Switzerland made a cracking start to the knockout round of Euro 2024, knocking out defending champions Italy with a dominant 2-0 victory.
After more than 30 minutes of stalemate, Swiss midfielder Remo Freuler broke through the Italian backline and scored in the 37th minute. The goal was followed by a stunner from Swiss midfielder Ruben Vargas, who had an assist on the first goal, to open the second half and give Switzerland the dominant 2-0 lead.
The victory is also a surprise from a ranking point of view: in the current FIFA rankings, Italy is ranked 10, while Switzerland is ranked 19.
Switzerland and Italy both finished second in their respective groups, earning five and four points respectively in the group stage. Italy’s last two results – a defeat to Spain after an own goal and a 1-1 draw against Croatia – have been particularly frustrating for the defending champions.
Italy won the 2020 European Championship – which was postponed for a year due to Covid-19 and played in the summer of 2021 – after defeats by high-level opponents such as Belgium, Spain and England. The Italians survived penalty rounds against Spain in the semi-finals and England in the final to take the cup. Despite the victory, Italy failed to qualify for the last two World Cups.
With the victory, Switzerland equals its best result so far at the European Championship, namely participation in the quarter-finals of the 2020 European Championship. Switzerland will now face the winner of Sunday’s match between England and Slovakia.
