Switzerland haven’t beaten Italy for 31 years but they also remain undefeated in 2024 so far.
Defending champions Italy aim to continue their dominance as they face Switzerland to reach the quarterfinals of Euro 2024.
Switzerland have only eight wins from their previous 61 meetings against Italy. But they are still unbeaten this year and their only loss in 2023 came in the last game of qualifiers.
Kickoff is at 18.00 at Berlin’s Olympiastadion on Saturday.
Italy have fond memories of playing in Berlin after beating France on penalties in the 2006 World Cup final. In the same stadium, they also defeated Austria 2-1 in the final of the 1936 Olympics.
So far, Euro 2024 has been a tough experience for the Azzurri, conceding after just 23 seconds in its opening 2-1 win over Albania, then being thoroughly outclassed in a 1-0 defeat to Spain, before needing a last-gasp strike from Italy substitute Mattia Zaccagni to salvage a 1-1 draw against Croatia to finish runner-up in Group B.
Switzerland opened with a 3-1 win over Hungary before 1-1 draws against Scotland and host nation Germany.
The last time they faced Italy was in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. They drew both games and the Swiss finished top of the group to reach the tournament in Qatar, as Italy lost to North Macedonia in the playoffs and missed out – the Italians’ second successive failure to qualify for the World Cup.
Switzerland players Yann Sommer, Ricardo Rodríguez, Remo Freuler, Noah Okafor, Michel Aebischer, Dan Ndoye, Dennis Zakaria, Silvan Widmer and Xherdan Shaqiri have all played in Italy’s Serie A.
In contrast, defender Federico Dimarco is the only member of Italy’s squad to have played in Switzerland, spending one season at Sion in 2017-18.
The winner will face England or Slovakia in the quarterfinals in Düsseldorf on July 6.
The other Saturday’s knockout game has Germany taking on Denmark at 21.00 local time in Dortmund.