Hosts France look to finish top of Group A as they take on Switzerland at Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille. The two-time European Championship winners won both of their last two matches and comfortably sit on top of the group with six points. Switzerland, too, are guaranteed a top-three finish after drawing their last match against Romania 1-1.
Both teams will go into this match to book their seat for the knockout stages of the UEFA Euro 2016. Les Blues grabbed all three points against Romania in the opening game of the tournament where they won 2-1 via a late Dimitri Payet winner at Stade de France in Saint-Denis. France went on a late goal-scoring spree in the second match as they beat Albania 2-0, thanks to goals from Payet and Griezmann.
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"In the second half we played better, we played more quickly and finally we scored at the end of the game," Kante said. "It was beautiful for the team and a beautiful moment for the fans. It was difficult as the opponent wanted to stay in the competition. They needed one point for that and they fought until the end, but we managed to have success in the end."
With two wins in two games, the hosts are sitting pretty at the perch but will want to seal their position as group winners against Switzerland.
The Swiss edged past Albania in their opening fixture, winning 1-0. They had to be satisfied with a 1-1 draw in the second match against Romania which has seen them gather 4 points in two matches with a chance to finish at the top of the Group if they emerge victorious against France.
Switzerland’s Admir Mehmedi knows that they’ll have to do better than their World Cup 2014 performance against France. Speaking to UEFA.com, he said, “We have some unfinished business against them.
"We know our last match against France wasn't good enough - it's certainly still in the back of our minds - but we're determined to do much better this time,” he added.
Les Blues captain Hugo Lloris believes that France can go on to win the tournament.
"France are still favourites for the group and for the competition," he said on Saturday. "It's always tough to know what we might come up against but we do have this tag of favourites in the group. It's important for us to finish top. We go into the game looking to win it, as ever. We'll try to put in 100 percent,” he added.
Live Streaming
Switzerland vs France at Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille match will be live from 00:30 IST (Monday), 20:00 BST (Sunday). Live streaming of the game can be watched on SonyLIV.
Follow Switzerland vs France, Euro 2016 Live score and commentary with Sportskeeda. The match will be telecasted live on Sony ESPN and Sony ESPN HD in India, Fox Sports in the USA and Premier Sports in the UK.
Team News
- Switzerland have all to play for in this match against France and should field their strongest side.
- Midfielder Valor Behrami could miss the tie with a knee injury.
- Admir Mehmedi who levelled the match 1-1 will look to get on the scoresheet again.
- Didier Deschamps might rest a couple of players including N’golo Kante and Olivier Giroud who are on a yellow card each. However, expect Deschamps to field a strong team, with both Pogba and Griezmann returning to the starting eleven.
Probable Line-ups
Form Guide (all games, most recent first)
Switzerland: D-W-L-W-L
France: W-W-L-W-D
Head to Head
France are unbeaten against Switzerland in their last three meetings in major competitions. Switzerland have just managed to record 1 victory in the 11 matches they have played against France.
Switzerland faced France for the first time in the European Championships in 2004 in Portugal where they lost 3-1.
Switzerland’s last victory against their neighbours came in 1992 where they won 2-1. They have failed to register a single victory against France in 6 meetings since.
The last time these two teams met was during the 2014 FIFA World Cup where France emerged 5-2 winners
Match Prediction
France haven’t had a shot on goal before half-time in this year’s tournament. The hosts will look to start well in the match against Switzerland and score an early goal. Payet, Martial and Griezmann have to gel together if they want to go beyond the Round of 16 on home soil.
Both the Switzerland goals have come from corners in EURO 2016. Striker Haris Seferovic hasn’t been his best and will look to improve on his performance. The individual brilliance of the France players might just prove to be a tad more than Switzerland can handle. We predict France to win 2-0 in Lille.
