Three times the crossbar denied a goal, France shared points with Switzerland

The 0-0 draw helped Switzerland advance as runners-up in Group A, but France had reason to regret not being able to close the group stage with a perfect record.

France have already secured their place in the next round thanks to their first two wins. The final match against Switzerland will only determine the first and second place in Group A, and with a point in Lille, Deschamps and his team have confirmed their position as the number one team in this group.

However, it is difficult to say that Deschamps, his star players and millions of French fans were satisfied with the draw with Switzerland. "Les Bleus" were eager to win the match and did everything they could, but were unable to take all three points in the final match of the group stage.

Pogba and his teammates deserved to win, not a 0-0 draw, considering the number of clear chances they created. Photo: Reuters.

Bad luck is probably the only explanation for the Euro 2016 hosts having to leave the field with a draw.

Despite a series of changes to the starting lineup, France built a better attack and dominated the scoring chances. However, on an unlucky day, Deschamps' students were denied by the crossbar three times.

Two of these missed chances came early in the first half and both belonged to Pogba, who was desperate for his first goal at Euro 2016. The other situation where the ball hit the crossbar came late in the match, with a beautiful finish from substitute Payet.

Switzerland did not enter the match determined to win, as they had four points from the first two matches and needed just one more point to secure a place in the second position of the group. Therefore, coach Petkovic's students were not interested in finding a goal.

They just tried to keep the ball as much as possible to relieve the pressure on Sommer's goal, and succeeded with 59% of the time. However, besides the French strikers' bad luck, the Swiss did not concede a goal because they had an excellent Yann Sommer in goal, who came and went very reasonably, with quick and accurate reflexes.

In the 12th and 13th minutes, the goalkeeper made two excellent saves. He touched the ball, causing Pogba's shot to hit the crossbar, before diving to deny another dangerous shot from the home team's star midfielder. In the second half, with his excellent reflexes, Sommer twice more denied good chances from Gignac and Griezmann.

Sommer, with help from the goal, denied all of France's best chances. Photo: Reuters.

With a point in Lille, Switzerland finished the group stage with five points and for the first time in their history at the Euros, they qualified for the next round, advancing beyond the group stage.

According to VNE