Switzerland started the knockout stages of the 2024 European Championship with a bang, eliminating reigning Euro champions Italy with a dominant 2-0 victory on Saturday in Berlin.
After more than 30 minutes of stalemate, Swiss midfielder Remo Freuler broke through the Italian defense to score in the 37th minute. The goal was followed by a shot from Swiss midfielder Ruben Vargas, who assisted the first goal, to open the second half and give Switzerland a commanding 2-0 lead.
The victory also marks a turnaround from a classification point of view: in the current FIFA RatingsItaly is ranked 10th, while Switzerland is 19th.
Switzerland and Italy finished second in their respective groups, gaining five and four points respectively in the group stage. Italy’s last two results – a defeat to Spain in a own goal and a 1-1 draw with Croatia – were particularly frustrating for the defending champions.
Italy won Euro 2020 – which was postponed for a year due to Covid-19 and played in the summer of 2021 – after defeats to high-profile opponents such as Belgium, Spain and England. The Italians survived penalties 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 win, Switzerland equaled their best previous Euro result, a quarter-final appearance at Euro 2020. Switzerland will now face the winner of Sunday’s game between England and Slovakia.
