A dominant performance from Switzerland saw them beat Italy 2-0 in Berlin to reach the quarter-finals of Euro 2024, while the reigning champions crashed out after an insipid showing. Goals either side of half-time from Remo Freuler and Rubén Vargas condemned Luciano Spalletti’s much-changed side.
The former Napoli boss made six changes to the team that drew with Croatia in their final group game, including the suspended Riccardo Calafiori being replaced by Gianluca Mancini.
The Swiss rolled past the Azzurri in a game that will prove as inspiring for the winners as it was disheartening for the reigning champions.
Italy, started poorly and continued to get worse as the game went on. They had no answer to a slick Switzerland, who await the winners of England and Slovakia in the last eight.
It wasn’t so much a defeat as a complete dismantling of Italy from start to finish. To condense it into two stats, Italy only had one shot on target, while Switzerland finished the game with 91.8% passing accuracy. That trumps their previous best mark on record of 88% at a major tournament (vs Wales at Euro 2020).
Switzerland have reached the knockout rounds at each of the last six major international tournaments (Euros/World Cup) since the start of the 2014 World Cup.
The only European nation currently enjoying a longer such run is France (seven in a row).
They have now made it to the quarter-finals in back-to-back editions of the Euros, having failed to do so prior to that.
Murat Yakin’s side set out their stall early and dominated the ball, even if their possession-heavy start was light on chances.
Their first real opportunity fell to Breel Embolo, who tried to curl a shot past Gianluigi Donnarumma but the Italian shot-stopper was equal to it.
Federico Chiesa followed that up with a shot of his own after he weaved his way into a shooting position inside the penalty area, but Manuel Akanji positioned himself in front of Yann Sommer to block his effort.
As the minutes ticked by, the Italians retreated further and the Swiss grew braver. The Italians, it seemed, were settling in for the long haul.
Of their last 26 knockout matches at major international tournaments, 15 have gone to extra-time, including four of their last five.
Although it was becoming apparent that this was a retreating in desperation opposed to some catenaccio-concocted masterplan.
Switzerland were passing through the Azzurri with ease and would soon match their class on the ball with their chance creation where it mattered most.
Freuler pounced on another well-worked move through a settled Italian defence and turned his shot home from inside the box with some help from a deflection. The 31-pass move was a snapshot of Switzerland’s dominance.
Fabian Rieder whipped a free-kick from an almost impossible angle towards goal and Donnarumma was forced into a big save towards the close of the first half.
Italy were holding on. Thanks to that save from Donnarumma, it was only a 1-0 hole the Italians found themselves in as they headed for the dressing rooms.
They were going to have to find a way out of it, but finished the first half with no shots on target, the second time they had done so at Euro 2024 (also vs Spain).
However, it only took 27 seconds of the restart for Italy to find themselves in much deeper trouble. Vargas, who provided the assist for Freuler’s opener, turned finisher this time, as he curled a shot out of Donnarumma’s reach.
The strike doubled Switzerland’s lead and made Italy’s task exponentially more difficult.
The goal also saw Vargas became the first Swiss player to score and assist during the knockout stage of a major European tournament.
The minutes ticked by and Italy tried to mount a comeback but they were outclassed on the night. Whatever share of the ball they saw was due to Switzerland sitting back and letting them have it.
Whenever the Swiss attacked, they hurt the reigning champions and whenever Italy attacked, they barely troubled Yann Sommer’s goal.
They had to wait until the 73rd minute for their first and only shot on target from substitute Mateo Retegui.
Granit Xhaka ran the show for Switzerland. The Bayer Leverkusen man completed 94 of his 98 passes (95.9%), including 36 of 37 (97.3%) in the final third.
With Freuler’s opener, Italy conceded at least one goal in each of their last eight European Championship matches, their worst run in the tournament’s history.
Meanwhile, Switzerland finished with their first clean sheet at the European Championship since June 2016 (vs France).
There will be questions asked of Italy’s approach and their ultimate downfall but Switzerland will be asking themselves just where is their ceiling?
Based on this performance and finding themselves on what many consider the ‘easier’ side of the draw, they could be a very difficult team to stop.
Switzerland vs Italy: Post-Match Facts
- Switzerland have made it through to the quarter finals in consecutive UEFA European Championship finals (lost 3-1 on penalties against Spain at Euro 2020), having failed to make it out of their group in three of their previous four participations in the competition (reached round of 16 in 2016).
- Italy have lost their first knockout match at the European Championship finals since the 2012 final against Spain (4-0), ending a run of six such games without defeat (W3 D3), while they’ve lost more than one match at a single edition of the Euros for the very first time.
- Rubén Vargas’ strike (45:27) for Switzerland is the second fastest goal in the second half of a European Championship match, after Marcel Coras for Romania against Germany at Euro 1984 (45:21).
- Following Italy’s defeat, the reigning champions have been eliminated in the round of 16 at each of the last three European Championship finals (Portugal losing to Belgium at Euro 2020 and Spain losing to Italy at Euro 2016).
- Italy have conceded at least once in eight consecutive European Championship matches, only Croatia are on a longer current run in the competition (10 games).
- Remo Freuler has been directly involved in four goals (1 goal, 3 assists) in his last five games for Switzerland at the European Championship finals, while only Georgia’s Georges Mikautadze (4) has been involved in more than the Swiss midfielder (3) at Euro 2024 (Michel Aebischer also three goal involvements).
- Rubén Vargas became the first Swiss player to score and assist in a knockout match of a major tournament (World Cup and Euros) on record (since 1966), while he’s the second to do so for Switzerland at the European Championship finals overall, after Michel Aebischer against Hungary on Matchday 1.
- Switzerland’s Granit Xhaka made 25 line breaking passes against Italy, more than double that of any other player in the match, while only Toni Kroos has made more such passes in a game at Euro 2024 (in all three of his matches so far).