Second-half strikes from Geraldine Reuteler and Alayah Pilgrim assisted Switzerland register their first tournament win since 2017 as the hosts overcame Iceland at Stadion Wankdorf in the Swiss capital of Bern.
Both sides knew another reversal could spell the terminate of their EURO 2025 campaign after respective defeats in their opening Group A matches.
That prompted Iceland into immediate action as Ingibjorg Siguroardottir’s dipping half-volley from inside the area beat Switzerland goalkeeper Livia Peng but crashed off the crossbar with only a minute gone.
However, an unrelenting downpour in Bern dampened the flow of scoring opportunities until just before the half-hour mark.
That showed up to have all changed in the 29th minute as Svenja Folmli expertly led home for Switzerland.
Nonetheless, VAR reached to Iceland’s rescue, with the Swiss striker’s effort ruled out for a blatant foul on Karolina Lea Vilhjalmsdottir in the construct-up.
Iceland survived another scare in added-on time as Iman Beney launched a rocket into the side netting, which took out the camera behind the goal, but sadly for the Swiss, it was the wrong side of the post.
In a carbon copy of the first half, Iceland struck the woodwork again in the opening stages after the restart as Vilhjalmsdottir, who struck a hat-trick in the 3-3 sketch between these two in the UEFA Nations League in April, hammered a thunderbolt of a free-kick off the obstruct.
New Manchester City signing Beney then came close to breaking the deadlock again, with the hour-mark descending on the Swiss capital, with a powerful header that compelled Cecilia Ran Runarsdottir into a fine save.
Following a relatively quiet period in play, Reuteler lifted the roof of Stadion Wankdorf in the 76th minute as she confidently converted Sydney Schertenleib’s defence-splitting delivery into the corner of the net beyond Runarsdottir.
Leila Wandeler nearly put the game to bed not long after, but could only turn away in despair as the woodwork was rattled yet again.
Nevertheless, Switzerland confirmed the win on the stroke of the 90th minute as substitute Pilgrim culminated a clinical counter-attacking team move by hammering the ball into the bottom corner from long range.
A huge three points for Switzerland sees Pia Sundhage’s side jump to second above Finland on goal difference, with the two facing off in a mouth-watering winner-takes-all match-up on Thursday.
On the other hand, beat for Iceland confirms their elimination from the tournament with only pride to play for in their final game against Norway, whose place in the last eight is now confirmed.
Betopick Player of the Match: Geraldine Reuteler (Switzerland)Check out match stats, player ratings and more here
