Kylian Mbappe sensationally missed the decisive shoot-out penalty as Switzerland knocked out Euro 2020 favourites France after a six-goal thriller on Monday to set up a quarter-final clash with Spain.
The superstar striker stepped up to take the 10th kick of the shoot-out but was denied by a brilliant stop by Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer to cap a classic contest and a day of incredible drama at the European Championships.
Early in the game Switzerland had taken a shock lead through Haris Seferovic’s header (15), but France turned it around with a four-minute burst featuring a Hugo Lloris penalty save and Karim Benzema double (57, 59), before Paul Pogba (75) looked to have sealed it by curling a stunning shot into the top corner.
However, just like Croatia against Spain earlier in the day, Switzerland refused to lie down and produced their own comeback in the final nine minutes, with Seferovic powering in another header (81), and Mario Gavranovic (90) firing in from the edge of the box after seeing a previous strike ruled out for offside.
There was still time for Kingsley Coman to hit the bar and his team-mates passed up several chances in extra-time but, while Croatia were eventually unable to pull off an upset in their epic, Switzerland shocked world champions France with Sommer denying Mbappe to book a trip to St Petersburg for a quarter-final on Friday.
