Switzerland vs Italy facts

Italy will aim to continue their dominance over neighbours Switzerland as the teams meet at the Olympiastadion in Berlin in the first round of 16 tie at UEFA EURO 2024.

Both teams finished second in their section, Switzerland behind Group A winners Germany on five points – denied first place only by an added-time equaliser from the hosts on Matchday 3 – and Italy to Spain in Group B. The holders looked set to finish third as they trailed Croatia deep into added time in their final fixture, but Mattia Zaccagni's first international goal in the 98th minute salvaged a 1-1 draw and snatched second place.

The Swiss are unbeaten at EURO 2024, following a 3-1 opening win against Hungary with 1-1 draws against Scotland and Germany. Italy recovered from conceding the fastest goal in EURO history, after 23 seconds, to beat Albania 2-1 on Matchday 1 before a 1-0 loss to Spain and the draw with Croatia.

The Azzurri are unbeaten against Switzerland in just over 31 years and have won 29 of the 61 matches between the countries, losing only eight.

The winners of this tie play England or Slovakia in the quarter-finals in Düsseldorf on 6 July.

Previous meetings

Matches 61
Switzerland wins 8
Italy wins 29
Draws 24
Switzerland goals 68
Italy goals 111

The teams met on Matchday 2 at EURO 2020, Italy booking their place in the round of 16 with a 3-0 victory at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome as a goal in each half from Manuel Locatelli (26, 52) was added to by Ciro Immobile's strike in the 89th minute.

Switzerland and Italy were also paired together in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying competition, sharing a 0-0 draw in Basel on 5 September 2021 and a 1-1 draw at the Stadio Olimpico on 12 November the same year, Silvan Widmer's 11th-minute opener for the visitors cancelled out by Giovanni Di Lorenzo nine minutes before half-time.

That draw, in the teams' penultimate qualifier, helped Switzerland finish top of Group C and advance to the finals; Italy, runners-up two points behind, subsequently lost to North Macedonia in the play-off semi-final.

That stretched Italy's unbeaten run against Switzerland to 11 matches (W5 D6), since a 1-0 loss in Berne in 1994 World Cup qualifying in May 1993.

The Azzurri have dominated fixtures against their neighbours, winning 29 of their 61 matches and losing only eight – although five of the last six have been drawn. Their last fixture prior to EURO 2020 was a 1-1 friendly draw in Geneva on 5 June 2010, Gökhan Inler's tenth-minute opener for the home side cancelled out four minutes later by Fabio Quagliarella. Substitute Xherdan Shaqiri played for Ottmar Hitzfeld's Switzerland.

The Azzurri's previous win against the Swiss before 2021 came in a Geneva friendly in April 2003, Nicola Legrottaglie and Cristiano Zanetti scoring in either half to secure a 2-1 success.

The sides' previous competitive matches before EURO 2020 came in qualifying for EURO 2000, Italy winning the first game 2-0 in Udine – Alessandro Del Piero scoring in each half – before a goalless draw in Lausanne. Italy went on to win the group with 15 points to reach the final tournament, finishing one point and two places above the eliminated Swiss.

Those results continued the pattern of Italy recording a home win and an away draw when the teams have been paired together in EURO qualifying, following on from the preliminaries for the final tournaments of 1968 (2-2 a, 4-0 h) and 1988 (3-2 h, 0-0 a). In both those instances, the Azzurri went on to reach the finals.

Italy also recorded a 3-0 victory against the Swiss in the group stage of the 1962 World Cup. Eight years earlier, World Cup hosts Switzerland had beaten Italy 2-1 and 4-1 in the space of seven days, the second of the wins in a play-off.

EURO facts

Switzerland

The Swiss made their finals debut at EURO '96 and have qualified a further five times since; EURO 2024 is their fifth finals in the last six editions of the tournament.

Switzerland produced their best performance at EURO 2020, progressing in third place from Group A having finished level with Wales on four points, five behind Italy. They then stunned world champions France in the round of 16, winning 5-4 on penalties after a 3-3 draw – Haris Seferović and Mario Gavranović scoring in the final nine minutes to force extra time – before bowing out to Spain in the last eight, also on spot kicks, losing 3-1 after a 1-1 draw.

Switzerland had qualified for the EURO knockout stages for the first time in 2016, that tie also decided by a penalty shoot-out – Poland winning 5-4 after a 1-1 draw.

Vladimir Petković oversaw Switzerland's EURO 2020 campaign before making way for Murat Yakin in August 2021.

Yakin's side qualified for EURO 2024 as Group I runners-up behind Romania, picking up 17 points from their ten games (W4 D5 L1) to finish five behind the section winners. Their sole defeat was a 1-0 loss in Bucharest in their final fixture, a result that confirmed them in second place; the Swiss had booked their finals place with a 1-1 home draw against Kosovo in their previous game.

Switzerland won their first three qualifiers but managed only one more victory in their next seven games and none in the last four (D3 L1).

The Swiss have drawn four of their last five games at EURO finals, including the last two. They are unbeaten in six at the tournament (W2 D4), since a 3-0 loss to Italy in Rome on Matchday 2 of EURO 2020 that is their only loss in their last 13 fixtures (W4 D8).

Switzerland are unbeaten in their seven matches in 2024 (W3 D4), drawing three of their last four matches 1-1. A 1-0 loss in Romania in their final EURO 2024 qualifier on 21 November 2023 is their only loss since the 6-1 defeat by Portugal in the 2022 World Cup round of 16. Their record since is otherwise W7 D9.

