Albania 0-1 Switzerland, Uefa Euro 2016: Schar scores winner as Cana sent off

Switzerland are now joint top of Group A alongside France. Time to switch our attention now to Wales vs Slovakia.

RESULT: Albania 0-1 Switzerland

Switzerland's Frei tries to keep the ball near the Albanian corner flag but is eventually dispossessed. Albania have a free kick and need to fling the ball up to the other end. They can't and it's all over. Switzerland win 1-0.

Gashi finds space on the left but his cross is too hard. The ball swings back in again but is again cleared. Albania pressing but unable to find the equaliser.

Three minutes added on. Can Albania grab a late equaliser?

Albanian Kukeli is booked and there are some, shall we committed, challenges flying in as the clock runs down...

Switzerland have taken off Shaqiri to be replaced by former Man City player Gélson Fernandes. Still 1-0 to the Swiss.

Now the Albanians are starting to press forward and Gashi is clear through but possibly has too long and Sommer comes out to tip the ball over the bar. What a chance for Albania. Wasted.

Substitutions for some tiring Albanians. Cikalleshiat is on for Roshi and Gashi is on for Sadiku.

Shaqiri's corner is woeful. Truly awful. Way beyond everyone in the box and straight into touch for a goalkick.

Frei has come on for Dzemaili for Switzerland and has a shot from 25 yards but it is deflected wide for a corner...

Switzerland break again and Seferovic is through. He clips the ball over the onrushing keeper and then falls over. No penalty. No booking either as the keeper remonstrates about supposed simulation. Another break and Shaqiri is almost in but again Berisha comes out to smother well. Still Albania 0-1 Switzerland. Seven minutes to go.

Switzerland respond and Shaqiri shoots but it's saved, relatively comfortably.

13 minutes (plus added time) to go and the Albanian fans are trying to lift their team. Some of them saw that net bulging and had raised hopes for a fraction of a second. Swiss sub Frei is almost booked for a late challenge seconds after coming on. And then the Albanians belt a long ball into the box and Lichsteiner and Sadiku clash and the striker tumbles but the referee waves away the appeals for a penalty.

Sadiku has a great chance to equalise with 15 minutes to go after being slotted through on the right hand side of the six-yard box but his shot bulges the outside of the side netting.

Embolo has given Switzerland an extra option and is the extra man on the left as a series of passes shuttled across the edge of the Albanian box but his final shot is a couple of yards high and wide.

Just to catch up with those substitutions:

Xhaka was replaced by Kace.

For Switzerland, Embolo has replaced Mehmedi.

A lovely bit of skill from Behrami almost puts Seferovic through again, but it's the wrong option and Albania clear up. Still just one goal in it.

A wild passage of play sees Albania probing on the edge of the box despite one of their players being prone on the ground, but then Switzerland break and almost score, but the Albanian keeper smothers. Berisha has done well since he gave away the early goal with a rush of blood to the head charge towards a ball he couldn't reach. Still 1-0 to Switzerland.

Official stats:

Albania's Kace hacks down Seferovic and there's a Swiss free kick on the edge of Albania's penalty area. Shaqiri's shot is soft and comfortably saved.

Well, The Battle of the Xhakas is over, as Taulant, Albania's brother, is substituted. He's not happy about it though and there's a bit of a tantrum as he reaches the bench.

Djourou again almost puts his keeper in trouble with a backpass as Albania's Sadiku loomed, but the Swiss keeper clears. Sommer's distribution is quick and sets up a counter attack but that breaks down just as it looks like a 2-on-2.

Switzerland seem to be making more effort to use the space created by Albania's lack of a full line-up. Shaqiri has a couple of opportunities wide on the right but cannot find a way through. And then Lichsteiner almost wriggles free in the area but is thwarted by a gaggle of defenders. Still Albania 0-1 Switzerland.

The new Arsenal signing, Granit Xhaka, has been strangely quiet but finally has a chance, which he thumps high and wide.

And Switzerland's second almost comes as Mehmedi finds a yard of space just outside the six-yard box but Berisha stands up and spreads himself and does an excellent job of blocking that shop with a strong arm.

As the great Brian Clough used to say, it only takes a second to score a goal and that momentary lapse/scare for the Swiss defence ought to remind them that they need a second to give themselves a cushion against the Albanians.

And now a similar(ish) chance comes to Albania. A long ball almost reaches Sadiku but Djourou intercepts, sort of, and deflects the ball to his keeper. That could have been disastrous for the Swiss defender.

Full back Rodriguez breaks on the Swiss left and slides a pass through for Shaqiri to run onto in the box but Berisha comes out to smother. Still Albania 0-1 Switzerland.

What can the ten men of Albania do in this second half? Switzerland playing keep ball for the first couple of minutes, and a bit of Shaqiri trickery almost carves an opening wide on Switzerland's left but the door is closed.

And the second half is underway...

And another:

Half-time tweets:

HALF-TIME: Albania 0-1 Switzerland

Shaqiri floats a cross towards the back post but it drifts a little too far.

