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France and Switzerland take on each other in their second Group E encounter at the World Cup.
Venue
Arena Fonte Nova is located in the city of Salvador. The stadium was built in 1951. It was the venue for many a derby between Salavador’s Esporte Clube Bahia and Esporte Clube Vitoria. It was closed and demolished in 2010. Later it was refurbished for the World Cup. The new stadium has an overall capacity of 51,900. Fonte Nova will host four group matches, a Round-of-16 match and a quarter-final tie.
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Kickoff Time
June 21 – 00.30 am – Indian Standard Time (IST)*June 20 – 4.00 pm - Local Time
Possible Starting Line ups
Didier Deschamps will most likely keep his team unchanged from the first match, which France won 3-0 against Honduras. He would yet again bank on his star striker Karim Benzema who played brilliantly in the last game.
France (4-3-2-1): Lloris; Debuchy, Varane, Sakho, Evra; Pogba, Matuidi; Valbuena, Cabaye, Griezmann; Benzema.
Switzerland too won’t disrupt their winning combination from the last game against Ecuador. The Swiss are a very energetic unit and would give France a run for their money in this second round encounter.
Switzerland (4-5-1): Benaglio; Lichtsteiner, von Bergen, Djourou, Rodriguez; Behrami, Stocker, Xhaka, ShaqiriInler, Shaqiri; Drmic.
Key Facts
- France and Switzerland have faced each other 36 times. Les Bleus have won 15 games and Switzerland 12. There have been 9 draws.
- Switzerland have conceded just two goals in their last eight World Cup games.
- Till date, France have scored 99 World Cup goals. So a goal against Switzerland would take their tally to 100.
- Switzerland have not won a single match against France since 1992 when they won 2-1 in a friendly.
Key Battles
Xherdan Shaqiri vs Patrice Evra
Shaqiri is the most promising player in the Swiss team. The youngster from Bayern Munich is extremely talented and has a potential to bring threats into the French defense. Patrice Evra would be in charge to mark the valiant Swiss and keep him ineffective.
Karim Benzema vs Johan Djourou
Karim Benzema scored a brace last match and showed the world that he can guide the French team to glory all by himself. In the absence of Ribery, Benzema guided his team to glory quite easily. The Arsenal defender is the most experienced defender in the Switzerland team and it will be his responsibility to mark the Real Madrid striker.
Prediction
France have a tough match ahead as the Swiss are no easy opponent. Being a formidable side, they would not let France win the game easily and book a next round berth. According to FIFA ranking, Switzerland are placed ahead of the Les Bleus. But France are a much better team on paper. Thus, we are up for an extremely competitive match.
Predicted Score-line: France 2-1 Honduras
Match Officials
On-field Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Sander van Roekel (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Erwin Zeinstra (NED)
Fourth Official: Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR)
