It was an emotional rollercoaster tonight in Euro 2020 as Switzerland win the penalty shootout against France, knocking them out of the Euros. Switzerland played beautifully throughout the game and in the end, got their reward. The final score after full-time was 3-3 and without an outright winner till the end of extra time, the drama intensified.
France, one of the biggest title contenders of the Euros this time around were looking far more superior on paper, but their performance still hasn’t reached the height they would have hoped for ahead of the tournament. Switzerland, on the other hand, are one of the underdogs of the lot and could only qualify as one of the lucky losers. FootTheBall brings you the complete report of how things unfolded in this interesting Round of 16 fixture.
Surprisingly, out of nowhere, Switzerland got the first goal of the game in the 15th minute as Steferovic headed the ball into the net after an inviting ball from the left flank. Lenglet allowed the Swiss forward to easily walk over him and it cost the French an avoidable goal in the end.
📸 Haris Seferović rises highest to head Switzerland into the lead! ⚽️
Did you see that coming!? 😱#EURO2020 https://t.co/581BXPg1DI pic.twitter.com/hGAJHClpYv
— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) June 28, 2021
The Swiss would be surely proud of their performance in the first half as they looked complete in all aspects on the pitch. They hardly made any mistakes for France to capitalize and hence were leading by the end of the first 45. France started off aggressively but the backline of Switzerlands managed to sustain the quick French attacking front.
Pundits predicted France to walk all over their opponents but that certainly wasn’t the case in the first half. Switzerland not only defended beautifully, they even tried to push the ball ahead in order to pressurize the favourites. France didn’t have a single shot on target and simply seemed switched off throughout the first half as they walked into the dressing room with their heads down.
Just like the first half, Switzerland started the second half strong and achieved a kick from the spot after a foolish tackle by Pavard. Unfortunately for the Swiss, Hugo Lloris saved the penalty kick taken by an underconfident Ricardo Rodriguez.
📸 The moment Hugo Lloris saved Ricardo Rodríguez’s penalty! 🧤#EURO2020 https://t.co/sZZxHRjC3y pic.twitter.com/mtgVeqTQlb
— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) June 28, 2021
Just after seconds of the Swiss penalty miss, Karim Benzema netted the ball in the net after a through ball by Kylian Mbappe right in front of the goal. The Swiss had just started to recover from the goal they conceded but then France quickly fired a link-up play and eventually Karim Benzema found the net with his head!
In a matter of 4 minutes, Switzerland missed a penalty that could have won them the game and France went from trailing by one goal to leading by one. Absolute scenes from Bucharest tonight.
France increased the gap between them and the Swiss as Pogba takes a shot outside the box and beautifully finessed it in the top right corner. Sommer couldn’t do anything as his side’s chances of making it to the Quarter Finals became thinner and thinner.
Although everyone thought that the Swiss were out of the game at this point, Steferovic showed that his team was up for the fight as he scored his second goal, this time a header by a cross from the right flank. Only one goal stood between both sides and the match was still very much on.
With 10 seconds of normal time remaining, Gavranomic, who came of the bench, scored a goal courtesy of a beautifully placed shot in the bottom left corner. France couldn’t believe how easily the Swiss broke their defence and have nearly completed their comeback.
🇨🇭 Gavranović ⚽️🎉#EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/nFrBHfakyZ
— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) June 28, 2021
With both teams having 3 goals each, the match went onto a goalless extra time and the game went onto the first penalty shootout in Euro 2020. It was a nail-biting shootout but Switzerland came out on top as Kylian Mbappe couldn’t score the 5th penalty for France whereas Switzerland, who had missed a penalty during the match, had scored all of them from the spot.
FRANCE CHANGED SYSTEMS AND IT PAID OFF
With no left-back available for the team selection, Deschamps decided to play with 3 centre-backs for the first time in the tournament and it definitely messed their whole system up.
They couldn’t defend properly at all and their firepower on the wings also diminished. At halftime, Lenglet got subbed out of an attacking player, Kingsley Coman. Since then everything changed for the world champions as they started playing as they had prepared for ahead of the tournament.
SWITZERLAND PLAY THE BEAUTIFUL GAME
The way Switzerland played in the first 45 might just be the best footballing display of the tournament. They didn’t do anything extraordinary, just simple passing and reading of the game was enough for them to get the game to extra time. The way their backline has performed, keeping the star players of the French side in check was wholesome to watch.
They didn’t lose hope even for a second in the game and ever since they completed their comeback in the dying moments of the second half, they looked confident enough to go all the way and knockout the French giants.
FRANCE FINALLY HIT TOP GEAR BUT ARE TOO LATE
France have never looked like World Champions up till now in Euro 2020, but the football the lads played in the second half was surely their best display up till now in the tournament. They looked confident in their stride as soon as they got their first goal as after that they bagged 2 goals in quick succession.
Their passing and build-up play looked far superior in the last 45 than it has been in the whole tournament. But it all came too late for them for if they would have played in a similar fashion in the first half, Switzerland would have been heading home right now.
