Italy’s players attend a training session at the base camp in Iserlohn on June 28, 2024, on the eve of their UEFA Euro 2024 Round of 16 football match against Switzerland.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Defending champion Italy aims to continue its dominance over Switzerland to reach the quarterfinals of the European Championship on June 29. Switzerland hasn’t beaten Italy for 31 years and has only eight wins from their previous 61 meetings. But the Swiss are unbeaten this year and their only loss in 2023 came in the last game of qualifying. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. local (1600 GMT) on Saturday. Here’s what to know about the match:

— Italy has fond memories of playing at Berlin’s Olympiastadion after beating France on penalties in the 2006 World Cup final in its last game in the stadium, where it also defeated Austria 2-1 in the final of the 1936 Olympic Games.

— So far, Euro 2024 has been a difficult experience for the Azzuri, conceding after just 23 seconds in its opening 2-1 win over Albania, then being thoroughly outclassed in a 1-0 defeat to Spain, before it needed a last-second strike from Italy substitute Mattia Zaccagni to salvage a 1-1 draw against Croatia to finish runner-up in Group B.

— Switzerland opened with a 3-1 win over Hungary before 1-1 draws against Scotland and host nation Germany.

— Switzerland and Italy faced each other in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. They drew both games and the Swiss finished top of the group to qualify. Italy lost to North Macedonia in the playoffs and missed out. It was the Italians’ second successive failure to qualify for the World Cup.

— Switzerland players Yann Sommer, Ricardo Rodríguez, Remo Freuler, Noah Okafor, Michel Aebischer, Dan Ndoye, Dennis Zakaria, Silvan Widmer and Xherdan Shaqiri have all played in Italy’s Serie A.

— In contrast, defender Federico Dimarco is the only member of Italy’s squad to have played in Switzerland, spending one season at Sion in 2017-18.

— The winner will face England or Slovakia in the quarterfinals in Düsseldorf on July 6.

— Italy defender Riccardo Calafiori is suspended, left back Federico Dimarco is out with an injury, and fellow defender Alessandro Bastoni’s availability is in question. “Bastoni needs to be assessed tomorrow because he did a portion of the training session today … but then he had a bit of a setback. So, he’s had a few degrees of fever. But then we tried to let him rest up, and he had his first training session there, and he’s already a lot better. But we need to see overnight how he responds,” Italy coach Luciano Spalletti said on Friday. Spalletti added Gianluca Mancini will replace the suspended Calafiori “because he’s got the right amount of experience.”

— Defender Silvan Widmer is suspended for Switzerland and a number of players, including Granit Xhaka, are in danger of missing the next match if booked.

— Switzerland failed to progress beyond the group stage in its first three European Championship appearances, but it has since reached the knockout stage in each of it last three tournaments.

— Italy has scored in each of its previous six matches at the Olympiastadion.

— Switzerland has won only one of its four penalty shootouts at a World Cup or Euros, while Italy became the first team to win more than one at the same European Championship in the last edition. Italy defeated 3-2 England on penalties to win the 2021 Euros.

“We know that we’re up against very awkward customers in the shape of Switzerland. The results bear witness to that. So far in Euro 2024, there have been teams where no one gave them the chance to actually make it through to the knockout stage, whereas they have then made it through to the round of 16, and deservedly so.” — Italy coach Luciano Spalletti.

“No team is happy to play against Italy because we have a footballing history. We are reigning champions and it is never easy to play against us.” — Italy winger Stephan El Shaarawy.

“We’ve done our homework. We haven’t just looked at these last three games, we’ve also studied Italy’s previous matches before the tournament. But we’ve always been struck by how Italy can mix things up in terms of personnel and shape. We’re ready for Italy’s alternatives. We’re familiar with Italy.” — Switzerland coach Murat Yakin.

Group B was dubbed Euro 2024’s ‘Group of Death’ but while Spain soared through with a game to spare, heavyweights Italy and Croatia meet on June 24 fighting to stay in the competition.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Group B was dubbed Euro 2024’s ‘Group of Death’ but while Spain soared through with a game to spare, heavyweights Italy and Croatia meet on June 24 fighting to stay in the competition.

Both sides were outclassed by Spain, and while reigning champions Italy edged Albania 2-1, Croatia could only draw 2-2 with the minnows.

It gives Italy the upper hand ahead of their clash in Leipzig, with Croatia’s golden generation at risk of a disappointingly early exit if they fail to win.

Croatia, who reached the 2018 and 2022 World Cup final and semi-final respectively, may make several changes as they scrap for Euros survival.

Midfielder Marcelo Brozovic, playing in Saudi Arabia, has come in for criticism after sub-par outings in the first two matches, while Real Madrid’s Luka Modric, 38, has also struggled.

Full-back Ivan Perisic has looked a shadow of himself, still to find his footing after a long injury lay-off.

