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Mbappe Chokes On Swiss, France Crashes Out Of Euro 2020 In Dramatic Style

By David Moore June 28, 2021
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A failed penalty and missed opportunity in extra time could have made the difference.
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I said that Spain and Croatia had the greatest game in the tournament so far. I retract that statement.

France and Switzerland battled late into the Bucharest night to tie 3-3 and Switzerland won on penalties 5-4. The massive upset has some critics looking at Kylian Mbappe.

French and Swiss players went nine for nine from the penalty spot during the shootout. Of everyone in the stadium, I think any sane person would favor Mbappe converting a penalty. Then came the shocking moment when Yann Sommer threw a paw in the air and denied the French wonder boy.

Mbappe Penalty vs Switzerland

Mbappe will have a hard time getting sleep as he thinks about the penalty miss and a massive opportunity that he skewed during extra time.

While it’s easy to point the finger at Mbappe, he isn’t responsible for all the blame. After all, he’s not the one who let the Swiss come roaring back after leading 3-1.

France vs Switzerland Highlights

Switzerland had the tournament’s favorites on the ropes for nearly an hour. An early goal from Haris Seferovic gave the underdogs an unlikely lead to protect. 

In the first half and start of the second half the French looked lackadaisical, lackluster and any other adjective that starts with lack. A Swiss upset (in regular time) genuinely seemed in the cards as France looked as threatening as a newborn kitten. Switzerland was given a penalty kick after a VAR review in the 54th minute and could have really put the pressure on France.

The penalty was exactly what France needed in the moment. A huge Hugo Lloris save jolted the sleeping giants awake. In the span of four minutes Switzerland went from potentially being up 2-0 to being down 2-1. That came courtesy of Karim Benzema going absolutely sicko mode from the the 57th minute to the 59th minute.

That first touch was so filthy, good goly. 

That’s got to be one of the fastest braces in Euro history.

After Benzema scored those two goals in quick succession it felt like France was going to go on to win 5-1. That feeling of French domination was only amplified with Paul Pogba putting his name in the hat for goal of the tournament.

Up 3-1 with 15 minutes left I foolishly started writing my story. I had the headline of all headlines prepared: Ballistic Benzema Brace And Pogba Worldie Saves France From Choking On Swiss. Silly me not learning my lesson from the Spain vs Croatia game.

Seferovic got his skull on another Swiss cross in the 81st minute to reinvigorate his side. My palms began to sweat at this point knowing that I might have to delete the six paragraphs I had already typed.

In the final minute of regulation Mario Gavranovic sent the Swiss fan section into euphoria and sent my finger to the “delete” button. Son of a…

I know Mbappe won’t want to watch, but here’s that Sommer penalty save one more time. People will be googling “Mbappe penalty vs Switzerland” for years to come.

Switzerland advances to the next round and will play Spain in the quarterfinals.

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