Switzerland beats World Champion France 5-4 on penalties at Euro 2020

Switzerland put up a great fight against the defending World Champion France after coming back strongly when they were down by 3-1 and extending the game to extra time which finally landed to penalty shootout.

The Swiss now set the quarter-finals clash with the two times European Champions Spain on Friday at St. Petersburg.

Switzerland goalkeeper, Sommer, who flew back to Germany after the team’s 3-0 loss to Italy to be home when his daughter was born on June 16, made the decisive save on the 10th penalty after the previous nine had all been successful.

Sommer dived to his right to save the final penalty by Kylian Mbappé, the young French forward who became a superstar at the last World Cup by scoring in the final.

“I think that everything we had in us, we left out on the field.

“I’m unbelievably proud of this team, how we’ve done it this evening.”

 “What an evening of football.

“It was our chance to finally go through the round of 16 because we never made it before. It’s incredible. We played with heart and with character. It’s amazing.” Sommer said.

The Swiss haven’t reached the quarterfinals at a major tournament since they hosted the World Cup in 1954. This team also ended a run of three consecutive exits in the Round of 16. They were knocked out by Poland after losing a penalty shootout 5-4 at Euro 2016.

“We made history tonight.

“We are all very proud.” Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka said.

It was the third game in the round of 16 at Euro 2020 to go to extra time but the first to be decided by penalties.