Key events
44 min Germany don’t want the half-time whistle because they’ve found their rhythm in the last five minutes.
42 min Germany are starting to stir. Musiala collects a loose ball 40 yards from goal, runs to the edge of the area and pokes the ball outside towards Havertz. It bounces awkwardly and Havertz belts his shot over the bar.
41 min Kroos takes a short corner, then crosses beyond the far post, where Rudiger heads wide. A difficult chance.
40 min “Switzerland has been one of the more impressive sides so far in this tournament,” writes Kári Tulinius. “I hesitate to suggest they’re dark horses, because experience suggests that they will go out in the round of 16, but if their levels don’t drop, they’ll give any team a game.”
I agree with every word. SO HOW DID THEY LOSE 6-1 TO PORTUGAL. I was MBMing that game and I was certain it would go to penalties after a hard-fought 1-1 draw.
38 min Tah is booked for an absurd high challenge on Embolo, which means he will miss Germany’s last 16 match.
Germany haven’t responded well to going behind; at the moment Switzerland look more likely to get the next goal.
37 min “I’m almost certainly missing something, but Musiala’s challenge wasn’t all that different from Ryan Porteous’s the other day, and Porteous got sent off,” says Mac Millings. “Are the rules that different for defenders and attackers? And if so, should they be?”
Why are you sending me grown-up emails, Millings? Give me shopping lists, puns, nostalgia, Watford.
(Erm, I’d like to see a few more replays but I suspect the two main differences are the level of force and whereabouts on the foot he caught him.)
35 min “At the risk of stating the obvious,” says Peter Oh, “the last few minutes have been exceedingly Ndoyeable to watch!”
34 min A long-range shot from Andrich deflects behind off his club team-mate Xhaka. The corner comes to nothing.
33 min As it stands Switzerland are top of the group, and Germany could be heading for a humdinger against Italy in the last 16.
31 min Ndoye almost gets his second, rifling just wide from the edge of the area! It was a brilliant effort, driven across goal with his left foot, and it rolled agonisingly wide.
Musiala, who is having a bad night, lost the ball in his own half and Switzerland broke. Rieder played a give-and-go on the edge of the area, then pushed the ball into Freuler on the left. He shaped a fine cross to the near post, where Ndoye stretched to volley expertly into the roof of the net. It’s his first goal for Switzerland.
There’s a VAR check for offside but the goal stands.
GOAL! Switzerland 1-0 Germany (Ndoye 28)
Switzerland take the lead with a terrific goal from Dan Ndoye!
25 min Ndoye is booked for Rudigering Rudiger.
23 min I won’t tell you the score in the Scotland game, because you’re already following it. You probably won’t even read this. But if you do, and you want to know what’s happening in Stuttgart, here’s the link.
23 min Switzerland have defended quite well so far, restricting Germany to precisely no clear chances. They’re an awkward, streetwise opponent; I still can’t quite believe they were thrashed 6-1 by Portugal at the last World Cup.
21 min “Well,” says Norrie Hernon, “at least this way you get to see whether you actually could start an argument in an empty room. You’re the Aldous Huxley to JFK’s, erm, JFK.”
I thought I was Dennis Wise.
NO GOAL! Switzerland 0-0 Germany
Yep, a foul has been given against Musiala. It didn’t affect the play, because Aebischer had already cleared the ball, but I guess that’s irrelevant.
VAR check The referee is going to the monitor to look at that Musiala challenge on Aebischer.
Mittelstadt’s cross was cleared by Aebischer, who was caught by Musiala in the process. Andrich collected the loose ball 25 yards out and whipped an early shot that bounced through the hands of Sommer at the near post. The bounce was awkward but he should still have saved it.
GOAL! Switzerland 0-1 Germany (Andrich 17)
Robert Andrich gets his first goal for Germany after a mistake by Yann Sommer!
15 min Lots of controlled, rhythmic possession for Germany. They’re really patient when they have the ball.
13 min That was a really clumsy challenge from Schar you know. I’d like to see it again but I’m surprised there weren’t stronger appeals for a penalty.
12 min Mittelstadt’s early low cross is met at the near post by Havertz, whose shot is blocked at source by the sliding Rodriguez. Havertz falls over, gets up and then falls over again after a slightly overzealous challenge from Schar. Probably not strong enough for a penalty, but he took a risk.
11 min Andrich’s chipped pass is cushioned neatly by Musiala to Gundogan, 25 yards from goal. His first-time shot is blocked on the edge of the area.
10 min Havertz seems to be tripped but the referee allows play to continue. Ndoye collects the loose ball, cuts inside Rudiger and tries to thread a pass that is cut out on the edge of the area by Kroos.
9 min “Bit harsh they have you on bee duty tonight Rob,” says Niall Mullen.
Even I would have kicked off had they not given the Scotland game to Scott.
8 min Musiala and Wirtz are wandering wherever the mood takes them. Musiala, in particular, looks really sharp.
4 min It’s been an excellent start to the game, with both teams going for it. Cracking atmosphere too.
