England will play against Switzerland in the quarter-finals of the 2024 European Championship in Düsseldorf on Saturday.
Switzerland surprised defending champions Italy 2-0 in the round of 16. The result showed how dangerous Switzerland can be for Gareth Southgate’s team.
Here the PA news agency takes a look at what awaits England next weekend.
Key figures
Former Arsenal captain Granit Xhaka is the focal point of an experienced team. Fresh from helping Bayer Leverkusen to a remarkable league and cup double in Germany, the 31-year-old has 129 caps for his country.
Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji is the key player in a defence that also includes Newcastle’s Fabian Schar and the experienced Ricardo Rodriguez.
Former Liverpool player Xherdan Shaqiri now plays for Chicago Fire but remains a serious threat in attack, while Ruben Vargas stood out with a beautiful goal against Italy.
Switzerland has scored seven goals so far, thanks to seven different scorers.
Manager
Murat Yakin played 49 international matches for Switzerland between 1994 and 2004 and during his club career played for Grasshoppers, Stuttgart, Fenerbahce, Kaiserslautern and twice for his hometown club Basel.
The former defender once described Basel’s Champions League qualifying second leg against Celtic in 2002 as “the game of his life”, in which Yakin got on the scoresheet and the Swiss club progressed on away goals.
The 49-year-old has worked for Basel, Spartak Moscow, Grasshoppers and Sion, among others, during his coaching career and took over the job in Switzerland in 2021.
He led Switzerland to the 2022 World Cup, where they reached the round of 16 before suffering a 6-1 defeat to Portugal.
Form
Switzerland opened the tournament with a 3-1 win against Hungary thanks to goals from Kwadwo Duah, Michel Aebischer and substitute Breel Embolo.
They suffered a frustrating 1-1 draw against Scotland, but in their final group game they were close to a brilliant win against hosts Germany before Niclas Füllkrug equalised to make it 1-1 in injury time and Switzerland advanced as second-placed team.
But the highlight so far was undoubtedly the victory over Italy, as Switzerland controlled the game, had more possession and scored two goals before and after half-time to reach the quarter-finals of a European Championship for only the second time.
tactics
Yakin has regularly changed his formation during his time as Switzerland coach. Although his most common formation is 4-2-3-1, in Germany he has used a back three with Akanji in a central role and Xhaka alongside Remo Freuler in midfield.
Switzerland has plenty of experienced talent in attack and is adept at surprising the opposition with quick transitions and counterattacks – which often proves more dangerous in games with less possession.
Akanji and Nico Elvedi also make the team dangerous in set pieces.
