France and Switzerland are live on the World Cup schedule on Friday and the game is on ESPN and has a live stream on WatchESPN starting up at 3 pm and the match comes from the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador in Brazil and this matchup is big for both sides as they try to lock up the group and the Swiss are a tough team and it should be a good test for France.
Karim Benzema comes in as the big man for the French side and this year they are trying hard to put the demons of 2010 behind when they went on a mutiny and right now they are playing well. Franck Ribery being out is a tough thing to overcome, but Benzema has been very good and he is one of the leading scorers in the tournament and he had two goals in the first game against Honduras and he will be needed again. The Swiss side came in seeded, but most expect France to win this group and now they have the chance to put themselves in that position.
Switzerland has Bayern Munich winger Xherdan Shaqiri and he is one of the most underrated players in the tournament and he gives the Swiss side someone with immense skills and he could be the wild card in this game if he gets loose at all. The Swiss side will be looking to make this one a bit easier over the game against Ecuador, as that needed as late goal for the win, while France next will pay against that team and the game will be in Rio and that could clinch the group for the French side, as they are leading the draw with three goals now.
France and the Swiss have a rivalry and the last three meetings between the two teams have been draws and that makes this match even more intriguing. In 2006 in Germany the two teams played to a scoreless draw and here these two teams matchup as neighbors and that is always interesting and France has more talent, but the Swiss are up and coming.
France came in looking to put 2010 behind them, while England wanted to do the same, but instead they flamed out and they are done at the Cup. The team needed Italy to win over Costa Rica for any chance at getting into the knockout stages and now they are out after that result came in. England opened up with a loss to Italy in their opening round of group play and that was a huge loss and now they are left wondering what happened.
The team played against Uruguay next and that was a desperate game for both, as they each lost their first matchups and needed to win. Luis Suarez returned for that game and he scored the first goal and it looked like England was not going to get a score, and then Wayne Rooney came through with his first ever World Cup goal and that gave England some life. Then Suarez took it all away and showed why he is one of the best in the world and the team won 2-1 to knock England out.
Check here for the France and Switzerland live coverage from the World Cup.
