It’s fair to say that heading into this summer’s 2024 UEFA European Championship, plenty of football fans were picking Hungary and/or Scotland to advance alongside hosts Germany from Group A.
By Nathan Evans
And maybe that was for good reason too, as both performed well during the qualification cycle but instead, Switzerland once again held their own at a major tournament to progress as runners-up and reach the knockout rounds for a sixth consecutive time.
In truth, they could and perhaps should have finished top at the expense of Die Mannschaft, who had to rely on a 92nd minute equaliser from striker Niclas Füllkrug to snatch a point away from the plucky Swiss in Frankfurt on matchday three. That ultimately meant that instead of clashing with Denmark in the Round of 16, Murat Yakin’s side now face a showdown with neighbours Italy for a spot in the final eight.
On the face of it, many will be expecting Italy to progress in this all-or-nothing tie even despite their shot-shy, and somewhat lacklustre, performances during the group stage. They enter as the higher ranked side out of the pair, and they currently hold an 11 match unbeaten head-to-head run against the Swiss which stretches all the way back to a 1-0 loss in a 1993 World Cup qualifying fixture.
But this Switzerland team are perhaps the strongest that they’ve ever been in all departments across the park and in amongst the overall hard-working approach of their squad, there’s some real quality that could prove the difference as they look to progress past the Round of 16 stage for just the second time in this competition after 2020.
Captain Granit Xhaka remains the cornerstone of their side and his performances during the group stage highlighted his ability to lift his team through adversity. After a stunning season with Bayer Leverkusen who secured a famous double in Germany, he continued his form to produce an 8.1 rated performance in their opening 3-1 victory over Hungary and from there, he and his side haven’t really looked back. Forward Dan Ndoye (profiled by us – here) has additionally provided a bright spark for his nation as he continues to enjoy a breakout tournament.
Of course, Italy can’t just be discounted in this tie though. At the end of the day, they remain the reigning champions following their Euro 2020 success and, in particular, their defence boasts some phenomenal quality. Alessandro Bastoni and Riccardo Calafiori have massively impressed – the latter seemingly being linked with another top club each passing day as a result – but they’ll have to be at their very best here if the Italians are to make it to the quarter final stage of this competition for a fifth consecutive European Championships.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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