Last Updated on August 15, 2024
England will hope to keep their Euro 2024 hopes alive when they face a strong Switzerland team in the quarter-finals. England managed to score the needed goals to stay in the tournament, even though their journey so far has been tough. The Three Lions were seen as slight favorites before the tournament but have only won one of their group matches, drawing the rest.
Their sole win was a close one against Serbia, with Jude Bellingham scoring the decisive goal. England has had to fight hard for their spot, with Harry Kane scoring the crucial goal against Slovakia in extra time.
On the other hand, Switzerland has shown strong performances, winning against Italy in the last 16. England will play Switzerland at 5 pm on Saturday, July 6th at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf.
Gareth Southgate’s team is in the quarter-finals of a major tournament for the fourth time in a row, which is their best run ever. England has also moved forward from two of their four quarter-final matches in the European Championship history, with three of those games going to penalties.
The Three Lions have done well against Switzerland too, losing just one of their last 24 matches. England faced a setback in their last-16 win over Slovakia when Marc Guehi got his second yellow card of the tournament.
Guehi has been one of England’s top performers, so Southgate has a tough job finding his replacement. Ezri Konsa might fill that role if Southgate decides to keep the same formation. However, some fans hope for a switch to a back three since the team looked more comfortable with that setup against Slovakia. This could see Bukayo Saka move to wing-back and Eberechi Eze causing problems on the other wing.
For Switzerland, Silvan Widmer is back from suspension and will likely replace Ruben Vargas. With Widmer’s return, Dan Ndoye can play further up the field. That might be the only change from the Swiss team that beat Italy, given their strong performance.
England has not lost to Switzerland in their last 13 games since a 2-1 defeat in the 1982 World Cup qualifiers. The Three Lions have won nine of those games, including a penalty shootout in the 2019 UEFA Nations League finals.