Italy v Switzerland: What the stats say ahead Euro 2020 clash
This is the first encounter between Italy and Switzerland in the UEFA European Championships. However, they have met in two previous major tournaments: in the 1954 World Cup (as hosts, Switzerland won both games: a group stage match and a play-off) and the 1962 World Cup (Italy won 3-0 in Chile, also in the group stages).
Switzerland have won none of their last eight matches against Italy (D4 L4). They last beat their neighbours 28 years ago, a 1-0 victory in Bern as part of the FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. Current Italy head-coach Roberto Mancini was on the losing side that day.
Italy have lost only one of their 24 games against Switzerland on Italian soil (W18 D5): it was a friendly in October 1982 at Rome’s Olimpico stadium (0-1), in what was Italy’s first game after being crowned world champions three months previously.
Switzerland have drawn each of their last four games at the European Championships – no nation has ever drawn five games in a row in the competition.
Italy have kept a clean sheet in each of their last nine matches in all competitions, going 875 minutes without conceding since a Donny van de Beek goal for the Netherlands last October. They haven’t kept 10 clean sheets in a row since doing so between November 1989 and June 1990.
Victory will see Italy become the first team to reach the knockout stages of EURO 2020. However, the Italians have won both of their opening two matches in just two of their nine previous appearances at the European Championships, doing so in 2000 and 2016.
Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma is looking to become the second youngest goalkeeper in the history of the European Championships to keep a clean sheet in consecutive appearances (22y 111d on the day of this game), after Russia’s Igor Akinfeev in June 2008 (22y 71d).
Switzerland’s Haris Seferovic has had 13 shots in five appearances at the European Championships, including four in the first half of their 1-1 draw with Wales on MD1. However, he’s yet to score in the competition.
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Italy striker Ciro Immobile has scored 92 goals in his last 118 appearances at the Stadio Olimpico since moving to Lazio in 2016 – Immobile or Lorenzo Insigne are looking to become the first players to score in Italy’s first two games at a major tournament (EUROs + World Cup) since Christian Vieri at the 2002 World Cup.
Since 2014, Xherdan Shaqiri has been involved in 50% of Switzerland’s goals in major tournaments (EUROs and World Cup), scoring five and assisting three of their 16 goals in that time.