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Italy beats Wales to top group, Swiss made to wait after win over Turkey

ALBERTO LINGRIA / AFP / Getty

Italy secured the top spot in Group A with a 1-0 win over 10-man Wales in Rome, while Switzerland's destiny is out of its hands after finishing third despite beating Turkey 3-1.

The Azzurri complete group play with three wins in as many matches, and Wales lands second on four points to secure progression to the round of 16, narrowly edging the Swiss on goal difference.

Switzerland will now wait to see if four points and a minus-one goal difference are good enough to land one of the four spots in the knockout stage for third-placed sides.

# Team GD Points
1 Italy +7 9
2 Wales +1 4
3 Switzerland -1 4
4 Turkey -7 0

In Rome, Roberto Mancini made eight changes from the side to defeat Switzerland 3-0 Wednesday at the same Stadio Olimpico venue.

Matteo Pessina was one of those new faces in the starting XI, and the Atalanta midfielder rewarded the manager's faith with his second Azzurri goal of the tournament just six minutes before the interval. Pessina got on the end of a set-piece delivery from Marco Verratti to give Italy a deserved 1-0 advantage at the half.

Verratti, who made his first appearance of the tournament after shaking off a knee injury, was an immense midfield presence for the hosts and gives Mancini's arsenal another weapon for the knockout round.

Wales showed more industry after the break but went down a man when Ethan Ampadu stamped on Federico Bernardeschi's foot in the 55th minute. The remaining 40 minutes became an exercise in disaster management for Rob Page's Dragons, who no doubt were aware of what was taking place in Group A's other matchup.

In the end, it was a straightforward result for an Italian side now among the tournament favorites following three stellar group stage showings where they combined to outscore opponents 7-0. Italy hasn't conceded a goal in a competitive match in over 1,000 minutes of play dating back to October.

Goals galore in Azerbaijan

More than 2,000 kilometers away in Baku, Azerbaijan, Haris Seferovic put a damper on Turkey's positive start. Seferovic scored his first goal of the tournament and 22nd for Switzerland in the sixth minute when the towering Benfica forward hit a low strike from just outside the area that eluded Ugurcan Cakir at the far post.

Turkey displayed far more enterprise and initiative in the early stages of Sunday's meeting than it did in two limp defeats to Italy and Wales combined, testing Yann Sommer twice in the early moments. That newfound effort was all for not.

Xherdan Shaqiri made it 2-0 for Switzerland in the 26th minute with a tantalizing curling strike on his off-foot from 20 yards out. The Liverpool attacker nearly put the result to rest but was thwarted in a 1-v-1 with Cakir.

Fenerbahce midfielder Irfan Kahveci broke Turkey's tournament-long duck just after the hour mark with a dazzling strike from outside the box to breathe life into a frenetic affair. However, Shaqiri quickly snuffed out that hope in the 68th minute.

Shaqiri latched onto a perfectly-weighted pass from Steven Zuber to fire a left-footed rocket past Cakir. With assists on all three Swiss goals, Zuber joined Denmark's Michael Laudrup and Portugal's Rui Costa as the only players to register at least three assists in a game at the European Championship.

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