Switzerland failed to progress beyond the group stage in their first three EURO appearances but have now reached the knockout rounds in each of the last three tournaments.

The Nati's round of 16 record is W1 L1. They lost 5-4 on penalties to Poland after a 1-1 draw in 2016 but scored twice in the final nine minutes to draw 3-3 with France at EURO 2020 and eventually progressed 5-4 on spot kicks.

Switzerland's only previous game at the Olympiastadion proved to be one to remember as they came from behind to beat Sweden 2-1 on 12 November 1961 and qualify for the 1962 World Cup.

Italy

The Azzurri have been champions of Europe on two occasions – in 1968 and again at EURO 2020. They were also runners-up in 2000 and 2012.

This is Italy's 11th EURO appearance, and an eighth in succession – they last failed to qualify in 1992. In contrast, they have missed out on the last two World Cups.

At EURO 2020 a side coached by Roberto Mancini won all three Group A games to finish five points clear in a section also including Wales, Switzerland and Türkiye, before beating both Austria, after extra time, and Belgium 2-1 in the knockout rounds.

They edged past Spain 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the semi-finals and recovered from falling behind in the second minute to defeat England via the same route in the final at Wembley, prevailing 3-2 on spot kicks after another 1-1 draw.

Italy started EURO 2024 qualifying under Mancini, and finished it under Luciano Spalletti, who took over on 1 September 2023 after Mancini's departure the previous month.

The Azzurri were Group C runners-up, losing home (1-2) and away (1-3) against England but booking their finals place with a 0-0 draw against Ukraine in their last qualifier, enough to go through on head-to-head record after both sides had finished with 14 points – six behind England.

This is the eighth time in the ten finals campaigns involving a group stage that Italy have advanced to the knockout rounds – and the fifth in succession.

Italy have won both previous round of 16 ties, against Spain at EURO 2016 (2-0) and Austria at EURO 2020 (2-1 aet).

The Matchday 2 defeat by Spain is Italy's only loss in their last nine matches (W5 D3).

It is also Italy's sole defeat in 12 EURO finals games (W7 D4).

Italy's record in their six games at the Olympiastadion is W2 D2 L2, their last game bringing a 5-3 penalty shoot-out victory against France after a 1-1 draw in the 2006 World Cup final. They also beat Austria 2-1 in the stadium in the final of the 1936 Olympic Games.

Links and trivia

Have played in Italy:
Yann Sommer (Inter Milan 2023–)
Ricardo Rodríguez (AC Milan 2017–20, Torino 2020–)
Remo Freuler (Atalanta 2016–22, Bologna 2023–)
Noah Okafor (AC Milan 2023–)
Michel Aebischer (Bologna 2022–)
Dan Ndoye (Bologna 2023–)
Dennis Zakaria (Juventus 2022)
Silvan Widmer (Udinese 2013–18)
Xherdan Shaqiri (Inter Milan 2015)

Has played in Switzerland:
Federico Dimarco (Sion 2017/18)

Have played together:
Yann Sommer & Nicolò Barella, Alessandro Bastoni, Matteo Darmian, Federico Dimarco, Davide Frattesi (Inter Milan 2023–)
Granit Xhaka & Jorginho (Arsenal 2023)
Michel Aebischer, Remo Freuler, Dan Ndoye & Riccardo Calafiori (Bologna 2023–)
Michel Aebischer & Andrea Cambiaso (Bologna 2022/23)
Ricardo Rodríguez & Alessandro Buongiorno (Torino 2020–)
Ricardo Rodríguez & Raoul Bellanova (Torino 2023–)
Ricardo Rodríguez & Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan 2017–20)

Jorginho was in the Chelsea side that defeated Xhaka's Arsenal 4-1 in the 2019 UEFA Europa League final in Baku.

Gianluca Scamacca's Atalanta beat a Leverkusen team featuring Xhaka 3-0 in the Europa League final in Dublin on 22 May.

Goalkeepers Gregor Kobel and Gianluigi Donnarumma faced each other four times in the last UEFA Champions League with Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain respectively. Kobel kept a clean sheet in both legs of the semi-final as the German side prevailed 2-0 on aggregate.

Penalty shoot-outs

Switzerland have won one of their five competitive penalty shoot-outs:
0-3 v Ukraine, 2006 World Cup round of 16
4-5 v Poland, EURO 2016 round of 16
5-6 v England, 2019 Nations League third-place play-off
5-4 v France, EURO 2020 round of 16
1-3 v Spain, EURO 2020 quarter-final

Italy's shoot-out record is W6 L7:
8-9 v Czechoslovakia, 1980 European Championship third-place play-off
3-4 v Argentina, 1990 World Cup semi-final
2-3 v Brazil, 1994 Cup final
3-4 v France, 1998 FIFA World Cup quarter-final
3-1 v Netherlands, EURO 2000 semi-final
5-3 v France, 2006 World Cup final
2-4 v Spain, EURO 2008 quarter-final
4-2 v England, EURO 2012 quarter-final
6-7 v Spain, 2013 Confederations Cup semi-final
3-2 v Uruguay, 2013 Confederations Cup third-place play-off
5-6 v Germany, EURO 2016 quarter-final
4-2 v Spain, EURO 2020 semi-final
3-2 v England, EURO 2020 final

At EURO 2020, Italy became the first team to win more than one penalty shoot-out at the same European Championship.