Soccer on TV: Italy, Belgium and France look like Euros title contenders

Friday, 9 a.m. (ESPN, PrendeTV)

The last day this spring with five games across the European Championship and Copa América kicks off with Slovakia standing atop Group E at the Euros. Sweden’s surprising scoreless draw with Spain opened the door for the Slovaks to lead the standings after a win over Poland.

Friday, noon (ESPN, PrendeTV)

If you didn’t see Czech striker Patrik Schick’s outrageous goal that helped beat Scotland, sit back and enjoy.

Friday, 3 p.m. (ESPN, PrendeTV)

The 115th edition of this great rivalry game will be played at London’s Wembley Stadium, and will be the teams’ first meeting in a major tournament since the 1996 Euros — a contest that was also played at Wembley, 25 years and three days before this one.

Scotland hasn’t beaten England since a Euro 2000 qualifying playoff in November 1999 at Wembley, but it mattered less because England had won the first leg, 2-0, in Glasgow.

This game should have a great atmosphere in the stands and a great spirit on the field. Let’s hope the soccer is good, too.

» READ MORE: Wawa gives Philadelphia’s 2026 World Cup bid a boost as FIFA gets to know the city

Friday, 5 p.m. (FS1, UniMás, TUDN)

Chile opened its Copa América campaign by holding Argentina to a 1-1 tie. This should be La Roja’s first win of the tournament, against a Bolivia team that lost, 3-1, to Paraguay in its opener.

Friday, 8 p.m. (FS2, Univision, TUDN)

El Clásico del Río de la Plata has been played nearly 200 times since the rivalry’s first official game in 1902. This will be the 32nd all-time in the Copa América, and it will be a mighty headache for Lionel Messi and company. Messi’s old Barcelona teammate Luis Suárez would love to leave Argentina winless through two group stage games.

Saturday, 9 a.m. (ESPN, PrendeTV)

Though France beat Germany in its Euros opener by only a 1-0 margin, if you watched you saw a dominant performance. Hungary will be an easier opponent, but with the complication of playing in front of another expected full house in Budapest. If you need a good alarm clock Saturday morning, try the pregame national anthems.

» READ MORE: Union’s Dániel Gazdag forced to leave Hungary’s Euros team with a knee injury

Saturday, noon (ESPN, Univision, TUDN)

Germany’s loss to France marked the first time since 1980 that the team was defeated in a Euros opener, and the first time since 2004 that it dropped points in an opener. It’s been a long time since the Germans have had to play a must-win game in this tournament, and this is at least a must-tie.

Saturday, 3 p.m. (6ABC, PrendeTV)

A Spanish team heralded for its youth looked an awful lot like its predecessors in that Sweden game: 917 passes (a Euros record) and 17 shots, but just five on target and no goals. It took 74 minutes for Spain to sub in players who could have solved the problem, in forwards Mikel Oyarzabal and Gerard Moreno. And the player who really could have solved it, Adama Traoré, sat on the bench the whole time.

Now Spain faces a Poland team that won’t be as defensive as Sweden was, but has the ultimate pure striker in Robert Lewandowski. Can he spearhead an upset?

Saturday, 4 p.m. (CBS3)

The first of two NWSL games on big CBS this weekend could see the Reign debuts of the team’s three big loan acquisitions from French parent Lyon: French goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi, German playmaker Dzsenifer Marozsán, and French striker Eugénie Le Sommer.

» READ MORE: This weekend's NWSL schedule

Saturday, 9 p.m. (UniMás, TUDN)

After starting its inaugural MLS season with eight road games, Austin FC finally gets to play at home for the first time. It will come two days after the U.S. women christened Q2 Stadium with a 2-0 win over Nigeria in the last game before the team’s Olympic roster is set.

» READ MORE: Union’s Jim Curtin earns two-year contract extension

Sunday, noon (ESPN, PrendeTV)

Italy has vaulted into the ranks of Euro title favorites with two impressive 3-0 wins so far. Wales can join the Azzurri in the round of 16 with a win or tie.

Sunday, 3 p.m. (beIN Sports)

Girona won the first leg of Spain’s La Liga promotion playoff at Rayo, 2-1. Now the Catalan club — which is owned by Manchester City, and is effectively a farm team for the Premier League giant — comes home with a chance to finish the job. Keep an eye on Panamanian midfielder Yoel Bárcenas, whom the U.S. national team might see in World Cup qualifying.

Sunday, 4 p.m. (CBS3)

It will be interesting to see how many of Portland’s U.S. national team stars play in this game, after coming back from three tough games and with the pre-Olympic camp coming in a few weeks.

Sunday, 5 p.m. (Fox29, Univision, TUDN)

Union midfielder José Andrés Martínez started again for Venezuela and played all of Thursday’s scoreless tie with Colombia, a game in which Colombia took 23 shots but could not score. If Venezuela can get a win in this game, it should be enough to qualify the Vinotinto for the quarterfinals.

Sunday, 6 p.m. (Paramount+)

Gotham recently boosted its attack by signing veteran French striker Gaëtane Thiney on loan from Paris FC for the rest of the 2021 season. This game could also be the debut for big-time rookie midfielder Brianna Pinto.

» READ MORE: A statement goal from Carli Lloyd likely punched her ticket to the Olympics

Monday, 3 p.m. (ESPN2, PrendeTV)

Led by Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne, Belgium has delivered two impressive wins and shown why it’s one of the big favorites to win the Euros. The Red Devils can make it three for three here, while a Finland upset — which would include a tie — would send the team to the round of 16 in its first Euros appearance.

» READ MORE: This weekend's MLS schedule