov, Nikolai Morozov and Sergei Gorbachev were among 43 Russian supporters detained by French police in southern France on Tuesday after the pitched battles which left more than 30 people injured. Yerunov, 29, who is supporters' liaison officer at Lokomotiv Moscow according to the club's website, received the longest prison sentence of 24 months.
But it was man-of-the-match Dimitri Payet who scored his second goal in as many matches to put the Frenchmen through to the knockouts.
France coach Didier Deschamps was more than just relieved after his team scored two late goals to beat a stubborn Albania team 2-0 on Wednesday and reach the second round of Euro 2016.
Hosts France were made to work hard by Albania but two late goals sealed the Group A match in their favour. Antoine Griezmann and Dimitri Payet scored late to earn the nervous hosts the result they sought.
The move came after Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov branded the action by the French police "an absolutely unacceptable incident".
Switzerland edged closer to a place in the knockout stages of Euro 2016 when they fought back to draw 1-1 with Romania in a lively Group A game at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.
The scoreline may have been 1-1, but level-headed Iceland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson was unable to prevent the word 'victory' passing his lips as the Nordic side held Portugal at Euro 2016.
The Russian national football team has been handed a suspended disqualification from Euro 2016 and a 150,000-euro ($168,300.00) fine after their fans were involved in violent clashes in Marseille, the governing body UEFA said on Tuesday.
France wants to deport almost 50 Russian soccer fans, Alexander Shprygin, the head of a Russian supporters' group, said on Tuesday, saying French riot police had stopped a bus carrying fans in Cannes who were on their way to Lille.
Football fans have opened up a new sporting crisis for Russia.
England will need to stick to the tactics used in Saturday's European Championship draw against Russia when they face Wales on Thursday.
Albania are unlikely to pose much of a threat to France but Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann will be expected to produce sharper performances in Wednesday's Group A match when victory should assure the hosts a last 16 spot in Euro 2016.
Iceland will head into their maiden appearance in a major tournament devoid of stage fright, their coach Lars Lagerback and key players said ahead of Tuesday's Euro 2016 Group F clash with Portugal in St Etienne.
England manager Roy Hodgson and captain Wayne Rooney have appealed to fans to behave around Thursday's Group B game against Wales after European soccer chiefs threatened to throw the country out of Euro 2016 following three days of violence in Marseille. In a video posted on the Football Association's Twitter page, Hodgson and Rooney expressed their concern that further flashpoints could lead to an early end to their tournament. "As the England manager, I am obviously now very concerned about the threat that is hanging over us and the sanction that could possibly be imposed upon the England team," Hodgson said.
England will beat Wales in their Euro 2016 Group B clash in Lens on Thursday if they match the team spirit of Chris Coleman's side, according to former captain David Beckham. Wales top the group after their 2-1 victory over Slovakia at the weekend while England were held 1-1 by Russia in Marseille. "It's a big game," Beckham said in a BBC interview.
Russians trained to fight were involved in the worst of the fan violence that erupted in Marseille during the opening of the Euro 2016 soccer tournament, the French city's chief prosecutor said on Monday.
Croatia needed a touch of Luka Modric magic to beat Turkey 1-0 in their Euro 2016 Group D opener on Sunday, gaining a measure of revenge after their bitter quarter-final elimination by the same opponents at Euro 2008.
For all the positives that England can take from their performance against Russia in their opening Euro 2016 game there remains the worrying issue that their sophisticated modern defenders remain vulnerable to the most basic of attacking ploys -- a long punt into the box.
European soccer's governing body, UEFA, said on Sunday it had opened disciplinary proceedings against the Russian Football Union following crowd disturbances at the end of the Russia-England Euro 2016 match in Marseille.
Vasili Berezutski struck in added time as Russia, second best for long periods, rescued a draw from their UEFA EURO 2016 opener against England in a Group B clash at Stade Velodrome in Marseille.
Olivier Giroud said he had breathed a sigh of relief after scoring the first goal in Euro 2016 and wished the boos he has faced throughout his career would now go away. The France striker, who opened the scoring with a brave header in Friday's 2-1 win over Romania on Friday, now has eight goals from his last eight games for the national team. Giroud, who has scored 18 goals for France, is the team's most prolific striker since Didiers Deschamps took over as coach in 2012. "My statistics speak for themselves," Giroud told a news conference at France's training camp outside Paris on Saturday. "People say I get better through adversity but I'd be happy to live without all the mudslingers," he added.
An early goal by defender Fabian Schaer earned Switzerland a 1-0 victory over debutants Albania whose captain was sent off before halftime in the Euro 2016 Group A match on Saturday. Switzerland, bidding to reach the knockout stages for the first time, scored in the fifth minute and were given a further boost by a second yellow card for Albania skipper Lorik Cana.
Air France pilots went on a four-day strike over pay cuts on Saturday that could disrupt transport plans for football fans on the second day of Europe's soccer championship.
Cristiano Ronaldo is in top condition and showing more resolve than ever to lead Portugal to the European title, national team coach Fernando Santos said ahead of their final Euro 2016 warm-up match on Wednesday.
France launched an app to alert users to attacks on Wednesday, two days before the Euro 2016 soccer championship gets underway under a state of emergency imposed after militant Islamists struck Paris in November. The Interior Ministry app, called SAIP, flashes a warning on a user's mobile phone screen if there is an attack close to their location or suspicion of an imminent strike. Users can also request alerts for up to eight geographic areas, including individual districts in the capital. First impressions on social media were mixed.
She is the second Swiss player to win the tournament after Martina Hingis won the inaugural edition in 2001.
Manchester United will swoop for Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a free transfer as new manager Jose Mourinho's first marquee signing at Old Trafford, Sky Sports has reported.
Paris security forces will receive reinforcements to protect fan zones during Euro 2016 soccer matches held in the French capital, the city's police force said on Thursday.
France coach Didier Deschamps confirmed his final Euro 2016 squad on Tuesday, including defenders Adil Rami and Samuel Umtiti in place of the injured Raphael Varane and Jeremy Mathieu. Liverpool centre back Mamadou Sakho was not included even though his 30-day provisional suspension for failing a drugs test expired last weekend. Hosts France geared up for the finals with a 3-2 victory over Cameroon in Nantes on Monday. They take on Scotland in Metz on Saturday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Security failures highlighted at this weekend's French cup final need to be urgently sorted out before the start of Euro 2016 in three weeks' time, an official in charge of security at France's national football stadium said on Monday.
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