Hello and welcome to live text coverage of today’s Euro 2024 last-16 contest between Italy and Switzerland. A place in the quarter-finals is at stake, as the two neighbours convene at Berlin’s Olympiastadion.
Either England or Slovakia await in the next round, with the runners-up in Group A and Group B aiming to take one step closer to the final – also to be held in the German capital.
While the Azzurri only sneaked through this year’s ‘Group of Death’ by virtue of a last-gasp leveller against Croatia, their Swiss counterparts almost finished first, only missing out on a win over tournament hosts Germany during stoppage time.
Now, they reprise a rivalry that saw the nations meet at Euro 2020 – when Italy won 3-0 en route to the trophy – and in World Cup qualifying, when two draws sent Switzerland directly through to Qatar at the Italians’ expense.
Make sure you don’t miss a moment of the action by following our minute-by-minute updates below.
Spine-tingling stuff at the Olympiastadion! Both teams have belted out their stirring anthems, and kickoff is now just a few seconds away…
Following the draw with Germany, Switzerland have now lost only once in their last 13 European Championship matches – that sole setback was against Italy at Euro 2020. However, since winning a World Cup qualifier in 1993, they are winless in 11 games against the Azzurri across all competitions. Can they finally end that trend today?
Deep into eight minutes of second-half stoppage time, substitute Mattia Zaccagni stole a precious point by scoring Italy’s equaliser against Croatia, but he’s not rewarded with a start in the last 16. As it turned out, the Azzurri would have been eliminated if they had ended up with just three points and a negative goal difference, so they remain indebted to the Lazio forward for even being in Berlin today.
2 – This is Stephan El Shaarawy’s second appearance for Italy at a major competition after EURO 2016 (vs Republic of Ireland) 8 years and 7 days ago; the second largest gap between appearances for an Italian player at major comps after Ciro Ferrara in June 2000 (9Y, 348). Return.
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) June 29, 2024
Italy boss Luciano Spalletti brings in Gianluca Mancini for suspended defender Riccardo Calafiori, also introducing Juventus midfielder Nicolo Fagioli and Mancini’s Roma teammates Bryan Cristante and Stephan El Shaarawy to the starting XI today. Matteo Darmian deputises for Federico Dimarco at left-back, as the latter is still struggling with a calf problem. Scamacca beats Retegui to selection up front.
ITALY: Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Mancini, Bastoni, Darmian; Cristante, Fagioli, Barella; Chiesa, Scamacca, El Shaarawy
SUBS: Dimarco, Buongiorno, Gatti, Frattesi, Jorginho, Pellegrini, Raspadori, Vicario, Bellanova, Retegui, Zaccagni, Cambiaso, Folorunsho, Meret
Switzerland coach Murat Yakin selects what seems to be an attacking lineup, with suspended wing-back Silvan Widmer replaced by Fabian Rieder, and Ruben Vargas joining Dan Ndoye in support of Breel Embolo up front.
SUBS: Stergiou, Elvedi, Zakaria, Okafor, Steffen, Mvogo, Zuber, Zesiger, Sierro, Duah, Kobel, Shaqiri, Jashari, Amdouni
Italy and Switzerland meet at the iconic Olympiastadion, having played out some significant matches over the past three years – most notably, the Azzurri’s 3-0 success at the delayed Euro 2020 finals.
Finishing their Group A campaign unbeaten on five points, Switzerland progressed in second place and now take part in the knockout rounds for a sixth consecutive European Championship; meanwhile, Italy managed a haul of four points from games against Albania, Spain and Croatia, with a late draw versus the latter ultimately keeping their defence of the title alive.
Kickoff is less than 30 minutes away, so let’s take a look at the team news…