3 min Kroos’s clipped corner is headed straight at Sommer by Havertz. It was a decent effort as there was no pace on the ball.
3 min Musiala spins Freueler beautifully, surges over the halfway line and cracks an angled through pass. His first touch is slightly heavy – it wasn’t an easy ball to control – and Schar gets back to concede a corner.
1 min Peep peep! Germany kick off from right to left as we watch.
“Good to see the value placed on the square shoulders of Xherdan Shaqiri by resting him,” interprets Ian Copestake. “We will see his short-striding bustle again soon.”
As the players take the field, here’s a quick reminder of the teams.
Switzerland (3-4-1-2) Sommer; Schar, Akanji, Rodriguez; Widmer, Freuler, Xhaka, Aebischer; Rieder; Embolo, Ndoye.
Substitutes: Stergiou, Elvedi, Zakaria, Okafor, Steffen, Mvogo, Zuber, Zesiger, Sierro, Vargas, Duah, Kobel, Shaqiri, Jashari, Amdouni.
Germany (4-2-3-1) Neuer; Kimmich, Rudiger, Tah, Mittelstadt; Andrich, Kroos; Musiala, Gundogan, Wirtz; Havertz.
Substitutes: Raum, Gross, Fullkrug, Fuhrich, Baumann, Muller, Beier, Schlotterbeck, Anton, Sane, Henrichs, ter Stegen, Koch, Can, Undav.
Referee Daniele Orsato (Italy)
“‘Germany’s brilliant young attackers,’” begins Matt Dony. “And Thomas Muller. He’s still there, drifting around, investigating spaces. What a man. What a curious player. What a servant. How long ago was it Jogi Low tried to phase him out? Didn’t quite work…”
The really big game tonight, at least for this newspaper, is in Stuttgart. No better man to document Scotland’s attempt to make history than Scott Murray.
“Schrödinger’s rubber” is the subject of Grant Tennille’s email. “On this evidence, probably best for me to keep the realms of quantum mechanics and tournament permutations clearly delineated, tempting as it is to conflate them.”
Tonight’s game is in Frankfurt, where England lost 1-1 to Denmark on Thursday. The pitch was in a bit of a state for that match; we’ll keep an eye on what it’s like tonight.
Seven of the starting players are on a yellow card and will miss the next game if they’re booked tonight.
Switzerland Silvan Widmer, Remo Freuler, Ricardo Rodriguez.
Germany Antonio Rudiger, Jonathan Tah, Maximilian Mittelstadt, Robert Andrich.
“I take it you are aware how big this game is for Switzerland, particularly the Schweizerdeutsch-speaking majority,” writes Geoff. “Think Stockport County vs Manchester City, but on an international scale.”
Philipp Lahm, my friend and colleague, pays tribute to Germany’s brilliant young attackers.
Read Jonathan Liew’s match preview
Team news
Germany are unchanged for the third in a row. Switzerland bring in Breel Embolo and Fabian Rieder for Xherdan Shaqiri and Ruben Vargas.
Switzerland (3-4-2-1) Sommer; Schar, Akanji, Rodriguez; Widmer, Freuler, Xhaka, Aebischer; Ndoye, Rieder; Embolo.
Substitutes: Stergiou, Elvedi, Zakaria, Okafor, Steffen, Mvogo, Zuber, Zesiger, Sierro, Vargas, Duah, Kobel, Shaqiri, Jashari, Amdouni.
Germany (4-2-3-1) Neuer; Kimmich, Rudiger, Tah, Mittelstadt; Andrich, Kroos; Wirtz, Gundogan, Musiala; Havertz.
Substitutes: Raum, Gross, Fullkrug, Fuhrich, Baumann, Muller, Beier, Schlotterbeck, Anton, Sane, Henrichs, ter Stegen, Koch, Can, Undav.
Referee Daniele Orsato (Italy)
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live, minute-by-minute coverage of Switzerland v Germany in Frankfurt. This particular rubber is both dead and alive. Dead because the two teams have qualified for the last 16*, alive because of what happens next. Germany need to avoid defeat to win the group and secure a theoretically easier game in the last 16.
Here’s where it gets complicated. The winners of this group will play the runners-up in Denmark’s group in the last 16 – but then they would be on course to face Spain, exhilarating Spain, in the quarter-finals.
The runners-up, by contrast, would be on course to face Italy, Croatia or Albania in the last 16 – tricky, but winnable – and then potentially the winner of Denmark’s group in the quarter-finals.
Every bloody tournament we do this, don’t we: plot the whole thing to within an inch of its life, even though we know full well it never pans out like that. Let’s just enjoy some football and let the chips fall where they may.
Kick off 8pm.
* Switzerland haven’t officially qualified, but the turn of events required for them to be knocked out is so unlikely that, if the Guardian encouraged gambling, I’d invite you to pick your own odds.
Gregory Daniels is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, he explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture. Gregory enjoys staying ahead of the curve and sharing emerging trends with his readers.
