Switzerland got their Euro 2024 off to a winning start thanks to a hugely impressive first-half performance from Murat Yakin’s team — and a welcome late return from Breel Embolo.
Having gone 2-0 down in the first half, Hungary battled back after the break and halved the deficit through a Barnabas Varga header. There were some nervy moments for the Swiss until Embolo punished Willi Orban for a misplaced header and lifted in a third on his first international appearance since the 2022 World Cup.
The Athletic’s Jacob Whitehead and Nick Miller assess the key talking points…
Switzerland use Hungary rashness to exploit space
In qualifying, Hungary conceded just seven goals from eight matches to finish top of their group and qualify automatically. Over the last six years, Marco Rossi’s organisation has made this team more than the sum of their parts — but his best-laid plans were ripped apart by Switzerland in the first half.
Rossi’s 3-4-3 (which became a 5-4-1 out of possession) should have meant Hungary had plenty of players behind the ball but Switzerland excelled in being patient in their build-up, drawing the opposition defensive midfielders wide. This left Remo Freuler and Granit Xhaka with aeons of space.
Roaming left-winger Michel Aebischer found Kwadwo Duah for the first goal after a 22-pass move, the third-longest build-up move in a European Championship since 1980.
Duah celebrates his first international goal, and Switzerland’s first of the game (Kevin Voigt/GettyImages)
Especially in the first half, Switzerland were clever in not going toe-to-toe with Hungary’s physicality, knowing they would likely lose one-vs-one duels — instead they tempted Hungary’s defenders out of the line, Freuler and Xhaka manipulating them with their eyes like NFL quarterbacks.
The position of veteran Attila Fiola was also exploited. He is an aggressive right wing-back, but the 34-year-old has lost his pace, leaving wide spaces for Switzerland’s fluid front three to float into. Both he and opposite wing-back Milos Kerkez bomb forward, leaving Hungary open to quick transitions when they lost possession. Aebischer’s goal seconds before half-time came after he drove into a space between Fiola and defensive midfielder Adam Nagy unchallenged. From there, his whipped strike was nearly inch-perfect.
Jacob Whitehead
Yakin rolls dice with Duah
Scoring any international goal is pretty good. Scoring a goal at an international tournament is even better. Scoring a goal at a tournament in just your second appearance, with less than an hour of international football to your name, is what fantasies are made of. But that’s what Kwadwo Duah did after just 12 minutes to give Switzerland the lead over Hungary.
London-born and Swiss-raised, Duah was a surprise addition to the Switzerland squad, so when his name was included in the starting line-up by Yakin, it looked like a remarkable gamble from a coach who has fielded his fair share of pre-tournament doubts.
🪄 Switzerland open the scoring!
After initially being ruled offside, VAR intervenes to hand Kwadwo Duah his first international goal 👏#Euro2024 | #HUNSUI pic.twitter.com/BczKkF5GoZ
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 15, 2024
It was partly a risk based on necessity: Switzerland’s attacking options are on the light side, to say the least, given that Breel Embolo is only just returning from a serious knee injury and Zeki Amdouni had a tricky season getting relegated from the Premier League with Burnley, albeit with moments of individual excellence. Duah scored goals for Ludogorets in Bulgaria, but that is not a league that generally prepares players for international football glory.
This is part of the charm of international tournaments: you don’t necessarily need to be a big name for 48 weeks of the year to be a star in the other four.
Nick Miller
Embolo makes a welcome return
There will be plenty of heart-warming moments at this tournament, but Embolo scoring Switzerland’s third and clinching goal will be right up there.
The Monaco forward ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a pre-season training session last August, training that was itself designed to help him recover from a previous knee injury. He missed most of the season and it was the main reason he didn’t start this game, despite being Switzerland’s most experienced striker.
But as he chased onto Jan Sommer’s long punt upfield, the brace he was wearing on that knee slipped off and was left just outside the penalty area as he ran through to lob Hungary ‘keeper Peter Gulacsi. If you want some symbolism, Embolo literally shedding the most obvious physical manifestation of his injury on his way to scoring is possibly about as good as you will get.
That he didn’t appear to notice, either in the process of scoring or in celebrating, should probably tell you that he’s back and ready again.
Nick Miller
What did Hungary coach Marco Rossi say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What did Swiss coach Murat Yakin say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What next for Hungary?
Wednesday, June 19: Germany (Stuttgart), 5pm BST, noon ET
What next for Switzerland?
Wednesday, June 19: Scotland (Cologne), 8pm BST, 3pm ET
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(Top photo: Marius Becker/Getty Images)
