GENEVA (AP) — A stoppage-time goal for Switzerland in a frenetic atmosphere will keep the host-nation buzz going for at least one more week into the quarterfinals at the Women’s European Championship.
Switzerland’s frantic wave of late attacks set up substitute Riola Xhemaili to level the score 1-1 against Finland in the second minute of added time in a tense end to Group A.
Switzerland only needed a draw to advance ahead of Finland on goal difference but fell behind against the run of play to a 79th-minute penalty by Natalia Kuikka.
“We showed the whole world what Swiss people can do,” said Xhemaili, who was in the ideal spot in the goalmouth to divert a low shot by Géraldine Reuteler that was going wide.
Switzerland will now play its first knockout game at a Women’s Euros against the winner of Group B.
That is likely to be world champion Spain, the standout team at Euro 2025 which has scored 11 goals in two games so far.
Switzerland will get a full week of rest, though, to celebrate its achievement before worrying about the next challenge on July 18 in Bern.
The Swiss and Finns were playing for the runner-up spot in Group A as Norway had already secured top spot after two rounds. Norway rested key starters Thursday in a , which had already been eliminated.
Key for Switzerland to advance had been beating Iceland 2-0 after Finland managed only a one-goal win against the same opponent. The second goal against Iceland, in the 90th minute on Sunday, also sparked a fresh passion across the country for this Swiss team.
“The reason we are in the quarterfinal is because we are the home team,” Switzerland coach Pia Sundhage said, praising the fans. “I’m so, so proud of Switzerland and what the players have done so far.
“We are not finished yet.”
Swiss attacking strategy
Sundhage did not play safely for a draw Thursday. Far from it. She sent on more attackers for the second half, including a forward line of three teenagers.
The 19-year-old Leila Wandeler and 18-year-olds Sydney Schertenleib and Iman Beney stretched the Finland defense and energized the sold-out Stade de Genève.
Switzerland’s all-time record goalscorer Ana-Maria Crnogorčević went on as right wing-back and made a key block in the center of defense.
The strategy was working and Switzerland dominated the second half until conceding a foolish penalty. When Emma Koivisto was tripped by Viola Calligaris it completed a clumsy passage of play in the Swiss penalty area.
Sundhage’s calm
It was all vindication for Sundhage, the 65-year-old coach who led the United States to two Olympic titles and the 2011 World Cup final, and led Brazil to a South American championship.
Yet the storied veteran had seemed to be losing a bit of the Swiss public’s faith in her plans for a young team after a winless six-game Nations League campaign this year.
When the equalizing goal went in, Sundhage stood calmly next to the touchline as her players and staff leaped off the bench and onto the field.
When the final whistle blew, she slowly turned to face the fans in the main stand, smiled and held her arms out wide, as if asking: “Well, how about that?”
“These kinds of moments are very encouraging,” Sundhage said later, even making her think she can “go on forever and ever.”
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