BUDAPEST (Reuters) – World champions France were knocked out of Euro 2020 on Monday after losing 5-4 on penalties to Switzerland after a thrilling 3-3 draw after 120 minutes of play.
It was Switzerland’s first knockout win in a tournament since 1938 and the first time it had reached the quarter-finals since the 1954 World Cup it hosted.
Switzerland took a surprising lead in the 15th minute with a header from Haris Seferovic after Steven Zuber’s cross and made it 2-0 with a penalty kick in the second half, but Hugo Lloris’s shot was saved by Ricardo Rodriguez.
Karim Benzema scored twice in 103 seconds and Paul Pogba scored a goal that seemed to define the match to put France 3-1 with 15 minutes left, but Seferovic slipped back with another header in the 81st before Mario Gavranovic equalized in the last game. the same.
Kingsley Command hit the crossbar in the final seconds in what would have been France’s victory, but the match went into 30-minute overtime, and neither team managed to equalize.
The clearest scoring opportunity for France in extra time was Olivier Giroud, who managed to score twice after coming off the bench, but the match was decided by penalties.
In definition, both teams were perfect until Mbappe stepped forward to pay France’s last five penalties, but Sommer pushed to his right and managed to stop the PSG striker’s shot with one hand to send his team away to the quarter-finals.
“Honestly, I’m still in shock,” said Sommer, who has become the Swiss goalkeeper with over 65 caps with 65 appearances.
“We show courage, heart, we give it all up. When you come back from two goals against the world champion, that’s amazing, and then you win on penalties. I couldn’t be more proud of the way we did.”
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor. Editing in Spanish by Rodrigo Charme)
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