Euro 2020: Switzerland cruise past Turkey to boost round of 16 qualification hopes

Switzerland earned a 3-1 win over Turkey on Sunday to stay in the race to qualify for the Euro 2020 round of 16. 

Manuel Akanji and Switzerland went into their group stage finale against Turkey knowing that failure to get the three points would mean the end of their Euro 2020 campaign.

And they got off to the perfect start with Haris Seferović scoring the opener in the sixth minute. The Benfica striker found the back of the net with a lovely finish from the edge of the box to give his side the early lead.

Xherdan Shaqiri then doubled Switzerland’s advantage in the 26th minute with a stunning strike from 20 yards out.

Turkey did threaten the Switzerland goal on a few occasions, but Yann Sommer made some impressive saves to keep his side ahead. It took a special strike to finally beat the Borussia Mönchengladbach goalkeeper, and it was İrfan Kahveci who provided it to half the deficit for Turkey.

But Shaqiri ended all hopes of a Turkey comeback just six minutes later with a gorgeous first-time finish at the end of a blistering counter-attack.

Switzerland got the job done quite comfortably in the end, earning a 3-1 win over Turkey to finish the group stage in third place with four points to their name.

The result means that Switzerland will have to wait to find out if they go through to the round of 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams. With a goal difference of -1, they will need results in other groups to go their way.

Italy earned a 1-0 win over Wales to qualify for the round of 16 as Group A winners. While Wales are also through to the Euro 2020 knockout phase, thanks to their superior goal difference over Switzerland.