France

France's knockout-round path to its attempted World Cup-Euros double begins with a potentially tricky game against Switzerland. The Swiss earned four points in matches with Wales and Turkey in Group A. Like all teams in that group, they struggled to get through the Italian defense. France's defense, led by Presnel Kimpembe and Raphael Varane, looked good against Germany, but there were some lapses against Hungary and Portugal. Haris Seferovic and Xherdan Shaqiri combined for Switzerland's three goals on Sunday versus Turkey, but those tallies came against one of the worst teams in the group stage. Switzerland only put one of its six shots on target against Italy, so expect a performance between that game and the Turkey matchup against a French defense that had an expected goals against of three in Group F. If the Swiss defense absorbs the pressure from Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Karim Benzema, they can stay in the contest for at least a half, and that could put more pressure on France, the pre-tournament favorite. France has too much talent up top to not score at some point against the Swiss defense, though, and if Les Bleus defense holds firm, it could set up a showdown with Spain in the final eight. Prediction: France