France are taking on neighbours Switzerland tonight for a place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2020.
France topped Group F in a tense finale which saw them squeeze into first place ahead of Germany after a 2-2 draw with Portugal. The world champions came into the tournaments as favourites but have yet to hit the heights of their performances in Russia three years ago. Switzerland finished third in Group A behind Italy and Wales, with only one win over group strugglers Turkey. The Swiss are the underdogs here but have shown glimpses of their quality, particularly through the performances of Xherdan Shaqiri.
Here’s France manager Didier Deschamps: “They’re a well-structured team and they have good attacking potential with [Haris] Seferović, [Breel] Embolo and Shaqiri. We must not underestimate them and it’s a knockout game so we’ll have to do everything we can to ensure we have smiles on our faces at the end of the match. The heatwave in Budapest [during France’s final group stage game] had an impact. We’ve had an extra day between games, five rather than four, while our opponents have had eight days, which is better. It’s hot here too, but a bit easier to cope with.”
Follow all the action below following the conclusion of Croatia vs Spain.
