France crash out of Euro 2020 against Switzerland after Mbappe penalty miss

France crash out of Euro 2020 against Switzerland after Mbappe penalty miss

The world champions have been eliminated from Euro 2020 in the last 16 following a shock defeat at the hands of Switzerland in Bucharest. Following a manic 120 minutes that ended at 3-3, Switzerland stunned France on penalties as star man Kylian Mbappe missed the decisive spot-kick. Despite boasting plenty of world-class talent, France looked unconvincing for large parts of the game and were upstaged by a spirited Switzerland.

Playing in an unusual back three with Adrien Rabiot and Benjamin Pavard as wing-backs, France struggled to assert any control during the opening exchanges. Switzerland dominated the early proceedings and deservedly opened the scoring with a pinpoint header from Haris Seferovic.

Despite changing to a back-four in the second half, Switzerland nearly doubled their lead on the hour mark after Benjamin Pavard brought down Steven Zuber in the penalty area. A 2-0 lead would have spelt curtains for France’s campaign but goalkeeper Hugo Lloris came to their rescue, making an unbelievable save low down to his right to keep them in the contest.

The Lloris penalty save kicked France into gear and within 4 minutes of Ricardo Rodriguez’s miss, Les Bleus went 2-1 in front thanks to an excellent brace from Karim Benzema. The equaliser came from a masterful piece of footwork in the penalty box before poking it past Yan Sommer in goal. Seconds later, France’s mercurial front three linked up again with Benzema heading home from close-range after a one-two from Griezmann and Mbappe that turned the game on its head.

The French looked in complete control of the tie and extended their lead after one of the goals of the tournament from Paul Pogba. The Manchester United midfielder has arguably been the standout player of Euro 2020 so far and capped off his performance with a beautiful strike from 30 yards that curled straight into the top corner.

Switzerland seemed dead and buried at 3-1 but just like Croatia three hours earlier, the Swiss found another gear in the dying moments to take the game to extra time. Haris Seferovic scored his second goal of the game with another thundering header past Hugo Lloris which brought the game back to life before Mario Gavranovic scored the decisive equaliser in the 90th minute. Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka – who was later named man of the match – played a scything pass that cut through the French defence, allowing Gavranovic to turn past Kimbembe and place the ball in the bottom corner to level the scores. 

With both sets of players tiring, neither side could replicate Spain’s earlier heroics in extra-time and the game was destined to go to penalties. All 9 players converted their spot-kicks with distinction until Kylian Mbappe fluffed his lines and saw his penalty saved by Yann Sommer to send Switzerland through.

With this unbelievable victory, Switzerland will dare to dream at Euro 2020 and will face Spain in the quarter-finals at St Petersburg.