“It makes me cry when I watch (Modric) on the pitch, he is giving his last atoms of strength… but he is not (the Modric) we are used to seeing,” read one column in Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List.

Youngster Luka Sucic could replace Brozovic, as he did at half-time against Albania.

Striker Bruno Petkovic, who missed a penalty in the 3-0 beating by Spain, called on Croatia to deliver for their vast support in Germany.

“The responsibility is on us, we owe it to our fans to show more,” he said.

“I expect us to beat Italy, and I hope it’s going to happen. We are aware of everything we did or didn’t do in the first two matches, and we need to fix that.”

Coach Zlatko Dalic complained ahead of the game he was not being given credit when Croatia did well but was immediately criticised when they struggle.

“I have learned some things in these seven years where there have been far more successes than failures,” he said.

Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic was positive ahead of the clash with the Euro 2020 winners.

“We control our own fate — that’s a good thing,” said the stopper, who shone at the Qatar World Cup, saving a penalty in a shoot-out against Brazil to take Croatia to the semis.

‘Little Italy’

Italy need a draw against Croatia to claim second place but after being thoroughly outplayed in their 1-0 loss to Spain, expectations are not high for the Azzurri.

Newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport labelled them “Little Italy”, a far cry from the steely team which beat England at Wembley.

Veteran defenders Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini have since retired, while coach Luciano Spalletti left out Marco Verratti, now playing in Qatar.

The coach could also ring the changes with striker Mateo Retegui in contention, along with defender Matteo Darmian, who could replace Giovanni Di Lorenzo after a torturous night against Spain’s Nico Williams.

Even Italy’s opening victory over Albania was not without its challenges — Sassuolo’s Nedim Bajrami put Albania ahead with the fastest goal Euros history on 23 seconds.

Italian goalkeeping great and the current delegation head, Gianluigi Buffon, said he was confident the Azzurri could use the loss as fuel.

“Sometimes it’s easier to react to a defeat than it is to a win,” said Buffon on Friday.

“Yesterday we got some answers to questions we’d asked of ourselves, and some new questions to think about.

“So if we thought we were a nine out of ten team against Albania, we can’t suddenly think we’re a four out of ten team after the Spain match. We’re probably somewhere in the middle.”

This combination of pictures created on June 22, 2024 shows Italy’s head coach Luciano Spalletti and Croatia’s head coach Zlatko Dalic.
| Photo Credit: AFP

With wounds to dress and points to prove, Italy and Croatia face each other knowing their Euro 2024 survival is on the line in Monday’s decisive Group B match.

Italy’s chastening 1-0 defeat by a dominant Spain on Thursday and Croatia’s 2-2 draw with Albania after conceding a stoppage-time equaliser left both teams anxiously glancing at the table heading into their last game.

Italy, second with three points after their opening win over Albania, will be through to the last 16 as runners-up if they avoid defeat. They will be unable to progress, however, if they lose and Albania beat group winners Spain in the other Group B decider.

The situation is more pressing for Zlatko Dalic’s Croatia, who began the tournament with a thumping 3-0 loss to Spain and prop up the table with a point. They will go through as runners-up if they beat Italy and Albania do not beat Spain.

A draw, however, is unlikely to be good enough as no team have made the next round with two points since the Euro finals expanded to 24 teams in 2016 — offering a place in the last 16 to the four best third-placed finishers.

Italy’s loss to Spain prompted damning headlines and national soul searching.

La Gazzetta dello Sport denounced Luciano Spalletti’s side as “Little Italy” while Corriere dello Sport demanded a “Reset”.

The loss was by a slender margin but it should have been far more emphatic as Spain’s 20 attempts on goal contrasted with Italy’s four, their fewest in a Euro or World Cup match since at least 1980.

Spalletti said his players lacked freshness, and wondered whether they needed more rest after Spain’s relentless attacks left them chasing shadows for most of the 90 minutes.

Croatia’s struggles have come as a surprise to coach Dalic, whose side reached the World Cup semi-finals in Qatar two years ago and the final in 2018.

“We didn’t expect to have such a difficult story in these two matches, it has been a struggle,” he said after their draw with Albania.

A major issue for Croatia has been their sleepy starts to games. They conceded three goals to Spain in the first half and fell behind to Albania with 11 minutes on the clock.

While their technical ability is not in question, having bossed possession against both Spain and Albania, they have seemed flat in the final third and been unable to build sustained pressure.

With midfield conjuror Luka Modric, now 38, converted full back Ivan Perisic, 35, and forward Andrej Kramaric, 33, Dalic has kept faith with the old guard that has served him so well in the past.

Yet this could be one tournament too far for a side who have frequently surpassed expectations.

“The World Cup was two years ago and slowly our players are getting older, and this whole tournament has shown us that everyone is having a hard time,” Dalic said.