Latest EURO 2024 results: Switzerland turns Italy into former champion; Germany dramatically wins Denmark

Switzerland turns Italy into a former king

After the opening whistle, Switzerland gradually overwhelmed Italy, forcing the blue team to retreat deep to defend on their home field. Italy was just a name when they let Switzerland continuously press the field with extremely coherent attacks.

In the 24th minute, Breel Embolo broke the offside trap but his one-on-one shot was not enough to beat Gianluigi Donnarumma. Once again, the PSG goalkeeper became Italy's savior.

In the period that followed, Italy could barely advance or in other words, they had no ball to play with. Switzerland completely controlled the midfield and their aggressive pressing style caused Italy to continuously make bad passes.

And then what had to happen finally happened. In the 37th minute, receiving a pass from Ruben Vargas on the left wing, Freuler entered the penalty area, controlled the ball for a moment and then finished with his left foot into the near corner of the Italian net to open the score. This time, there was no Donnarumma to save Italy.

Less than 30 seconds into the second half, Italy had to pick the ball out of the net for the second time. Receiving a pass from Michel Aebischer, Vargas, unmarked in the penalty area, comfortably curled his right foot into the top corner to defeat Donnarumma.

Italy struggled to come back from behind but failed to get the ball. The Azzurri lacked ideas, played disjointedly and relied heavily on crosses from the flanks, but to no avail. All Italy could muster was a near-own goal from Fabian Schar in the 52nd minute and a close-range shot from Scamacca that hit the Swiss post in the 74th minute.

In the end, Italy lost 0-2 to Switzerland and became the former EURO champion. As for Switzerland, they won the first ticket to the EURO quarter-finals. Switzerland's opponent will be the winner of the match between England and Slovakia.

Germany dramatic win over Denmark

The highlight of the match in Dortmund, besides the heavy rain that forced the referee to stop the match for 25 minutes, was the VAR's intervention in the goals scored by both Germany and Denmark.

The match had only been going on for 4 minutes when the ball was already in the net of Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel after a close-range header from centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck. However, VAR intervened and determined that Joshua Kimmich had fouled a Danish defender earlier, so the goal was not recognized.

For the next 15 minutes, Denmark's goal was constantly on alert and goalkeeper Schmeichel had to fly and dive to save at least 3 goals. With only 30% ball possession, no attacks and no shots, Denmark seemed to be stuck in the overwhelming game of the home team Germany.

Only a sudden downpour, forcing the referee to stop the match for 25 minutes, prevented Denmark from responding strongly. Christian Eriksen and Joakim Maehle tested the German defence and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, but somehow the goal eluded the spectators.

When the rain stopped, referee Michael Oliver restarted the match. After Kai Havertz's close-range header failed to beat goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, Denmark responded with Rasmus Hojlund facing Manuel Neuer but the away team's striker could not beat the home team's "keeper".

The drama of the match was pushed up very high after the break. Joachim Andersen put the ball into the German net in the 48th minute after a messy play in front of the home team's goal, however, his teammate Thomas Delaney was in an offside position before that.

Just 4 minutes later, Joachim Andersen handled the ball in the penalty area after a cross from David Raum, leading to a penalty for Germany. On the 11m mark, Kai Havertz easily defeated goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, opening the score of the match.

In their eagerness to push forward in search of an equalizer, Denmark left many gaps and they paid the price. In the 68th minute, centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck kicked the ball long from his own half and Jamal Musiala easily escaped the marking of defender Joachim Andersen to run down and shoot past goalkeeper Schmeichel. 2-0 for Germany.

Substitute Florian Wirtz found the back of the Danish net once from an offside position, while Kai Havertz and Emre Can failed to face Kasper Schmeichel, adding to the drama of the final stretch.

Winning 2-0 against Denmark, Germany became the second team after Switzerland to advance to the EURO quarter-finals.