Albania believes goals will finally come in must-win game

With zero points after two losses in Group A, a win over Romania would give Albania the chance to finish as one of the top third-place teams and reach the round of 16. And the sticky path would not end there, with Spain now looking likely to be the opponent that would await in the quarterfinals.

Albania have endured a similar story.

Switzerland boss Vladimir Petkovic, whose men have beaten Albania 1-0 and drawn 1-1 with Romania, has no doubt France are under pressure and hopes to increase that on Sunday.

In response, Didier Deschamps dropped Pogba to the bench for Wednesday’s clash with Albania, with Kingsley Coman starting in place of him.

La Nati should have been the first team to score a goal as Eintracht Frankfurt striker Haris Seferovic and Stoke City winger Xherdan Shaqiri both came just inches wide with their best chances in the opening minutes.

Seizing on the Pogba celebration controversy, Switzerland’s official Twitter account wrote on Friday: “Hey France, Pogba’s not your problem”.

Having already had their rest, Griezmann and Pogba will be expected to return to the starting lineup, while full-backs Bacary Sagna and Patrice Evra, aged 33 and 35, respectively, could be deputized by Christophe Jallet and Lucas Digne. However, they did respond nicely in a game with Switzerland earlier this week which led to an early goal scored by virtue of a penalty kick but they couldn’t hold off the Swiss who netted a second half equalizer and probably were lucky to escape with a single point.

Andre-Pierre Gignac was preferred to Olivier Giroud up front.

Switzerland don’t have anything like the same luxury of such a strong squad.

The result leaves Albania third and Romania fourth, with just one point, in a group topped by France and Switzerland.

However, if France top Group A, they would the play one of the countries that would sneak through as a third placed finisher, nearly guaranteed to be one of the weaker teams.

Switzerland has extra motivation to upset host France when the teams meet Sunday at the European Championship. They have a great record against their opposition, they are the host nation, and they have been able to secure maximum points without being at their best.

Back this one to end level at 21/10 while two goal Dimitri Payet as tempts alongside Bayer Leverkusen frontman, Mehmedi (seven goals in 44 games in 2015/16 for club and country), at 21/10 and 10/3 in the anytime scorers market. Switzerland have never beaten France at a major tournament, and their last meeting ended in a 5-2 defeat at the World Cup in Brazil.

“France has a lot of individual quality and plays well as a team”, Switzerland midfielder Granit Xhaka said. If it succeeds, will France have found their winning formula?