Women's EURO 2022: Portugal vs Switzerland match facts, stats, ones to watch
Tuesday, June 21, 2022
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Portugal and Switzerland kick off Group C with both sides aiming to improve on their UEFA Women's EURO debuts five years ago.
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Portugal vs Switzerland: Head-to-head
- Portugal and Switzerland kick off Group C with both sides aiming to improve on their UEFA Women's EURO debuts five years ago.
- The nations are meeting for the first time since Switzerland's 3-1 victory in the Algarve Cup group stage in March 2019. Hosts Portugal took the lead through Andreia Norton's 27th-minute goal, before second-half strikes from Ana-Maria Crnogorčević, Rahel Kiwic and Melanie Müller turned the match the way of Nils Nielsen's Switzerland.
- Portugal have been victorious in two of their last three fixtures against La Nati, winning two friendlies in the space of three days in February 2015 – the first a 2-1 success in which Vanessa Marques scored the opener.
- Switzerland's record in this fixture overall is P9 W5 D1 L3, with 12 goals scored and nine conceded.
- The sides' last competitive encounter came in EURO 2001 qualifying, Portugal winning 2-0 in Chene-Bourg in April 2000. The away side came out on top in both fixtures in that qualification campaign, Switzerland prevailing 1-0 in Leiria in November 1999.
- Switzerland were unbeaten in the first three competitive fixtures against Portugal prior to that April 2000 loss, winning 2-0 in Solothurn in October 1982 in the first meeting between the sides before drawing 1-1 in Coimbra in April 1983 in the qualifiers for first Women's EURO in 1984.
- Portugal are appearing at their second EURO final tournament following a group stage exit in 2017. The Selecção's only victory at the finals was their 2-1 Matchday 2 win against Scotland in Rotterdam, but Francisco Neto's squad would go on to be eliminated due to their inferior head-to-head record after a three-way tie for second with the Scots and Spain, who qualified along with Group D winners England.
- Switzerland also suffered group stage elimination in their only previous EURO finals outing five years ago, a late equaliser in the 1-1 Matchday 3 draw against France in Breda giving Les Bleues second place in Group C behind Austria at the expense of the Swiss.
- Portugal, who lost 1-0 on aggregate to Russia in the play-offs, were awarded their place at EURO 2022 on 2 May by the UEFA Executive Committee. The Selecção das Quinas reached the two-legged tie by virtue of their runners-up spot in Group E behind unbeaten Finland, Portugal winning 19 points from a possible 24 despite only scoring ten goals. They dropped points only against Finland, drawing 1-1 at home against the eventual group winners in November 2019 before a 1-0 defeat in Helsinki in February 2021.
- Switzerland secured their place at a second successive EURO in April 2021 with a 3-2 shoot-out victory following a 2-2 aggregate play-off draw against the Czech Republic. La Nati had finished as Group H runners-up behind Belgium after winning six of their eight qualifiers, their only defeat coming against the section winners in Leuven in December 2020.
Ones to watch: Portugal
Carolina Mendes
- The 34-year-old scored two of Portugal's three goals at EURO 2017, finding the net on both of her starts.
- The forward got the opener in the 2-1 win against Scotland five years ago – the Selecção's first ever goal at a major tournament.
- Mendes hit a hat-trick in a 4-0 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying win against Israel on 25 November.
- The Braga forward returned to Portuguese club football in 2018 to join Sporting CP after spells in Spain, Italy (twice), Russia, Sweden and Iceland.
Andreia Norton
- The 25-year-old gave Portugal the lead in their 3-1 Algarve Cup group defeat against Switzerland in March 2019.
- The forward was one of four Portugal players to feature in all ten EURO 2022 qualifiers along with Ana Borges, Sílvia Rebelo and Dolores Silva, starting six.
- Norton was a non-playing member of Portugal's EURO 2017 squad.
- The Braga attacker scored after coming on as a substitute for her senior international debut, her goal in the EURO play-off against Romania in October 2016 securing Portugal's first ever qualification for a major tournament.
Inês Pereira
- Pereira moved to Switzerland in August 2021, becoming Servette's first signing of the summer window.
- The 23-year-old was part of the Servette side that finished as Swiss Women's Super League runners-up in 2021/22, converting her penalty in the 5-4 shoot-out defeat by FC Zürich in the inaugural play-off title decider.
- The goalkeeper made three appearances in qualifying for EURO 2022, keeping two clean sheets and conceding just once.
- Pereira made her senior Portugal debut in a 3-1 friendly defeat against the Republic of Ireland in January 2018.
Ones to watch: Switzerland
Ramona Bachmann
- The 31-year-old was Switzerland's second top scorer in the qualifying campaign with five goals, one behind Crnogorčević's six.
- The forward's hat-trick in a 6-0 EURO 2022 qualifying win against Romania in November 2019 included her 50th international goal.
- Bachmann got the winner in Switzerland's only victory at EURO 2017, the 2-1 Matchday 2 defeat of Iceland in Doetinchem.
- The striker has spent the last two seasons with Paris Saint-Germain, having played club football in her native Switzerland before spells in Sweden, the United States, Germany and England.
Ana-Maria Crnogorčević
- The 31-year-old has scored in each of Switzerland's last three victories against Portugal.
- The forward played every minute of her side's EURO 2017 group stage campaign, supplying the opening goal in the 1-1 Matchday 3 draw with France.
- Crnogorčević is Switzerland's leading scorer and is closing in on Lara Dickenmann's national record of 135 caps.
- A Barcelona player since December 2019, she started all of Switzerland's ten EURO 2022 qualifying matches, finishing as the side's top scorer with six goals.
Coumba Sow
- The 27-year-old scored twice in a 7-0 World Cup qualifying win against Lithuania in Vilnius on 30 November.
- The midfielder is one of three players to have started all eight of Switzerland's 2023 World Cup qualifiers along with Crnogorčević and Lia Wälti.
- Sow's equalising goal against the Czech Republic in the play-off for this tournament in April 2021 forced extra time and ultimately penalties, although she failed to convert her spot kick in the shoot-out victory.
- The Paris FC player scored just nine minutes after her introduction as a 62nd-minute substitute on her Switzerland debut in November 2018, in the second leg of the 2019 World Cup play-off defeat against the Netherlands.