As Paul Pogba bent a sumptuous French third into the top corner, crossed his arms and promptly hit the woah, nobody watching could be left in any doubt that Les Bleus had arrived.
Belated as their proper introduction to this tournament had been, a scintillating 20-minute period had seen France turn a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead and send a scare through the rest of Euro 2020.
The shackles with which they had played through the group stage and the first half against Switzerland had been removed, and the world champions looked like the runaway pre-tournament favourites so many had considered them to be.
A little over an hour later, they were out. Implosion, the sort the French national team had made a habit of at major tournaments.
It was as stunning a collapse as the European Championships has ever seen, but how did France unravel so quickly and so completely when it mattered most?
Stunned, shaken and unable to respond
That brief spell after half-time, in which Karim Benzema scored twice and Pogba produced his moment of magic, was the best France had played at Euro 2020.
It was the first time the trio of Benzema, Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann had linked up with any real cohesion, injecting a sudden burst of pace and purpose to an attack that had too often relied purely on counter-attacks — something Switzerland was well set up to prevent.
But that spell came in the immediate aftermath of Switzerland's Ricardo Rodríguez missing a penalty, which would have put his team 2-0 up and perhaps rattled the French enough to put them out of the game.
Inspired by their second chance, France caught fire. It should have been enough to win the match.
But Switzerland was fearless, on a hiding to nothing and likely aware of the fragilities within the French squad. It only took one goal, Haris Seferović's second, to change the complexion of the match.
Switzerland had a goal ruled out for offside before Mario Gavranović's classy equaliser and never relinquished that momentum throughout extra-time and penalties.
A tactical shake-up backfires
At half-time, down a goal, France coach Didier Deschamps removed centre-back Clément Lenglet and replaced him with attacker Kingsley Coman, moving from a back three to a more conventional back four.
The move made an immediate difference to France's attack, allowing Griezmann, Benzema and Mbappé to play much closer to each other and encouraging more freedom in offensive movement.
At 3-1, it looked a masterstroke. But as with any tactical move, you have to give a little to get a little, and the defensive concessions Deschamps made came back to bite France.
Both of Switzerland's late goals came from attacking players finding far too much space between France's two remaining centre-halves, Raphaël Varane and Presnel Kimpembe.
Gaps also opened up in France's midfield as N'Golo Kanté was forced to cover the additional space. He did an admirable job, but despite claims to the contrary, is only one man — Switzerland's Granit Xhaka feasted on the room in the middle of the park and was heavily influential.
The stars fail to shine
There was something in Kylian Mbappé's eyes as he prepared to take that decisive penalty that concerned you.
The 22-year-old superstar, widely considered the heir to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's throne at the very top of the game, had not enjoyed a good tournament to that point, threatening regularly but ultimately failing to deliver any punches of significance.
He too probably wondered how it had come to this, with him standing over a critical penalty not to win the match for France, but to save it.
Yann Sommer's save was good, but Mbappé's penalty was not convincing. It summed up his whole tournament — fine, I guess. But not what you expect from one of the best in the world, and ultimately not enough.
Most of France's other superstars had vacated the game by then, Benzema through injury and Griezmann a tactical substitution.
Pogba saw out the 120 minutes and was utterly breathtaking at times, and yet was still at fault for Switzerland's equaliser as his trademark composure turned to lethargy in the face of a spirited Swiss press.
It's Mbappé who will cop the heat though, through internet memes and furious French headlines. Deschamps too may be the greatest victim of this defeat, his job in jeopardy with national hero Zinedine Zidane unemployed and waiting in the wings.
It's a result that will bring further recriminations for the French, as tournament that promised so much, started with a fizzle eventually ends with a bewildering collapse in Bucharest.
