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France are out of Euro 2020, and the team responsible for their elimination is Switzerland in one of two fabulous matches on the day.
Spain’s 5-3 win over Croatia earlier in the day was supposed to be the best game of the day, but France and Switzerland went a notch higher in terms of entertainment.
After taking an early lead through Haris Seferovic, the Swiss went into meltdown when Ricardo Rodriguez missed a penalty that would have put Switzerland 2-0 up.
That miss allowed France to gather momentum, with Karim Benzema scoring two quick-fire goals to turn the game on its head. Paul Pogba then made it 3-1 with a wonderful long-range effort.
Switzerland appeared dead and buried at this point, but they still managed to claw their way back before eliminating the world champions on penalties.
Switzerland’s resilience pays off
How exactly did the Swiss come back from 3-1 down? The simple answer is resilience. From captain Granit Xhaka to Xherdan Shaqiri, Manuel Akanji and Yann Sommer, everyone gave their 100%.
They toiled and put everything on the line. Not many teams can put France on the back foot, but Vladimir Petkovic’s side upped the ante in the final ten minutes and were rewarded for their resilience.
Haris Seferovic reduced the deficit to 3-2 in the 81st minute before Mario Gavranovic pulled Switzerland level deep into injury time. This was a fightback of epic proportions, and it will go down in history as one of the greatest comebacks in the tournament's history.
Kylian Mbappe’s penalty miss may have dominated the headlines, but Switzerland deserve credit for their character and spirit after they trailed by two goals.
Switzerland become latest underdogs to make a statement
There have been many surprising results at Euro 2020 thus far, with the elimination of the Netherlands and Portugal leading the way.
The underdogs who have so far made a name for themselves include the Czech Republic and Denmark. After Monday's performance against France, Switzerland have now joined this group.
“No normal side would have come back from 3-1 down against the world champions. I will be asking for the same from them again,” Petkovic said after the game.
It’s been an incredible ride for the Swiss team at Euro 2020. They made a big statement when they eliminated France. Now, the rest of the teams at Euro 2020 have no choice but to take notice of Switzerland.
