Euro 2024: After shaky group stage, Netherlands still favored against Romania in round of 16

MUNICH (AP) — Romania plays the Netherlands on Tuesday in the round of 16 at the European Championship. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) in Munich. The Netherlands have traditionally dominated this fixture but the Dutch also hadn’t lost to Austria since 1990 — until last week. Romania topped its group while a disappointing Netherlands team progressed as one of the four best third-place teams. Despite the problems, the Netherlands will be favored to overcome Romania, potentially giving Ronald Koeman's team another shot at Austria in the quarterfinals. Here’s what to know about the match:

— Romania finished top of its group thanks mainly to a 3-0 win against Ukraine in Munich in their opening fixture. They then lost 2-0 against Belgium and drew 1-1 against Slovakia as all four teams in the section finished with four points – a European Championship first.

— The Netherlands started its Euro 2024 campaign with a 2-1 comeback win over Poland, but then drew 0-0 against France before losing a thrilling match 3-2 to Austria. That saw Austria top the group and relegated the Dutch to third, below France.

— The winner will advance to face Austria or Turkey in the quarterfinals on Saturday. That could see a quick rematch between the Netherlands and Austria in Berlin.

— This is only Romania’s second time in the knockout stage of the European Championship. It reached the quarterfinals in 2000.

— The Netherlands won the tournament in 1988.

— Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman has reported no new concerns although his midfield was decimated by a slew of injuries before the tournament.

— Romania winger Nicuşor Bancu is suspended and will likely be replaced by Deian Sorescu.

— Romania midfielder Răzvan Marin, who has scored two of his team's four goals in Germany, is fully fit after missing a training session last week. “I just had a cold, now I'm 100% fit and tomorrow I will be ready to give my all,” he said.

— The Netherlands have won 10 of the 14 matches between the two teams, scoring 29 goals in the process to Romania’s three.

— Romania’s solitary win was in October 2007, in qualifying for the following year’s European Championship.

— The Netherlands’ loss to Austria was only their second defeat in seven matches this year, having won four of those.

— Romania’s win over Ukraine in their opener was only its second ever at the Euros, after beating England in the group stage in 2000.

— Romania has lost both penalty shootouts it has been involved in at major tournaments. The Dutch have lost six out of eight.

“We are a proud nation. We like to win. We like to play nice football. But that doesn’t always happen. We take the criticism no problem and we’d like to turn it for tomorrow and make people happy about the final result,” — Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman.

“Every time we see that orange wall in the stadium it has a big impact, it makes us run that bit faster. And hopefully we can do it tomorrow for the country.” — Netherlands forward Cody Gakpo.

“If you’re playing with history in front of you, you’re ready to give your all. No game is easy, especially not one that can get you into the quarterfinals. The Netherlands are favorites tomorrow. They have incredible players, but we have our own strengths.” — Romania coach Edward Iordănescu.

“We are really happy and proud to be first in our group to qualify. The joy that we brought to all Romanians is one of the proudest moments of my life. It’s been a long and hard road because it didn’t start one or two months ago, but instead two years ago.” — Romania defender Radu Drăguşin.

“I am not afraid of anything at this point. I am doing what I love, and I do it with enthusiasm and passion. Why should I be afraid?” — Romania goalkeeper Florin Niță.

AP Euro 2024: https://apnews.com/hub/euro-2024

Cody Gakpo of the Netherlands, second right, scores his side's first goal during a Group D match between the Netherlands and Austria at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Cody Gakpo of the Netherlands celebrates his goal during a Group D match between Netherlands and Austria at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Players of Netherlands listen to head coach Ronald Koeman during a Group D match between the Netherlands and Austria at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Romania's players celebrate at the end of the match during a Group E match between Slovakia and Romania at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Romania's Radu Dragusin celebrates at the end of Group E match at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament against Slovakia in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman is seen during a Group D match between Netherlands and Austria at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

PARIS (AP) — Days ahead of France's crucial parliamentary elections, renowned Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld is sticking to his advice that if voters are faced with a duel between Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally and a far-left competitor, they should choose the far right.

The advice from Klarsfeld, an 88-year-old Jewish historian who has dedicated his life to bringing fugitive Nazis to justice, goes against many other Jewish leaders and intellectuals in France who see fighting the National Rally as a top priority in Sunday's runoff vote.

But Klarsfeld told The Associated Press in an interview at his Paris apartment that the far-left France Unbowed party has militant Palestinian supporters and “antisemitic overtones," while Le Pen's party supports Israel and Jewish people.

“Marine Le Pen is the head of a party which supports Israel and supports the Jews,” Klarsfeld said in the interview Tuesday. “So we gave this advice to those who will be faced with this runoff between the far left and what used to be the far right, which for us is now a populist party, to vote for the right,” he said.

