Euro 2020 Top 100 Paul PogbaGetty Images

'Sometimes football can be cruel…but also beautiful' - Pogba vows France will 'come back stronger' after early Euro 2020 exit

Paul Pogba has vowed that France will "come back stronger" after their early Euro 2020 exit, admitting that "sometimes football can be cruel" but also "beautiful".

The pre-tournament favourites were sent packing in the Round of 16 after a thrilling battle with Switzerland which ended in a 5-4 penalty shoot-out defeat.

France, who reached the final in 2016 before becoming World Champions two years later, blew a 3-1 lead in the regulation 90 minutes and failed to find a winner in extra time before being humbled on spot-kicks, but Pogba is now eager to look forward instead of pondering what might have been.

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What's been said?

The Manchester United midfielder, who scored Les Bleus' third goal at the National Arena in Bucharest, wrote on Instagram: "Sometimes football can be cruel… cruel and also beautiful. 

"The game brought us sadness but happiness to our opponents. That’s the beauty of football. Of course, we all wished that we could have had a positive result.

"Thank you so much to all of our fans across the globe. It was beautiful to see you, to hear you, and to celebrate with you. 

"You gave us hope and joy throughout all of our games. We will keep our heads up and we will come back stronger.

"Finally, I want to wish congratulations to Switzerland."

How did the Swiss upset France?

Switzerland were heavy underdogs heading into their clash with France on Monday, but ripped up the script by taking the lead after just 15 minutes via a Haris Seferovic header.

Les Bleus were ultimately fortunate to head in at half-time only a goal down, but stepped their game up early in the second period, with Karim Benzema hitting a stunning brace just before the hour mark.

Pogba then appeared to put Didier Deschamps' men out of sight with a spectacular long-range effort 15 minutes from time, but Seferovic halved the deficit before Mario Gavranovic hauled the Swiss level at 3-3 with a fine last-gasp solo goal.

After a subdued 30 minutes of extra time, penalties were needed to separate the two sides, and Switzerland emerged victorious when Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe saw his fifth spot-kicked saved.

What's next? 

France will now have two months to dust themselves down before resuming their latest World Cup qualification campaign.

Deschamps is set to remain in charge until Qatar 2022 despite his country's failure at the Euros, with their next Group D fixture against Bosnia-Herzegovina scheduled for September 1.

Further reading 

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