After a fantastic European Championship game, Switzerland upset France on penalties in the Euro 2020 last 16 after Kylian Mbappe missed the key kick.
The Swiss came within seconds of being eliminated during the first 90 minutes, but advanced to face Spain after making it to the final of a major competition for the first time since 1938. The Swiss took the lead through Haris Seferovic, and they had a penalty saved that should have made it 2-0 before Karim Benzema scored twice and Paul Pogba produced a screamer to put France up 3-1.
Switzerland’s Seferovic scored his second goal of the game, and substitute Mario Gavranovic scored a last-minute equalizer to force extra time. In extra time, Mbappe wasted two good chances for the world champions, and Olivier Giroud’s header was stopped in the final minute. After an amazing Yann Sommer save, Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe was the only player who failed to score in the shootout.
In the quarter-finals in St Petersburg on Friday, Switzerland will face Spain, who also survived a nail-biter – 5-3 after extra time against Croatia. This is the biggest upset of Euro 2021 so far, with world champions France being projected to win by 12 of 15 experts.
The last time Switzerland reached the quarterfinals of a major event was when they hosted the World Cup in 1954. They hadn’t advanced past the round of 16 since the 1938 World Cup.
Due to injuries to two of their left-backs, Didier Deschamps attempted a three-man defense, a system he rarely adopts. So it came down to penalties, and Mbappe, one of the stars of France’s World Cup victory, finished Euro 2020 with no goals and a penalty miss that knocked them out. They never made it to the Euros, and now their only option is to return home.
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