UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP - 2019/21 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Stadion Bonifika - Koper-Capodistria Thursday 25 March 2021 15.00CET (15.00 local time) England Group D - Matchday 1 Switzerland Last updated 06/04/2021 14:38CET UEFA UNDER 21 OFFICIAL SPONSORS Previous meetings 2 Match background 3 Squad list 5 Match officials 7 Match-by-match lineups 8 Team facts 11 Legend 13 1 England - Switzerland Thursday 25 March 2021 - 15.00CET (15.00 local time) Match press kit Stadion Bonifika, Koper-Capodistria Previous meetings Head to Head UEFA European Under-21 Championship Stage Date Match Result Venue Goalscorers reached Kamberi 76; Akpom 26/03/2016 QR (GS) Switzerland - England 1-1 Thun 47 Ward-Prowse 82 (P), 16/11/2015 QR (GS) England - Switzerland 3-1 Brighton Watmore 85, Akpom 90+1; Tarashaj 45 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Stage Date Match Result Venue Goalscorers reached Vonlanthen 29 (P), Barnetta 70; Walcott 06/09/2006 QR (GS) Switzerland - England 2-3 Lucerne 13, Nugent 19, Milner 88 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Stage Date Match Result Venue Goalscorers reached Defoe 2, Crouch 53; 17/05/2002 GS-FT England - Switzerland 2-1 Zurich A. Frei 58 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Stage Date Match Result Venue Goalscorers reached 31/05/1981 QR (GS) Switzerland - England 0-0 Neuchatel In-albon 15 (og), Owen 23, Fashanu 18/11/1980 QR (GS) England - Switzerland 5-0 Ipswich 37, Goddard 44, Hodgson 83 Final Qualifying Total tournament Home Away Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA Total England 2 2 0 0 3 1 2 0 1 1 0 0 6 4 2 0 14 5 Switzerland 3 0 2 1 2 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 6 0 2 4 5 14 2 England - Switzerland Thursday 25 March 2021 - 15.00CET (15.00 local time) Match press kit Stadion Bonifika, Koper-Capodistria Match background Having qualified for every UEFA European Under-21 Championship since 2007, England will be on familiar ground as they kick off their Group D campaign against Switzerland at Koper's Stadion Bonifika. • The Swiss have never beaten England in a European U21 Championship match and are in the finals for the first time in a decade although England, despite their considerable recent experience in the tournament, have found it difficult to negotiate the initial group stage. Previous meetings • England are unbeaten in their six competitive meetings with Switzerland (W4 D2). Their three-game winning run against the Swiss was ended by a 1-1 draw in their most recent meeting, in Thun on 26 March 2016, when Chuba Akpom's 47th-minute opener was cancelled out by Florian Kamberi's equaliser for the home side 14 minutes from time. • Akpom had also scored in England's 3-1 home win in Brighton on 16 November 2015, the home side finding the net three times in the last eight minutes. Shani Tarashaj's 45th-minute strike put the Swiss on course for victory but James Ward-Prowse levelled with a penalty in the 82nd minute before Duncan Watmore (85) and Akpom (90+1) completed the late turnaround. • England – managed by current senior coach Gareth Southgate – went on to finish first in Group 9 and reach the final tournament, with the Swiss eliminated in third place. • England won 3-2 in Lucerne in qualifying for the 2007 finals. Goals from Theo Walcott (13) and David Nugent (19) put the visitors in charge and, though Johan Vonlanthen (29 pen) and Tranquillo Barnetta (70) hauled Switzerland level, James Milner's goal with two minutes left gave England the points on their way to qualifying for the final tournament. • This is only the sides' second match at the U21 EURO, the first having come on Swiss soil in the 2002 group stage. Jermain Defoe (2) and Peter Crouch (53) set up England's win, with Alexander Frei's 58th-minute response not enough for the hosts. Switzerland had the last laugh, however, going through as Group A runners-up behind Italy, with England eliminated in fourth place having failed to add to their points tally. • Switzerland are unbeaten in friendlies against England (W1 D1), most recently a 2-0 victory in March 1998. • Switzerland were beaten 1-0 by an England U20 team including Josef Bursik at Basel's St. Jakob-Park on 9 September 2019. Form guide England • England have qualified for their eighth successive U21 final tournament – the longest ongoing sequence in