Switzerland beat Turkey to keep Euro 2020 hopes alive
Xherdan Shaqiri scored twice to lead Switzerland to a 3-1 win against Turkey on Sunday in their Euro 2020 Group A match that kept their hopes of reaching the knockouts alive.
Turkey exit the competition after a third straight defeat while the Swiss hope to progress to the last 16 as one of the best third-placed teams after finishing level with second-placed Wales on four points but behind on goal difference.
Italy beat Wales 1-0 in the other group match after the Welsh were reduced to 10 men in the second half. Haris Seferovic opened the scoring for Switzerland in the sixth minute when he took a pass from Steven Zuber before pivoting and driving a left-footed shot into the net from just outside the penalty area.
Switzerland doubled their lead in the 26th minute after Zuber picked up a blocked shot and slipped it to Shaqiri who took a touch and then unleashed a vicious long-range shot that gave the sprawling keeper no chance.
He doubled his tally in the 68th minute when he swept home a cross on the counter, minutes after Irfan Can Kahveci had pulled a goal back for Turkey.
Alongside Denmark (in 1988 & 2000), Turkey have become just the second nation to lose all three group stage matches at more than one edition of the EUROs, having also suffered this fate at their debut tournament in 1996.
41 shots were attempted in this afternoon’s match between Switzerland (22) and Turkey (19), the joint-most in a group stage game at the European Championships, matching that of Netherlands v France in 2008, Spain v Germany in 1984 and England v Spain in 1980.
Switzerland scored more than twice in a European Championship game for the very first time – indeed, 25% of their total EUROs goals in their history came this afternoon against Turkey (3/12).
Switzerland’s Steven Zuber is only the third player since 1980 to register three assists in a single EUROs game, after Portugal’s Rui Costa in 2000 (v England) and Denmark’s Michael Laudrup in 1984 (v Yugoslavia).
Haris Seferovic and Xherdan Shaqiri both scored from outside the box, the first Swiss players to do so at any EUROs, with each of their nine goals in the competition before today coming from inside the area.
Irfan Can Kahveci’s consolation strike was his first international goal for Turkey on what was his 21st cap for his country. Xherdan Shaqiri is now Switzerland’s outright top goalscorer at major tournaments, with his second goal this evening his seventh for his country at either the World Cup (4) or European Championships (3).
Haris Seferovic is only the third Swiss player to score at both the World Cup (2014) and European Championships (2020) after Xherdan Shaqiri and Admir Mehmedi.
Ricardo Rodriguez, Breel Embolo, Xherdan Shaqiri, Yann Sommer and Granit Xhaka all appeared in their seventh European Championship game against Turkey, the joint-most of any Swiss player. Indeed, only Valon Behrami and Stephan Lichsteiner (17 each) have played in more major tournament matches for Switzerland than Shaqiri, who appeared in his 16th such game (Euros and World Cup). –