Euro 2024: Switzerland vs Germany preview, H2H, team news, line-ups and prediction

Switzerland will hope to seal qualification into the knockout stages of the 2024 European Championship when they face Germany in the final match of Group A on Sunday, June 23, at Deutsche Bank Park Stadium.

Switzerland are second on the table on four points and a win over the host country will secure qualification into the round-of-16. Murat Yakin’s side started the tournament with an emphatic 3:1 win over Hungary courtesy of goals from Kwadwo Duah, Michel Aebischer and Breel Embolo.

They faced a much more spirited Scotland side in their second group game at the Cologne Stadium and did enough to win but could only settle for a 1-1 draw at fulltime.

A 13th-minute Scott McTominay deflected strike found its way to the back of the net to give Steve Clark’s side the lead. The Tartan Army soon became their undoing when Anthony Ralston played the ball under pressure only as far as Xherdan Shaqiri who was quicker to curl a beauty of a strike at the top corner.

Shaqiri’s equaliser now meant that the former Liverpool forward has set the record as the only player to score in the last six major tournaments since 2014.

The draw against Scotland now means The Rossocrociati have lost just one of their last 12 matches in the European Championship. They also matched their Euro 2016 record of avoiding defeat in their first two games and will hope to extend that record when they face a rampaging German side on Sunday.

The host country are having a remarkable campaign so far not just in results, but in performances. They completely brushed aside Scotland in the opening game of the tournament with a resounding 5:1 win.

This soon followed up with a 2-0 win over Hungary to mark their fifth European Championship where they’ve won two of their opening two matches after doing so in 1972, 1980, 1996 and 2012. The 2-0 victory over Hungary also meant Germany were just the second team in the tournament’s history to score seven goals in their opening two matches.

The Trilolór almost took a shock lead inside the first 20 seconds of the match when Roland Sallai was through on goal only for an onrushing Manuel Neuer to clear the ball away.

Julian Naglesman’s men soon took control of the actions against a physical Hungarian side and took a deserved lead in the 22nd minute after Jamal Musiala connected with Ilkay Gundogan’s pass to slot the ball home.

The goal meant Musiala became the top scorer in the competition after two games and joined a list that includes Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ferenc Bene and Mikkel Damsgaard as the only 21-year-old to score at least two goals at the European Championship.

Neur kept Germany in the game with a string of impressive saves from Dominik Szoboslai and Barnabas Varga before Die Mannschaft mounted their superiority to double their lead through Gundogan who connected swiftly from Maximilian Mittelstädt’s cutback.

Although the three-time European champions have secured qualification into the next stage of the competition, they will savour the chance of making it three consecutive victories when they face Switzerland on Sunday.

Switzerland vs Germany match details

• Date: Sunday, June 23, 2023
• Location: Frankfurt, Germany
• Venue: Deutsche Bank Park Stadium
• Kick-off time: 08:00 PM BST, 07:00 PM UTC, 09:00 PM CEST, 03: 00 PM ET, 12: 00 PM PT
• Tickets: Euro 2024 tickets can be bought through official UEFA sites or via trusted resellers such as Seatsnet.com.

Match stats and head-to-head

• After the 2-0 win over Hungary, Germany are now the fifth host nation to win their opening two matches in the European Championship after Spain in 1964, Netherlands in 2000 and France in 1984 and 2016.

• Following his goals against Scotland and Hungary, Musiala emerged as the youngest player to score two consecutive goals in the group stages of a European Championship tournament. He also became the first German player to net in the opening two games of this competition since Mario Gómez in 2012.

• Toni Kroos’ 124 completed passes against Hungary was the most by any player in this competition since Xavi Hernandez completed 127 passes against the Republic of Ireland in 2012.

• Talisman, Xherdan Shaqiri has been involved in seven of Switzerland’s 15 goals in the European Championship since 2016. Only Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo has been involved in more goal contributions for his country in this competition since 2016.

• Switzerland have lost just one of their last 12 matches in the European championship, winning seven and drawing four in that run.

• These two countries have met 52 times with Germany holding the superior head-to-head with 35 wins. Switzerland have managed nine wins while eight of these fixtures have ended in a draw.

• After a 56-year wait for their first victory, Switzerland secured a 5-3 win over Germany in 2012 and they have remained unbeaten in their last two matches against Die Mannschaft.

Team news

For Murat Yakin’s side, Denis Zakaria is nursing a thigh injury and it is unclear if the Monaco man will be fit in time for the clash. Steven Zuber is also stepping up their recovery from a calf injury and will undergo an assessment to determine his availability for the match.

Centre-back, Fabian Schar suffered a broken nose in the second group game against Scotland but was okay to carry on for the remainder of the match. The 32-year-old should be fit to claim a starting berth on Sunday.

Breel Embolo has had standout cameo appearances off the bench and is knocking on the door for a spot in the first eleven. The Cameroon-born forward is tipped to make the starting lineup against what should be a rotated German defence.

For the host country, Julian Nagelsmann took off Musiala in the 72nd minute of the game in what is believed to be a precautionary measure to keep the youngster fit for the next game.

Florian Wirtz and Kai Havertz were both substituted in the 58th minute of the game with an indication that they may likely feature against Switzerland.

Midfielder, Robert Andrich is one yellow card away from suspension and it is unlikely the coach will risk starting a highly combative midfielder. Emre Can is tipped to get the starting nod.

Nagelsmann is expected to field a rotated squad but could as well stick to his strongest 11 against a strong Swiss side.

Predicted starting lineup

Switzerland predicted starting lineup:

Sommer; Schar, Akanji, Rodriguez; Widmer, Xhaka, Freuler, Aebischer; Vargas, Shaqiri; Duah.

Germany predicted starting lineup:

Neuer; Kimmich, Tah, Rudiger, Mittelstadt; Can, Kroos; Musiala, Gundogan, Wirtz; Havertz.

Prediction

Both teams have all but secured their qualification into the next round but will savour the chance of rounding off their group stage campaign on a high note.

Germany with a plethora of stars will exert more dominance in the game and show their superior quality.

However, Switzerland have shown in previous competitions that they’re no minnows having knocked out France from the competition in 2021.

A high-scoring affair is predicted at the Waldstadion and the team with a clinical edge is expected to come out on top in this clash.

We’re predicting a 2:2 draw.