the competition. They failed to win a game in Italy two years ago, conceding twice late on to lose to both France (1-2) and Romania (2-4) and drawing with Croatia (3-3) to finish third in Group C. • England have made it past the initial group stage three times in those seven finals appearances although the 2017 defeat on penalties by eventual champions Germany in the last four is their only knockout appearance in the last five final tournaments; runners-up in 2009, they also lost in the 2007 semi-finals. • This is England's tenth participation in an eight or 12-team U21 finals; six of those previous nine campaigns ended in the group stage. • Champions in 1982 and 1984, England also reached the semi-finals in 1978, 1980, 1986 and 1988. • England have won only three of their last 16 group games at the final tournament (D5 L8). • In qualifying for these finals Aidy Boothroyd – who has been in charge since 2016 – oversaw an unbeaten campaign, England winning nine of their ten fixtures to finish on 28 points, ten clear of Austria at the top of Group 3. • England have reached each of the last four U21 final tournaments without losing a game. Their last qualifying defeat was a 2-1 loss in Belgium on 14 November 2011; their subsequent record is W37 D6. • Eddie Nketiah was the top scorer in qualifying overall with 13 goals. He is England's all-time U21 top scorer on 16. Switzerland • Switzerland are in the finals for the fourth time overall, and the first since 2011. Then, a side including future senior internationals Yann Sommer, Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri kept four clean sheets on their way to the final, winning all three Group A games against hosts Denmark (1-0), Iceland (2-0) and Belarus (3-0) before beating the Czech Republic 1-0 after extra time in the semi-finals. Spain proved too strong in the final, however, running out 2-0 winners in Aarhus. 3 England - Switzerland Thursday 25 March 2021 - 15.00CET (15.00 local time) Match press kit Stadion Bonifika, Koper-Capodistria • The Swiss had also reached the semi-finals on home soil in 2002; their other finals appearance, two years later, ended in group stage elimination. • Switzerland lost to Germany in the play-offs for the 2013 finals (1-1 a, 1-3 h); each of their next three campaigns ended in the qualifying group stage. • Mauro Lustrinelli, who took over from Heinz Moser in 2018, oversaw nine wins from ten games to take his team to these finals as Group 2 runners-up behind France. The teams finished level on 27 points apiece, Switzerland winning their first nine fixtures – including a 3-1 victory against France – but defeat by the same scoreline in their last qualifier left them behind their opponents on goal difference. Links and trivia • Have played in England: Andi Zeqiri (Brighton 2020–) Alexandre Jankewitz (Southampton 2018–) • Zeqiri made his Brighton debut as a second-half substitute in a 1-1 Premier League draw against Aaron Ramsdale's Sheffield United on 20 December 2020. 4 England - Switzerland Thursday 25 March 2021 - 15.00CET (15.00 local time) Match press kit Stadion Bonifika, Koper-Capodistria Squad list England Current season Overall Qual. FT Team No. Player DoB Age Club D Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers 1 Aaron Ramsdale 14/05/1998 22 Sheff. United - 8 0 0 0 8 - 13 Josef Bursik 12/07/2000 20 Stoke - 1 0 0 0 1 - 22 Josh Griffiths 05/09/2001 19 Cheltenham - 0 0 0 0 - - Defenders 2 Max Aarons 04/01/2000 21 Norwich - 7 0 0 0 7 - 3 Lloyd Kelly 06/10/1998 22 Bournemouth - 2 0 0 0 3 - 4 Ben Godfrey 15/01/1998 23 Everton - 7 1 0 0 7 1 5 Marc Guehi 13/07/2000 20 Swansea - 6 0 0 0 6 - 11 Ryan Sessegnon 18/05/2000 20 Hoffenheim - 5 1 0 0 12 1 12 Ben Wilmot 04/11/1999 21 Watford - 2 1 0 0 2 1 14 Steven Sessegnon 18/05/2000 20 Bristol City - 2 0 0 0 2 - 15 Japhet Tanganga 31/03/1999 21 Tottenham - 0 0 0 0 - - Midfielders 6 Tom Davies 30/06/1998 22 Everton - 7 1 0 0 13 2 8 Conor Gallagher 06/02/2000 21 West Brom - 4 1 0 0 4 1 10 Callum Hudson-Odoi 07/11/2000 20 Chelsea - 7 4 0 0 7 4 16 Oliver Skipp 16/09/2000 20 Norwich - 4 0 0 0 4 - 17 Curtis Jones 30/01/2001 20 Liverpool - 3 1 0 0 3 1 18 Emile Smith Rowe 28/07/2000 20 Arsenal - 0 0 0 0 - - 23 Noni Madueke 10/03/2002 19 PSV - 0 0 0 0 - - Forwards 7 Todd Cantwell 27/02/1998 23 Norwich - 3 0 0 0 3 - 9 Eddie Nketiah 30/05/1999 21 Arsenal - 9 13 0 0 9 13 19 Rhian Brewster 01/04/2000 20 Sheff.