...it's a good corner but Sommer comes out to claim the ball comprehensively. One minute to be added to the first half.

Almost half-time. The Albanian fans are biting their nails but their team has a corner...

It's almost 2-0 as Shaqiri gets into the box, cuts the ball back for Lichsteiner, but his low drive goes just wide of the near post.

Can Switzerland capitalise on their man advantage? How will Albania react without their skipper (profiled here)?

Albanian captain Cana is booked for a handball on the edge of the box and it's his second, so he is OFF. Albania down to 10 men.

Roshi breaks down the right for Albania and gets into the box, but his cross is weak and straight to the keeper. Still Albania 0-1 Switzerland.

Rodriguez almost earns himself a booking with a very clumsy challenge as the Swiss continue to have to chase the ball.

Albania dominating possession and making the Swiss chase the ball in midfield. A break puts Sadiku through but is thwarted by Sommer. Good save. The ball comes back into the box but Sadiku is offside this time.

Albania finally have a shot and now a corner. It's a lovely inswinging corner but it is Schar who gets a boot to it and clears. This is better from Albania. Indeed, Switzerland have gone off the boil in the last five minutes.

Albanian captain Cana is booked for a late challenge. Half way through the first half.

Albania win their first corner but it amounts to little.

Some goading arrives from Japan via Twitter:

Albania's free kick is easily cleared and Switzerland break fast but waste the chance. Another attack sees Stoke's Shaqiri force another corner.

Albania get the ball into the Switzerland penalty area for what feels like only the second time and then force another foul just outside. And goalscorer Schar is booked.

Albania looking to responde quickly win a free kick just outside the Swiss penalty area but it is easily cleared. Still early days.

Schar heads home the corner. What was the Albanian keeper doing there? And why were there no men on the posts?

GOAL! – Albania 0-1 Switzerland

The corner is easily cleared but after some midfield jousting the Swiss are back on the attack, with full-back Rodriguez getting into the Albanian box and nearly carving out a chance. Another corner.

The Swiss pass the ball around, looking to push forward as Albania sit back and wait. The Swiss break into the box with a through ball from Shaqiri and claim a corner.

Albania kick off in red shirts and black shorts, kicking left to right as I (and TV viewers) are looking. Switzerland are in an all-white strip.

Kick off only seconds away. Expect a certain caginess from Albania as their 4-3-3 is actually more of a 4-5-1 aiming to catch the opposition on the break.

Will this face-off decide the game?

Enough of the pre-match chat (and I've managed it without a single Norman Wisdom gag), here come the teams and the anthems.

Albania's journey to their first ever major tournament featured this very peculiarly Balkan incident when an Albanian flag attached to a drone flew over the Serbian stadium sparking a mass brawl and an abandonment. Albania were awarded the points.

Here are the line-ups in a non-Uefa style:

Albania: Berisha; Hysaj, Mavraj, Cana, Agolli; Xhaka, Kukeli, Abrashi; Roshi, Lenjani; Sadiku.

Switzerland: Sommer; Lichsteiner, Schar, Djourou, Rodriguez; Behrami, Dzemaili, G Xhaka, Shaqiri, Seferovic, Mehmedi.

Referee: C Velasco Carballo (Sp).

And Switzerland:

Line ups, Uefa style: Albania:

If you have thoughts on that question, or indeed issues more directly related to the game, or not, then please tweet to @Busfield. Thank you in anticipation.

I'm now being bombarded with tweets from Japan of all places:

Today's game is crucial to the host nation's hopes, with these two teams making up the rest of Group A which kicked off last night. Switzerland are ranked 14 in the world by Fifa (seriously?). Albania are playing in their first ever major championships but knocked out Denmark in reaching the finals. And within the game there is the intriguing match up of The Xhaka brothers, with one on either side (and one of them now playing for Arsenal). Read more on that here in this nice piece by Nick Ames.

Burnley fan Smiffy agrees that this game isn't necessarily the high point in today's sporting pantheon:

Here's the Swiss line-up:

We will give you the team news as soon as it is revealed, but in the meantime the Swiss team are on their way to the stadium:

So, it's a huge day of sport: England vs Australia rugby international is currently going on, as is England vs Sri Lanka cricket at Lord's. Earlier we had an entertaining New Zealand vs Wales rugby international. Later today we will have England vs Russia and Wales vs Slovakia in the European championships. And here I am with Albania vs Switzerland. Frankly, it's a hard sell amongst all that sporting entertainment. But it would be nice if you would join me anyway! Maybe this liveblog will be useful while you get a few jobs done and can only flick to the coverage on your phone. Or maybe I should try to persuade you that the least-heralded games are often the best. Or something.

After France - with thanks to Dimitri Payet - got Euro 2016 off to a spectacular start on Friday night, we enter the first proper day of the tournament with the first of three matches. Our early afternoon kick-off sees Albania play in their first match in their major tournament history against a much-fancied Switzerland side as the opening round of Group A concludes. We'll have team news from Lens at the top of the hour plus all the build-up ahead of the second match of the European Championships - the perfect warm-up for Wales and England's opening games later in the day.