France vs Switzerland: La Nati look to pull off upset against injury-ravaged Bleus on June 28th

Topics: TV Schedules, France, Switzerland, UEFA EURO 2020

France and Switzerland will battle for a coveted quarter-finals spot when they lock horns on Monday, June 28th.

Preview: France vs Switzerland

With four of the quarter-finals berths being decided, France and Switzerland will prepare to duke it out for the fifth spot in the next round. The reigning World Cup champions secured their spot at this juncture after a very tough group stage battle, during which they surprisingly failed to beat Hungary, arguably viewed as the weakest team in a quartet featuring France, Portugal, and Germany.

An opening day win over Germany was followed by a frustrating draw with Hungary, meaning that France would have to wait until the final matchday to book their ticket to the round of 16. However, after a thrilling two-all draw with reigning Euro winners Portugal, France, who are viewed as heavy favorites to win it all this summer, were able to join the 15 other teams all hoping to eventually feature in the showpiece final on July 11th.

Overall, France come into this tie unbeaten in their last ten matches across all comps since a shock loss to Finland last year, and they haven't lost a competitive match since Turkey beat them in 2019 during a Euro 2020 qualifier. That being said, it's been hardly a vintage performance from Les Bleus, who needed an own goal to beat Germany and were unable to find a way past a stubborn Hungary side who were desperate for a result in front of their own fans.

Fans will also hope that Kylian Mbappe will finally get up and running, as it was Karim Benzema's brace who secured a point for Les Bleus against Portugal. Indeed, the PSG star's struggles in front of goal could potentially be due to his being distracted regarding his future at the Parc des Princes, but supporters will naturally look to see him put that behind them with a quarter-finals - and beyond - spot on the line.

Meanwhile, Switzerland appear to be finally settling in after a rough start. La Nati were unable to hold on to their narrow 1-0 lead over Wales, with the Dragons equalizing for the two sides to share the spoils. They were outplayed and outclassed as Italy cruised to a 3-0 win, but rebounded excellently to dispatch Turkey by the same score-line, with a brace for Xherdan Shaqiri being the highlight of a very successful evening for Vladimir Pektovic's men.

Switzerland's head to head record against France isn't the best - they've won just one of their last eight meetings - but it appears that La Nati may have narrowed the gap in recent years. Of their last five meetings, four have resulted in draws. In addition, Switzerland will come into this match with everyone pretty much fit and ready to go - a sharp contrast to France, who have now started to see injuries adding up at a very trying time.

Team news: France vs Switzerland

France: Injuries are piling up for Didier Deschamps at the worst possible time. Ousmane Dembele, who has struggled for fitness for the past couple of years ruled out for the rest of the competition. In addition, Deschamps, a World Cup winner both as a player and as a manager, won't be able to call on Lucas Digne, Marcus Thuram and Jules Kounde as the trio are all battling injuries, while Bayern's Lucas Hernandez will have to pass a late fitness test to feature here. And to top things off, Thomas Lemar recently suffered an injury in training so could be a doubt as a back-up option for Monday's game.

Switzerland: By contrast, Switzerland will come into this match with a full fit squad.

Match facts: France vs Switzerland

This will be the ninth meeting between France and Switzerland
France's head-to-head record vs Switzerland reads as W3 D4 L1
However, all four of those draws have come from their last five meetings (W1)
Les Bleus have only lost one of their last 17 matches at the EUROs and World Cup combined (W12 D4)...
...which was the EURO 2016 final against Portugal
Deschamps's side haven't lost a competitive match in two years - this was in June 2019 when they were shocked to lose to Turkey during EURO 2020 qualifiers. Since then, their record is W14 D5
This is the fifth meeting between France and Switzerland at a major competition (EURO 2004, 2006 World Cup, 2014 World Cup, EURO 2016), but the first during a knockout round
Xherdan Shaqiri is Switzerland's all-time top goal-scorer in major competitions, with seven goals to his name