Klarsfeld shocked many people in France, including those in the Jewish community, when he first stated this position on French television earlier this month.

Klarsfeld said he himself will vote for President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance, but not all of the voters in the 577 French districts will have that option in Sunday's run-off elections, where many will be able to choose only between a National Rally or a France Unbowed candidate.

The top three blocs are the anti-immigration, nationalist National Rally, Macron's alliance and a broad leftist coalition that includes the Socialists, the greens and France Unbowed.

The National Rally fared the best in the first round, propelling the party and its allies closer than ever to the government. But Sunday’s outcome remains uncertain as other political parties are trying to block National Rally's path. An unprecedented number of candidates who qualified for the runoff have stepped aside to favor the competitor they believe is most likely to win against a National Rally opponent.

"I fear the far left. The far left has a deep-seated hatred of Israel and has ... militants who are pro-Palestinians,” Klarsfeld said, describing France Unbowed as “a violently anti-Israeli party with certain anti-Semitic overtones.”

France's roughly half-million people of Jewish faith make up only a small portion of the country's 66 million inhabitants, but they have been thrust into the electoral fray by the country’s bitter divisions over the Hamas-Israel war. Opposing camps in the legislative elections have hurled accusations of antisemitism at each other.

France Unbowed leaders have staunchly condemned the conduct of Israel’s war against Hamas and accused it of pursuing genocide against Palestinians. But they have strongly denied accusations of antisemitism.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, co-founder of the National Rally’s forerunner, the National Front, has multiple convictions for racism and antisemitism, including for repeatedly saying that Nazi gas chambers were “a detail” of WWII history. Pierre Bousquet, another founder, was a member of the French division of Nazi Germany’s Waffen-SS.

Jean-Marie Le Pen was expelled from the party in 2015 as part of a makeover by his daughter and successor, Marine Le Pen, to make it palatable to mainstream voters.

Klarsfeld said he believes Marine Le Pen has transformed the party after expelling her father, embracing a French law that prohibits Holocaust denial and making pro-Jewish statements.

“We sincerely believe she’s sincere,” he said. “People change. We met Marine Le Pen and we got her to say and make statements that are totally pro-Jewish, that she accepts the Gayssot law, which is a law that protects Jews.”

Klarsfeld managed to escape the Gestapo in Nice as a child in 1943. His father was captured and deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. He never returned.

Together with his wife, Beate, “we have always fought for the defense of Jewish memory, for the prosecution of Nazi criminals, against the antisemitic extreme right and for persecuted Jews around the world,” Klarsfeld said.

The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, known as CRIF, has called on French voters “to mobilize to prevent the National Rally from coming to power by voting massively for candidates from democratic and republican parties, and to categorically refuse any compromise with France Unbowed.”

French intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy expressed his “respect” for Klarsfeld and sadness at seeing his position. “Defeatism? Ill-advised? In any case, a political error. And, for those tempted to listen, a trap,” Levy wrote on X.

Klarsfeld said “if the National Rally don’t go in the direction I foresee, I’ll fight the National Rally and admit I was wrong.”

“But for now. I may be right, I may be wrong, but no one can prove me wrong,” he concluded.

Serge Klarsfeld poses in his office, Tuesday, July 2, 2024 in Paris. France's renowned Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld advised voters faced with a duel between a candidate from Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and a far-left competitor to choose the far right in Sunday's parliamentary elections runoff. Klarsfeld, a 88 year-old historian who with his wife Beate dedicated his life to bring fugitive Nazis to justice, told the Associated Press "it's very simple. Marine Le Pen is the head of a party which supports Israel and supports the Jews." (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

Serge Klarsfeld and his wife Beate are seen Tuesday, July 2, 2024 in Paris. France's renowned Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld advised voters faced with a duel between a candidate from Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and a far-left competitor to choose the far right in Sunday's parliamentary elections runoff. Klarsfeld, a 88 year-old historian who with his wife Beate dedicated his life to bring fugitive Nazis to justice, told the Associated Press "it's very simple. Marine Le Pen is the head of a party which supports Israel and supports the Jews." (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

Serge Klarsfeld sits in his office, Tuesday, July 2, 2024 in Paris. France's renowned Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld advised voters faced with a duel between a candidate from Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and a far-left competitor to choose the far right in Sunday's parliamentary elections runoff. Klarsfeld, a 88 year-old historian who with his wife Beate dedicated his life to bring fugitive Nazis to justice, told the Associated Press "it's very simple. Marine Le Pen is the head of a party which supports Israel and supports the Jews." (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)