Switzerland and Italy Set for Thrilling Round of 16 Clash After Dramatic Group Stage Finishes

Switzerland will take on Italy in the first round of games in the last 16 stage. The Swiss’ journey to this stage has not been an easy one, with their final warm-up game ahead of the tournament (1-1 vs Austria) proving to be the first of four straight games without a clean sheet (W1, D3), although they did come back to draw twice during that run.

Defending champions Italy looked to be on their way to a surprise premature exit from the tournament until Mattia Zaccagni netted a remarkable 98th-minute leveller against Croatia to sneak his side into second place.

Italy have yet to be dumped out at the Round of 16 stage since it was introduced for Euro 2016, whilst they last were eliminated in the first knockout round back in 2008 when going out via a penalty shootout defeat to Spain.

Another stalemate here would lead to extra time and potentially even penalties, knowing well that both teams have scored within 90 minutes in eight of Switzerland’s last nine Euro tournament games.