Euro 2024: Who will Italy face in Round of 16?

The defending champions are through to the RO16 thanks to a late equalizer from Mattia Zaccagni against Croatia

We are almost done and suited with the group stage fixtures of the ongoing 2024 European Championship. Teams from Group A and Group B have wrapped up their fixtures while the teams from other four teams are yet to do so. The group stage fixtures will end on June 27 and the knockout stages will kick-off from June 29.

Defending champions and one of the title favourites Italy are among the two teams who have secured their qualification from the group of death. Italy began their title defense with a 2-1 win over Albania where goals from Nicolò Barella and Alessandro Bastoni helped them script a fight back from behind and secure all three points.

However, after avoiding a defeat in their opening game, Italy lost to Spain in a close 1-0 encounter, thanks to an own goal from defender Riccardo Calafiori. The Gli Azzurri then locked horns with Croatia and somehow managed to salvage a point following a late equalizer from Mattia Zaccagni.

Italy’s RO16 opponent

Italy will want to put their disappointing group stage performances behind their back and focus on their RO16 clash. The defending champions of Europe will face off against Switzerland to kick off the knockout stages on June 29. The game will be played at Olympiastadion in Berlin at 9:30 PM IST and 6:00 PM GMT+2.

Switzerland finished second in Group A behind table toppers and host Germany. They remained undefeated throughout the group stages and have proved themselves to be a strong contender for the title. They started their tournament with a strong 3-1 win over Hungary where Kwadwo Duah, Michel Aebischer, and Breel Embolo found the back of the net.

They then played out a 1-1 draw against Scotland. The Scotts broke the deadlock early in the game, but Xherdan Shaqiri came to Switzerland’s rescue and restored parity for them. In their final group stage game, the Swiss gave a tough competition to Germany and had almost won the game before Niclas Füllkrug spoiled their party.

Switzerland will not be an easy nut to crack and might cause a lot of problems for the reigning champions. It is indeed going to be a very highly staked fixture given the kind of quality and run of form both teams bring into this game.

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