Roundup of the latest Round of 16 action at Euro 2020 as 2018 World Cup finalists, Croatia and France found themselves caught up in dramatic thrillers against Spain and Switzerland respectively.
World Cup runners-up, Croatia were looking to continue their bid for another deep run at a major tournament against a shaky Spanish team in Copenhagen, Denmark, whereas Switzerland met neighbours and current world champions – France in Bucharest, Romania.
All four teams produced 14 goals between them in nearly six hours of drama and comebacks, so here is a full roundup of all the action, starting in Copenhagen as Croatia and Spain collided.
Croatia 3-5 Spain (AET)
Spain made a bright start as Cesar Azpilicueta saw a soft ninth minute header saved by Dominik Livakovic before Pablo Sarabia fired wide four minutes later.
Alvaro Morata then saw a 19th minute header from Ferran Torres cleared just moments before Pedri made a huge mistake up the other end, playing a long backpass beyond Unai Simon into his own goal to give Croatia the lead.
Nikola Vlasic and Matteo Kovacic then missed chances to double the 2018 World Cup runners-up’s lead as Sarabia fired in an 38th minute equaliser on rebound after initial shot was blocked by Livakovic.
Ante Rebic then missed two late chances to restore Croatia’s lead before half-time, which was punished 11 minutes into the second half, as Azpilicueta headed in from Torres’ pass put Spain in front.
Josko Gvardiol then saw a 67th minute Croatian equaliser saved before Morata fired in from Aymeric Laporte’s header five minutes later, only to be adjudged offside in the build-up.
Spain then looked set for victory after Pau Torres played a 77th minute diagonal long ball across for Ferran Torres to chase and rifle in, following a cut into the box from the right flank to put the 2012 winners 3-1 ahead and cruising towards a Quarter-Final spot.
Croatia however reduced their deficit eight minutes later as Luka Modric pulled back from Josip Brekalo to find Mislav Orsic to fire in, with the Dinamo Zagreb strike then whipping in a 92nd minute cross for Mario Pasalic to head in to make it 3-3 and force extra time.
A scrappy opening period of extra time saw both teams exchange chances until Dani Olmo whipped in a 100th minute cross to Morata, who let the ball bounce down before smashing in to put La Roja back ahead.
Three minutes later, Andrej Kramaric fired straight into Simon’s arms at Spain’s end with the Spanish then breaking as Olmo curled in a low cross for Mikel Oyarzabal to fire in to make it 5-3 and seal victory, despite Croatia trying valiantly to mount another comeback with Ante Budmir firing wide in 106th minute.
France 3-3 Switzerland (AET – Switzerland wins 5-4 on penalties)
Both teams wasted chances in an edgy opening 15 minutes until Haris Seferovic headed in from Steven Zuber’s left-hand cross to give Switzerland a shock lead.
Adrien Rabiot and Kylian Mbappe both then saw various chances go begging as France began to dominate, yet failed to find an equaliser before half-time as Vladimir Petkovic’s Swiss defended well to protect their lead at the break.
Antoine Griezmann missed a chance to equalise just two minutes after the restart as he curled wide of the bottom right corner, before Benjamin Pavard fouled Zuber to concede a penalty after the latter broke forward up the left flank into the box.
Ricardo Rodriguez stepped up and fired his 54th minute penalty towards the bottom left corner but Hugo Lloris was alert to save, which proved costly as Karim Benzema chipped in an equaliser from Mbappe’s pass three minutes later.
Benzema then added his second two minutes and 19 seconds later as Griezmann played an one-two into the box with Mbappe, only for his chipped shot to be deflected high by Yann Sommer and Benzema was alert to nod in just before the ball struck the bar.
France soon afterwards found themselves on top and Paul Pogba picked up a blockage of Benzema’s 75th minute shot, swiftly dribbling himself into position to curl into the near top right corner from outside of the box to put the world champions in firm control.
Six minutes later, Seferovic found his second for Switzerland as he headed in from Kevin Mbabu’s cross to set up a grandstand finish, which almost came to fruition as Mario Gavranovic fired in from close range only for him to be offside in the build-up which forced the equaliser to be disallowed.
Gavranovic eventually found a last-gasp 90th minute equaliser to make it 3-3 after firing in from Granit Xhaka’s through ball, in turn taking this match to extra time as Moussa Sissoko missed a late chance to rifle in a French winner as he struck the crossbar.
France went on to be the more dominant in extra time as Pavard put a close-range 95th minute strike over via a punch from Sommer after excellent left to right foot swapping to create the shot.
Sissoko, Mbappe and substitute, Olivier Giroud all wasted excellent chances thereafter as Switzerland dug deep defensively, eventually clinging on to force a penalty shootout at this stage for the second consecutive Euros tournament.
All nine opening spot kicks were scored by both teams with Switzerland leading 5-4 when Mbappe stepped up, with the Frenchman’s strike towards the top left corner punched clear by Sommer to send the Swiss through and deny France a World Cup and Euros double.
Switzerland will now meet Spain at Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia on Friday 2 July 2021 in the opening Quarter-Final, which kicks off 5pm (BST) UK Time.
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