Portugal defender Pepe became the oldest player to feature at a European Championship after helping his team to a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic in their opening game on Tuesday.

Pepe was 41 years and 113 days old, taking the record from the previous holder, Hungary goalkeeper Gábor Király. Király was 40 years and 86 days old when he played against Belgium in the round of 16 at Euro 2016.

The opening round of group matches at the European Championship is complete.

Here are some things we learned:

The football world is waiting to discover how long France superstar Kylian Mbappé will be out of the European Championship after breaking his nose.

The diagnosis is fairly encouraging from two of his teammates.

The Paris Olympics involve about 10,500 athletes from 200 countries or regions. But the Olympics are more than just fun and games.

They are a giant business that generates billions of dollars in income for the International Olympic Committee. They're also a proxy for geopolitical influence seen through the standings in the medal tables, the presence of world leaders at the opening ceremony and the national anthems serenading gold-medal winners.

The city of Brussels says it won't host a UEFA Nations League match between Belgium and Israel in September because of the "dramatic situation in Gaza" that creates a security headache for city officials.

Brussels' first alderman Benoit Hellings said on Wednesday the city considers it impossible to organize the match, which was scheduled to take place at the Stade Roi Baudouin on Sept. 6.

The fluttering of 64 kilometers of orange bunting and a hammer driving a nail into a wall to hold up orange tarps are the sounds of a Dutch summer of football in a normally drab suburban street in The Hague.

The Marktweg is one of several streets in the Netherlands that get an all-encompassing orange facelift during European Championships and World Cups when the national team — known as Oranje after the Dutch royal family and the color of their shirts — are looking to add to the Euro it won 36 years ago.

Hungary faces Switzerland on Saturday in Cologne in their first Group A match. The other teams in the group are host nation Germany and Scotland. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. local time (1300 GMT/9 a.m. EST). Here's what to know about the match:

Match facts— Switzerland is aiming for a winning start to its Euro 2024 campaign as it bids to reach the knockout stages for the third European Championship in a row.

Italy begins the defense of its European Championship title against Albania on Saturday in their first Group B match. The other teams in the group are Spain and Croatia. Kickoff is at 9 p.m. local (1900 GMT) in Dortmund. Here's what to know about the match:

Match facts— Italy is back at a major tournament after failing to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. That was a second straight World Cup that the Azzurri missed, though they won Euro 2020 in between.

Despite the complication of recent heavy rain, swimming in the River Seine is still the plan at the Paris Olympics after a $1.5 billion investment to improve the water quality.

"No reasons to doubt," International Olympic Committee executive Christophe Dubi said Thursday at an online briefing after hearing from city officials and Summer Games organizers. "We are confident that we will swim in the Seine this summer."

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown shared a long hug after helping Boston avoid the biggest collapse in an NBA Finals game since at least 1997.

The reward? The Celtics stars are on the brink of joining the litany of big-name predecessors to put a banner above the parquet floor back home.