Norway vs Switzerland facts

Norway's first match in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship final tournament in a decade pits them against Switzerland at the CFR Cluj Stadium in Cluj-Napoca as Group D gets under way.

While Norway are returning to the finals for the first time since 2013, Switzerland have qualified for successive tournaments for only the second time and are aiming to improve on their group stage elimination in 2021.

Group D is completed by France and Italy with all six games being played in the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca, at either the CFR Cluj Stadium or the Cluj Arena.

Previous meetings

Norway were 3-2 winners against Switzerland in a Marbella friendly on 24 September 2022, Kastriot Imeri's 92nd-minute own goal deciding the contest. That was Switzerland's second own goal of the game, Anel Husic having inadvertently given Norway a 29th-minute lead; Mohamed Amdouni levelled three minutes before the break and Imeri made it 2-2 in the 69th minute after Oscar Bobb had put Norway back in front 11 minutes after half-time.

The most recent of the sides' eight European U21 Championship fixtures came in the 2017 qualifying competition, when Switzerland were held to a 1-1 home draw in Biel on 12 October 2015 – Anders Trondsen's 19th-minute strike for the visitors cancelled out 11 minutes later by Haris Tabakovic – before Mohamed Elyounoussi's 79th-minute strike gave Norway a 2-1 home victory in Drammen on 7 October 2016. Ghayas Zahid had given the home side a 44th-minute lead, Edimilson Fernandes levelling for Switzerland 11 minutes into the second half.

Those four points helped Norway finish as runners-up to England in Group 9, four points behind the section winners but four above third-placed Switzerland; they went on to lose 2-1 on aggregate to Serbia in the play-offs.

That was Norway's fifth competitive victory in their eight games against Switzerland, a sequence that includes big wins away (7-3) and at home (4-1) in the 1998 qualifying competition, where Norway ultimately finished third. That 7-3 loss remains Switzerland's biggest U21 defeat.

Switzerland's sole competitive victory against Norway was a 2-0 home success on 20 August 2008; they had lost the reverse fixture 2-1 but still finished top of Group 5 on 16 points, four above Norway who were eliminated in third. The Swiss lost 4-3 on aggregate to Spain in the play-offs.

Norway have won four of the sides' last six friendly matches, Switzerland prevailing in the other two.

Form guide

Norway

This is Norway's third appearance in the final tournament and a first since 2013 when, as on their 1998 debut, they reached the semi-finals. Both campaigns ended in defeat by Spain, 1-0 after extra time in 1998 and 3-0 ten years ago, when Norway had finished as unbeaten runners-up behind Italy in Group A.

Steffen Iversen scored both goals as Norway defeated the Netherlands 2-0 in the third-place play-off in 1998.

Norway were third in their 2021 qualifying section, 17 points behind both the Netherlands and Portugal.

This time round, Leif Gunnar Smerud's team won eight of their ten qualifiers to finish top of Group A on 24 points, two above Croatia.

Jørgen Strand Larsen, who is not in the final tournament squad, was Norway's top scorer in qualifying with six goals.

Switzerland

Switzerland are in their fifth final tournament, appearing in successive events for only the second time. Semi-finalists on home soil in 2002, their debut appearance, their most successful campaign came in 2011 when, with Yann Sommer in goal, they did not concede until a 2-0 loss to Spain in the final.

The Swiss qualified for the first time in five editions in 2021, finishing third in Group D on three points and losing out to Croatia on head-to-head goals scored after that pair and England had all finished level on three points.

A 1-0 win against England on Matchday 1 in 2021 made it five wins in Switzerland's last six finals matches although they lost the next two, against Croatia (2-3) and Portugal (0-3).

A team coached by Mauro Lustrinelli qualified for the 2023 finals as the best runners-up overall, finishing second to the Netherlands in Group E. Switzerland won seven of their ten games, losing only away to the section winners (0-2).

Lustrinelli left to take charge of Thun on 1 July 2022, Patrick Rahmen being named as his replacement two weeks later.

Zeki Amdouni was Switzerland's top scorer in qualifying with six of their 22 goals, while Simon Sohm started all ten matches.

Amdouni has also scored for the senior Switzerland side in all four of their opening UEFA EURO 2024 qualifiers, five goals in total, including a double at home to Romania (2-2) on 19 June.

This is Switzerland's 200th U21 EURO game, including qualifiers.