New Delhi: Familiar adversaries Italy and Switzerland are set to clash in the Euro 2024 last 16 in Berlin on Saturday. Despite their long-standing acquaintance, there is no animosity, nor fear from the Swiss, many of whom have deep ties to Italy. The nations share a border, and Italian is an official language in Switzerland, but these connections will be set aside come match time.
Italy and Switzerland have faced each other 61 times, making them each other’s most frequent opponents. Although the Swiss have only triumphed over the Italians eight times, with the last victory in 1993, they have shown commendable performances in Germany.
Switzerland narrowly missed topping Group A, conceding a last-minute equalizer against hosts Germany. This performance demonstrated their fearlessness in the tournament. In contrast, Italy required a late goal to secure a 1-1 draw with Croatia to advance. The defending champions have not displayed the dominance they did in Euro 2020, where they easily progressed through the group stage and defeated Switzerland convincingly.
Switzerland began their campaign with an impressive win over Hungary but settled for draws in their subsequent two matches. This qualification marks their sixth consecutive appearance in the knockout stages of major tournaments, second only to France’s seven. However, Switzerland has yet to win a last-16 match in regulation time in either the Euros or World Cups and has only reached the quarter-finals once.
Italy, not playing like the defending champions, won their opening game 2-1 against Albania but then fell to a strong Spanish side. Their dramatic draw with Croatia, courtesy of Mattia Zaccagni’s stoppage-time goal, saved them from group-stage elimination despite a precarious goal difference. Italy has consistently reached the Euro quarter-finals since 2004, and despite their lackluster performance in the qualifiers, they aim to uphold that streak.
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