World champions France fell to Switzerland 5-4 on penalties in the last 16 of Euro 2020 on Monday as Kylian Mbappe missed the decisive spot-kick in the shootout following a thrilling 3-3 draw in Bucharest.
Mario Gavranovic equalised in the 90th minute as Switzerland came from two goals down before Yann Sommer saved from Mbappe in the shootout to book Switzerland a quarter-final clash against Spain.
Haris Seferovic had given Vladimir Petkovic’s Switzerland a shock lead on 15 minutes but Ricardo Rodriguez’s penalty was brilliantly saved by Hugo Lloris early in the second half. Karim Benzema, recalled to the France squad for the tournament after a five-and-a-half-year international exile, then struck a quick-fire double to put the Euro 2016 finalists back on track.
Paul Pogba’s sensational curling effort made it 3-1, but Switzerland forced extra time as Seferovic grabbed his second of the game before Gavranovic levelled in the final minute.
Switzerland converted all five of their penalties before Sommer dived to his right to turn away Mbappe’s kick, as the Swiss won a major tournament knockout tie for first time in 83 years.
France coach Didier Deschamps controversially switched to a 3-4-1-2 formation designed to extract the best from his attacking trio of Benzema, Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann, but it was instead Seferovic who gave the Swiss a surprise lead.
Steven Zuber used the space afforded by Rodriguez’s overlapping run, clipping in a left-wing cross that Seferovic headed past Lloris after rising all too easily above Clement Lenglet.
After a dismal first half, in which France failed to test Sommer, Deschamps ditched the experiment of three at the back, hauling off Lenglet and introducing Kingsley Coman while reverting to a more familiar 4-4-2.
Lloris saves penalty
But France were indebted to Lloris from sparing them from further trouble after a lung-busting run from Zuber eventually resulted in a penalty for the Swiss when he was brought down by Benjamin Pavard.
Argentine referee Fernando Rapallini immediately pointed to the spot following a VAR review, but Lloris flung himself to his right to claw away Rodriguez’s attempt — the seventh missed penalty of 15 taken at the tournament.
The momentum soon swung sharply in France’s favour as Benzema, scorer of both goals in the 2-2 draw with Portugal in the group phase, superbly dragged a pass from Mbappe into his stride, lifting over Sommer to level.
The Real Madrid striker headed France in front two minutes later when Griezmann’s dinked effort was turned away by Sommer but only to a waiting Benzema who headed in from point-blank range.
Pogba’s magnificent 25-yard strike had France on the cusp of the last eight, but Seferovic powered in a terrific delivery from substitute Kevin Mbabu with nine minutes left to give the Swiss hope.
Gavranovic then had a goal ruled out for offside, but there was no doubting his last-minute equaliser as he skipped past Presnel Kimpembe and drove low beyond Lloris.
Remarkably, Coman nearly won the game with the final kick, rattling the crossbar right at the end of injury time.
An ailing Benzema was withdrawn at the start of extra time for Olivier Giroud, moments before Sommer tipped over superbly to deny Pavard.
Pogba released Mbappe with a piercing pass through the Swiss defence but the Paris Saint-Germain forward sliced wide, with Sommer flying to his right to grasp Giroud’s header before his penalty heroics.
Meanwhile, Spain striker Alvaro Morata answered vicious criticism by helping fire his side to a 5-3 win over Croatia after extra time on Monday to reach the quarter-finals of Euro 2020 in a breathless match laced with storylines.
In what may have been the best game so far, Spain fell behind in the first half to a Pedri own goal from near the halfway line after keeper Unai Simon let a back pass bobble past him.
But the three-time European champions recovered their poise and looked en route to a comfortable victory with goals from Pablo Sarabia, Cesar Azpilicueta and Ferran Torres.
Showing the spirit that took them to the last World Cup final, Croatia staged an astonishing comeback with goals from Mislav Orsic in the 85th minute and a Mario Pasalic header in added time to force the extra period.
Luis Enrique’s side showed tremendous character though and prevailed with Morata’s superb strike in the 100th minute and a goal from Mikel Oyarzabal in the 103rd.
Spain celebrated a first knockout win in a major tournament since winning Euro 2012 to set up a quarter-final against France or Switzerland in St Petersburg on Friday.
“It was an epic game,” said Luis Enrique.
“I’ve experienced many intense games in my career but this was one of the best. An infinite number of things happened to us but we knew how to turn things around. Everyone saw our true team spirit today.”
Goalscorer Azpilicueta added, “We suffered so much, it has been such a long time since we have won a knockout match and we managed to finally do it against the World Cup runners-up.”
Croatia head home with their heads held high but are still waiting to win a knockout game at the Euros.
“At the start of extra-time, we had them on the ropes but we failed to score from two good chances. Then, the game turned around and we didn’t have the strength to come back,” said midfielder Luka Modric.
(NDTV SPORTS/ALJAZEERA)
