Switzerland defeated the defending World Cup champions, France, in the 2020 Euros via penalty kicks on Monday.

Switzerland opened the scoring with a Haris Seferovic header and carried this 1-0 lead through halftime. A Swiss penalty kick was turned away by French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, and Karim Benzema furthered this momentum in the form of a goal to level the score at 1-1. Another goal quickly thereafter from Benzema pushed France to a 2-1 lead. Paul Pogba then struck a beautiful ball past the Swiss goalkeeper to double France’s lead and it seemed that the sluggish French start had been shrugged off.

Haris Seferovic, though, headed in his second goal of the game in the 80th minute, and another quick tally from Mario Gavranovic knotted the score at 3 apiece.

Kylian Mbappé had an extraordinary chance in extra time to send France to victory, but his in-tight shot was hammered into the side netting rather than the back of the goal. This miss, alongside no Switzerland conversions, sent the game to penalty kicks for a final decision.

Mbappé had a chance to redeem himself at the spot, but his shot was deflected away by Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer, clinching the upset victory for Switzerland.

“It’s hugely disappointing. We completely messed up our first half. We reacted in the second half but then left them space and they came back,” noted France defender Raphael Varane.

With the win, Switzerland faces perennial powerhouse Spain in the quarterfinals, who won in extra time against Croatia by a score of 5-3.

Tottenham Hotspurs made it to the past Champions League final and finished third in the Premier League without making a signing since January 2018. Mauricio Pochettino transformed his squad from within, adopting multiple players from the U-23 and U-18 teams such as Harry Winks, Ben Davies and Cameron Carter-Vickers. Winks went on to start in the Champions League final against Liverpool, meaning the youth academy has been excelling under Pochettino.

Pochettino went out and signed a play for the first time in a year and a half, picking up 22-year-old Tanguy Ndombele on Tuesday from OL Lyon in France. The French midfielder has first team experience against the top French sides, including playing time in the Champions League as well. He has six international caps for the French National Team.

Ndombele is a dynamic box-to-box midfielder who can play centrally or defensively in terms of positioning. He holds possession well with his body, and can make game-defining key passes in the final third to set up his attackers. He shows promise of well-performed tackling as well, making it tough to find a weakness in his game at just 22 years old. The midfielder made 49 starts for OL Lyon last season, eight of which were Champions League appearances.

According to The Guardian, Spurs paid €62 ($78) million for Ndombele, making him the most expensive transfer in their club history. Before that, Spurs paid Ajax for Davison Sanchez, costing Spurs £42m ($53) million in 2017.  

SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2019- IN MEMORIAM SLIDESHOW

Tottenham has found a long-term replacement for Moussa Dembele, who moved on to the Chinese Super League team Guangzhou R&F. Ndombele will be joining a midfield consisting of Moussa Sissoko,29, Eric Dier, 25, Victor Wanyama, 28 and Winks, 23.

Spurs talisman Christian Eriksen still has not signed a new deal and could be out of the team, heading possibly to Real Madrid, according to Bleacher Report.

Ndombele is the fourth French player to join the current Spurs roster and to join the likes of goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris, young winger Georges-Kevin Nkoudou and midfield counterpart Sissoko. Spurs also signed Jack Clarke on Tuesday from FL Championship side Leeds United for a reported £10 ($12) million. He will be loaned back to Leeds for the next season, joining Spurs in the 2020-21 season.

Dimitri Payet’s name will now be on the mouths of millions.

Payet parked a pea in the side netting of keeper Ciprian Tatarusanu’s goal in the 89th minute of EURO 2016’s opening match at Stade de France in Paris, Friday, breaking a 1-1 tie with Romania and propelling France to an opening night victory to remember.

WATCH PAYET’S GAME-WINNER HERE
https://www.espnfc.com/match?gameId=438204

The two sides appeared destined to draw for the fifth time in six meetings when, in the 85th minute, Romania striker Bogdan Stancu found himself all alone with France captain and keeper Hugo Lloris, just six yards away from the goal mouth.

Stancu, who scored the equalizer on a penalty kick in the 65th minute, launched a shot right into Lloris’ body, which the goalie deflected and Romania would not be afforded another such opportunity.

Olivier Giroud opened the scoring in the 57th minute, putting France ahead 1-nil until Stancu’s penalty tied the match at 1-1.

Four minutes after Stancu’s mono e mono mishap with Lloris, Payet received the ball from teammate N’Golo Kante, took one quick touch with his right foot to setup a left-footed shot, then uncorked a spinless cracker into the upper 90 on the left side of the net to carry the French to victory.

If the opening match is any indication, France are in fact the favorites, and this should be an exciting Euro Cup.

On the same day the book closes on the storied life of the late, great Muhammad Ali, a new story will begin to unfold on the other side of the Atlantic.

EURO 2016 kicks off at 3 p.m. (EST) today, with the opening match between, host nation France, and Romania at the Stade de France in Paris, highlighting one of the most-watched sporting events in the world.

EURO pits Europe’s top national teams against one another in a winner-take-all tournament that runs exactly one month, culminating with the final on July 10.

The last French-hosted soccer tournament took place in 1998 when France hosted the World Cup and promptly took home the title with a 3-nil win over Brazil in the finale.

French Manager Didier Deschamps left Real Madrid star Karim Benzema off of his roster for EURO, which was met with much criticism, as well as accusations of racism launched by Benzema and others.

READ: Benzema Accuses Manage Of Racism

Deschamps refused to go into detail regarding his pep talk with players ahead of the tourney’s opener, but he did allow time to discuss the emotion surrounding the opening match.

“It’s the opening match and everything that it represents … You need to have that feeling in the pit of your stomach, that clenched jaw when you walk out onto the pitch,” Deschamps said.

France enters the tilt with a 10-match unbeaten streak against Romania, but that doesn’t mean the hosts are taking their opponents lightly.

Both Deschamps and captain Hugo Lloris believe the hype surrounding the idea that France is the favorite, not only in the opening match, but in the tournament as a whole, is a bit premature.

“We don’t feel like favorites,” the French goaltender said. “We’ve done nothing. We’ve proved nothing.”

Lloris’ comments come in reference to a nine-match winning streak that the French have mustered in their recent experience on the pitch. But Lloris dismissed the streak as merely a confidence builder that could maybe generate a little more noise in their home stadiums, but nothing more.

Deschamps offered a more technical assessment.

“(Romania) have a solid base. They don’t just whack the ball into touch, they know how to use the ball.”

France’s manager has cause for concern, the Romanians have drawn four of the last five contests between the two teams.

Romania’s head coach Anghel Iordenscu believes his team will be fighting an uphill battle, but cautions that there is no reason to believe his side cannot prevail.

“I expect France to begin the match in aggressive fashion but I’m sure my players are ready and determined to overcome these spells of domination,” Iordanescu said. “We are going to follow our strategy, we don’t want to simply play defensively, we want a balanced style of play. France do have some shortcomings at the back.”

PREDICTION:

France- 2 Romania- 1

France is too seasoned and the energy of the crowd will be all they need to lift themselves to victory in the opening match. Lloris will get the back organized and may even scratch his name on the scoresheet. Another draw is possible, but I find it hard to believe that France will fail to secure victory on its home turf in the opening match of EURO 2016.