Switzerland v San Marino background
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Article summary
Switzerland will hope to confirm their place at UEFA EURO 2016 as the second-ranked side in qualifying Group E entertain the section's bottom team San Marino.
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Article body
Switzerland can confirm their UEFA EURO 2016 place with a win against San Marino in Group E, provided third-ranked Slovenia drop points at home to Lithuania.
• Switzerland, in second position, have a three-point lead over the Slovenes although theirs is the inferior head-to-head record in the event that the sides finish level on points.
• San Marino cannot avoid finishing bottom of Group E.
Previous meetings
• Two Haris Seferovic goals set Switzerland on their way to a 4-0 victory over San Marino in the teams' Group E encounter in Serravalle last October.
• Switzerland have won all three previous meetings with San Marino without conceding, including 4-0 away and 7-0 at home in 1992 UEFA European Championship qualifying.
Form guide
• September's 2-0 loss in England halted Switzerland's five-game winning streak in Group E, but they have won their last three home matches in the section, racking up ten goals in the process.
• San Marino's competitive away record in all competitions reads D1 L59, with just five goals scored. However, they ended a 34-game wait for an away goal in the 2-1 reverse in Lithuania last time out – and came within seconds of earning a point.
Disciplinary
• Blerim Dzemaili and Granit Xhaka will incur a suspension with their next yellow cards.
• Manuel Battistini and Nicola Chiaruzzi serve one-match bans against Switzerland; Alex Gasperoni, Mirko Palazzi, Andy Selva and Davide Simoncini are all within a booking of a suspension.
Trivia and links
• This is Switzerland's 100th UEFA European Championship fixture; the previous 99 have resulted in: W38 D24 L37.
• San Marino have lost all five of their UEFA age-group competition fixtures against Switzerland, conceding 25 times – ten of them in the most recent of those encounters, a UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifier in Belarus on 5 September 2009.
• Folgore/Falciano at least managed to score in the only UEFA club competition tie between sides from the two nations, though they lost 12-1 on aggregate to Basel in that 2000/01 UEFA Cup qualifying round tie. Alessandro Zanotti's 79th-minute header is thus the only Sammarinese goal registered in competitive action against Swiss opponents.