Just in time

Switzerland – Germany: The line-ups are here

Niclas Füllkrug (right) celebrates his goal against Switzerland, colleague Leroy Sane is happy with him.

(Bild: AP)

Thanks to a late goal against Switzerland, Germany have won their group at the European Football Championship. Substitute Niclas Füllkrug only managed to equalize with a header in the 92nd minute of the hosts' 1:1 (0:1) draw against the "Nati" on Sunday evening. Dan Ndoye had put the Swiss ahead in Frankfurt in the 28th minute. Both teams thus remained unbeaten in the first phase of the tournament and are through to the round of 16.

There, the Germans will face the runners-up in Group C, England and Denmark. Switzerland will face the runners-up of the often-cited "Group of Death", Spain. As the Iberians are already firmly in first place, Italy, Croatia and Albania are still possible opponents.

Niclas Füllkrug (right) celebrates his goal against Switzerland, colleague Leroy Sane is happy with him.

(Bild: AP)

Same starting eleven
Julian Nagelsmann remained true to himself ahead of the game. The national coach fielded exactly the same starting eleven that had started in the victories against Scotland and Hungary. He was keen to end the first phase of the tournament with another success as a sign to the competition that he wanted to stay in the "flow". Manuel Neuer was on the pitch for the 18th time at a European Championship and snatched the record previously held jointly with Italy legend Gianluigi Buffon in the goalkeeper rankings. In the general ranking, Cristiano Ronaldo is ahead with 25 European Championship matches.

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Fotos

Murat Yakin made changes to Switzerland's attack. Breel Embolo replaced Xherdan Shaqiri, Fabian Rieder started instead of Ruben Vargas. Defender Fabian Schär played without a mask following a broken nose - and had his work cut out for him. Germany started with verve and a very variable midfield line featuring Jamal Musiala, Ilkay Gündogan and Florian Wirtz.

Stable Swiss
The Swiss were stable defensively, but after just over a quarter of an hour the ball did find its way into their goal. Yann Sommer did anything but make a good save from Robert Andrich's long-range shot. However, the goal was rightly disallowed after a VAR check, as Musiala had hit opponent Michel Aebischer on the foot shortly beforehand. Sommer and his Swiss team were able to breathe a sigh of relief - and struck ten minutes later from their first shot on goal. Musiala got bogged down on the dribble and Ndoye volleyed home from Freuler's cross.

It was the FC Bologna striker's first goal in a national shirt. Number two almost followed shortly afterwards, but Ndoye's low shot narrowly missed the target. The 23-year-old continued to cause a stir when he was shown a yellow card against Maximilian Mittelstädt. Nagelsmann demanded a yellow card, but Italian referee Daniele Orsato waved him off. Jonathan Tah later received a yellow card. The German central defender will therefore miss the round of 16 after receiving his second caution of the tournament. The Swiss, led by their strategists Manuel Akanji and Granit Xhaka, continued to concede little. However, Antonio Rüdiger's header from a corner kick (41') was well off target and the first half came to an end.

The game continued unchanged after the break. Wirtz found Musiala with a co-production between the young German stars, but Sommer parried his shot with his fists (50'). A shot from Toni Kroos then underlined the point: Germany were determined to equalize. Nico Schlotterbeck replaced Tah after an hour, while the entire Swiss attacking unit around goalscorer Ndoye left the field shortly afterwards.

Redeemer Füllkrug
Kai Havertz's back-header went over the goal before Akanji blocked a Kimmich shot with his toe. 15 shots towards the Swiss goal were on target in the 70th minute. With Havertz and substitutes Füllkrug and Maximilian Beier, Nagelsmann threw three experienced strikers into the action in the final quarter of an hour. Havertz headed against the top of the crossbar (85') before Neuer had to make a save from an Xhaka shot. Just when the group win seemed to be lost, Füllkrug was on hand.

Switzerland - Germany 1:1 (1:0)
Frankfurt, 47,000, SR Orsato/ITA

Goals: 1:0 (28') Ndoye
1:1 (92') Füllkrug

Switzerland: Sommer - Schär, Akanji, Rodriguez - Widmer, Freuler, Xhaka, Aebischer - Rieder (65. Vargas), Ndoye (65. Amdouni) - Embolo (65. Duah)

Germany: Neuer - Kimmich, Rüdiger, Tah (61st Schlotterbeck), Mittelstädt (61st Raum) - Andrich (65th Beier), Kroos - Musiala (76th Füllkrug), Gündogan, Wirtz (76th Sane) - Havertz

Yellow cards: Ndoye, Xhaka, Widmer and Tah respectively