Switzerland and France are playing live on the World Cup schedule on Friday in Brazil and the match is live from Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador starting up at 3 pm ET on ESPN from TV and on the WatchESPN website for the live stream and ESPN Radio for the radio coverage and this matchup has both teams coming in after wins in Group E and a victory in this game could mean a spot into the knockout stage into the Round of 16.
France looked good in their opening win against Honduras and they put up a clean sheet and had three goals to give them a nice lead in the group and now they could continue that run against the Swiss. France got some great play from Karim Benzema in the opening match and he will key moving forward after scoring two goals in the matchup against Honduras. Benzema made the absence of Franck Ribery not impact the team and now they have to matchup against a talented Swiss side that is in the top part of the FIFA rankings and actually has a better number than France.
Most would say the French side is more talented, but Switzerland scored two goals against Ecuador and they also have the very skilled Xherdan Shaqiri and he will be the main focus for the French defense. The 22 year old has immense talent and the Bayern Munich wing player could end up being a household name by the time the tournament is done and Haris Seferovic showed his value as well with the winning goal.
France looked strong up front in the match against Honduras and they had a long trip to Salvador and the weather has been a factor in this tournament. Most matches in Brazil have been played in hot temperatures and humid climates and that could be a factor in this game with two European team and it was definitely a factor in the Amazon for the first game between England and Italy. Shaqiri is the player France will have to keep tabs on and with Benzema playing well there is a chance this game could be high scoring.
Ribery is out with a back injury for the cup and the team now matches up with the Swiss before a game against Ecuador closes out the group stage and that will be in Rio de Janeiro. France is easily the favorite in Group E and they have enough talent to win with players like Paul Pogba, Olivier Giroud and Benzema and now they can put themselves in position to advance to the round of 16.
France comes into the tournament after going 5-2-1 in qualifying and they ended up second in their group and won against Ukraine in a playoff and now they have the chance to push ahead after just getting in. The team has been to 14 Cups and has won one in recent years and they also went to the finals against Italy in 2006 that was very controversial after their 1998 game against Brazil. France looks dead into the match against Ukraine, as they had a two game playoff with the team and lost the first leg 2-0 and then made a stunning 3-0 win to advance and make it into the tourney.
Check here for the Switzerland and France live coverage from ESPN for the World Cup.
