By Seyi Babalola

England and Switzerland will face in the UEFA EURO 2024 quarter-finals on Saturday 6 July by 5 pm.

England was seconds away from a painful Euro 2024 loss against Slovakia in the round of 16, but Jude Bellingham’s stoppage-time overhead kick prevented extra time.

Captain Harry Kane secured England’s 2-1 comeback triumph with a header, but despite the dramatic result, concerns were made about the team’s poor performance and manager Gareth Southgate’s tactics.

England arrived in Germany as one of the favourites, with a superb team that included the Bundesliga’s leading striker, Kane, Real Madrid’s Bellingham, and Phil Foden, the English Premier League’s player of the year last season.

However, they are only one of several favored sides, and their chances have dwindled as a result of their dismal performances in the competition thus far.

Despite the poor performance in Germany, England is unbeaten in their past 11 Euros games, winning seven, and their last defeat came against Iceland in 2016.

However, they had a 50% victory rate in six prior quarterfinals, losing two of the last three on penalties, as they were also defeated by the Italians in the Euro 2022 final.

Switzerland, on the other hand, appears to be confident and structured, having eliminated defending champions Italy in the last round.

The Swiss are playing in just their second Euro quarterfinal, having lost to Spain on penalties in 2020, but they appear to be in the mood to pull off another upset after defeating Italy in the previous round.

Speaking ahead of the match, Gareth Southgate, England coach said: “[Switzerland] have good players, a settled way of playing and they press aggressively, at the beginning of games in particular.

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“They have some adaptations to their system that you have to be ready for. They’ve shown that they can defend well as a group when they’ve been ahead in a couple of the matches as well. They’re a very, very good side.”

Also, Murat Yakin, Switzerland coach said: “Every big team aims for the knockout phase. Once you are there, it comes down to one game at a time. England reached the final three years ago and everyone knows how good they are, and what great players they have.

“It is up to us to frustrate another big side and play the game we know how to play. Anything is possible. I just hope luck is on our side again.”

The match will be broadcast on GOtv and DStv. On GOtv channel 61, and DStv channels 222 and 225, respectively.

Possible line-ups

England: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Konsa; Trippier, Mainoo, Rice, Shaw; Foden, Bellingham; Kane

Suspended: Guéhi

Misses next match if booked: Bellingham, Foden, Gallagher, Mainoo, Trippier

Switzerland: Sommer; Schär, Akanji, Rodríguez; Widmer, Xhaka, Freuler, Aebischer; Ndoye, Embolo, Vargas

Misses next match if booked: Freuler, Ndoye, Rodríguez, Sierro, Xhaka.