Switzerland stuns France in penalties to set up showdown with Spain

Alvaro Morata and Mikel Oyarzabal scored in extra time Monday to give Spain a 5-3 win over Croatia and a place in the European Championship quarterfinals after a wildly entertaining see-saw match at Parken Stadium.

Spain snuffs out late Croatia rally to win 8-goal thriller in extra time

The Associated Press · Posted: Jun 28, 2021 3:41 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 28, 2021

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France is out of the European Championship, and it was Kylian Mbappe that missed the penalty kick in the shootout.

Switzerland eliminated the World Cup champions 5-4 in the shootout after a 3-3 draw on Monday in the round of 16.

Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who left the team during the group stage to be with his wife for the birth of their daughter, made the decisive safe on the 10th penalty after the previous nine had all been successful.

The Swiss will next play Spain in the quarter-finals in St. Petersburg on Friday.

It was the third game in the round of 16 game to go to extra time but the first to be decided by penalties.

Switzerland substitute Mario Gavranovic forced extra time with a 90th-minute equalizer.

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France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, the team's captain, made the save on Ricardo Rodriguez in the 55th minute and woke up the French. Karim Benzema scored once in the 57th, and again in the 59th to give France the lead.

Paul Pogba made it 3-1 in the 75th with a right-foot shot from 20 meters and it looked like the game was out of reach for the Swiss. But just as quickly as France had taken over the game, they let it go again.

Seferovic scored another header in the 81st minute and Gavranovic made it 3-3 with only seconds remaining.

Spain holds off late Croatia rally

Spain first gifted Croatia a bizarre own-goal, then threw away a late 3-1 lead. Alvaro Morata made sure it didn't matter in the end.

Morata and Mikel Oyarzabal scored in extra time Monday to give Spain a 5-3 win over Croatia and a place in the European Championship quarterfinals after a wildly entertaining see-saw match at Parken Stadium.

It was the second-highest scoring game in the history of the European Championship, trailing only Yugoslavia's 5-4 win over France in the opening game of the inaugural tournament in 1960.

And it had nearly as many momentum shifts as goals.

After Croatia midfielder Mario Pasalic equalized in injury time to cap an improbable late comeback, the much-maligned Morata scored what proved the winner in the 100th minute.

The Spain striker controlled a cross with one deft touch and then sent a rising shot past goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic for his second goal of the tournament.

Oyarzabal doubled the lead three minutes later.

Morata had received a torrent of online abuse — including death threats — after a string of misses during the group stage. But his fierce finish from a tight angle proved decisive on Monday.

Spain had dominated the first 20 minutes but goalkeeper Unai Simon was at fault for his team's early deficit after a massive blunder when he failed to control a long back pass. The ball bounced over Simon's foot and trickled into the net behind him.

"We know that's football and that those things happen," Spain captain Sergio Busquets said. "The most important thing is to pick yourself up and show a strong mentality. And I think both Unai and the whole team did that today."

Spain quickly recovered and Pablo Sarabia equalized in the 38th. Right back Cesar Azpilicueta then made it 2-1 with a header in the 57th and Ferran Torres doubled the lead when he finished off a quick counterattack with a low shot past Livakovic in the 77th.

Croatia's late surge allowed both Simon and Morata to redeem themselves.

The goalkeeper made a crucial save to deny Andrej Kramaric at the start of extra time, then got up and punched the air in celebration before Morata put in the winning goal.

"We have complete confidence in [Simon]," Busquets said. "He was unlucky with that own-goal but Unai has a very laid-back mentality. He's very ambitious at the same time and I think he showed that with his reaction, and with the saves he made."