Afternoon frenzy in Copenhagen, night frenzy in Bucharest. It took Spain 120 minutes in an 8-goal match to qualify. for the quarterfinals, but France-Switzerland in the Romanian capital was even more dramatic. The qualification ended with a smile at the Swiss, who advanced to the quarterfinals of the European Championship for the first time, knocking out the world champion on penalties, after a draw (3: 3) and two hours of play. And at the 11-meter mark, everything was a draw until the last penalty, which the team’s “star” would miss in vain. ”blues“, Kylian Mbappe.
Didier Deschamps invented a three-man defense that was not in this tournament, and Switzerland further explored their opponent’s holes. Zuber, above all, represented a constant danger on the left flank of the attack, where Benfica player Haris Seferovic was used as a reference point. These were the two main characters of the 1-0 match after 15 ‘. The man from Eintracht made the perfect cross for Benfica striker’s precision hit, after evading Langlet’s markings.
This was a fair advantage for Switzerland, which was always in control and comfortable, unlike France, which is trying to adapt to the changes of its coach. But Deschamps changed his hand to the second half, removing Langlet and betting on sprinter Coman, updating the team’s layout to the normal 4x3x3. Still, Switzerland had the best chances in the first minutes of the second half.
At 50 ‘Seferovic is a little out of step with Embolo’s cross, which has invested in the French zone. And at 54 minutes, the move in which the game began to unfold. Following the advice of VAR, the referee awarded a penalty for Pavar’s foul on Zuber. But from the 11-meter mark, Rodriguez classified the throw, and Lloris did not submit. From here, France rushed to the attack and five minutes later was already ahead with two goals from Benzema.
On 57 ‘Mbappé, who had fainted before, managed to make a not very clean pass in the Swiss zone, Benzema dominated well and beat Jan Sommer. Shortly thereafter, on 59 ‘, after a combination of Griezmann and Coman, the Barcelona player tried to fire the first shot, which Sommer deflected into a small patch of ground where Benzema was located, who struck with a score of 2: 1. France was at the top and continued 3-1 match on 75 ‘with a thrilling kick from outside the Pogba Field.
The world champion held the game in hand, but Switzerland did not give up and in the 85th minute won the addition of soul with a score of 3: 2 from Seferovic after a tense cross from Mbabu – the striker settled well between Kimpembe and Varane and scored his second goal of the game and the third in European competition. France went into a rivalry mode, but could not withstand the last round of Switzerland, in which a draw was played in stoppage time. Jaka made a long pass that broke through the midfield and Gavranovic scored 3-3.
Before his last breath in 90 minutes, Coman still threw the ball into the crossbar, but extra time was a reality, as it was in Spain-Croatia. There were no goals scored in the extra 30 minutes in Bucharest and the decision went to a penalty kick. Everyone, with more or less difficulty, scored points in the first nine. With Switzerland opting to score first, the pressure was entirely on Mbappe’s shoulders: the young French striker allowed Sommer to defend, leaving Switzerland to celebrate an unprecedented qualification and a 2 July encounter with Spain in St. Petersburg.
