Fresh from eliminating tournament favourites France in the round of 16

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Fresh from eliminating tournament favourites France in the round of 16, Switzerland will attempt to advance to the final four of Euro 2020 when they face Spain in St Petersburg on Friday night. Switzerland shocked France on penalties to secure their spot in the quarter-finals, while Spain beat Croatia 5-3 after extra-time to progress to the final eight of this summer’s European Championship.

A nerve-shredding penalty shoot-out victory against reigning world champions France on Monday saw Switzerland progress to the quarter-finals for the first time in five Euro appearances. However they’ll start again as underdogs here at the Gazprom Arena in Saint Petersburg, and justifiably so after losing their previous three such games in major tournament action (WC 1934, 1938 and 1954).

This will be Switzerland and Spain’s fourth meeting at a major tournament, but the first-ever at a European Championship. Whilst the Swiss won the most recent (World Cup 2010), if this match goes as widely expected, the first ‘nail’ in Switzerland’s coffin could be quick to arrive, as nine of Switzerland’s previous 12 competitive matches (excluding walkovers) witnessed the opening goal scored within 15 minutes.

Spain were involved in their own pulsating Round of 16 fixture, winning 5-3 after extra-time vs 2018 World Cup runners-up Croatia, becoming the first team in Euro finals history to score over 4.5 team goals in consecutive matches. Another win here would set them on course to become European champions for the fourth time, especially as ‘La Roja’ have lifted the trophy every time they’ve won their quarter-final game (1964, 2008 and 2012).

Luis Enrique’s men are now unbeaten in 12 internationals (W5, D7 – 90 minutes) and have conceded just once before HT in their previous seven. The H2H history makes for positive reading too, as Spain have lost just one of 22 meetings with Switzerland (W16, D5).

Date: 02/07/2021
Time: 19:00
Venue: Gazprom Arena (Saint Petersburg)
Pick for this match:
“Both teams to score YES”- @ 1.86 ( Betwinner )