Romee Leuchter scored twice as defending champions the Netherlands set up an enticing Euros 2022 quarter-final with France by beating Switzerland at Bramall Lane to finish second in Group C.

However Switzerland delivered an almost immediate response as Geraldine Reuteler coolly finished from Romana Bachmann’s pull-back just three minutes later.

They almost completed an incredible turnaround soon after when Coumba Sow’s close-range shot was superbly denied by Daphne van Domselaar, who then pushed the follow-up shot onto the post.

That got the 22,596 fans in attendance – a new record crowd for a European Championship group game not featuring the tournament hosts – excited for a grandstand finish, with both sides coming alive after a fairly sluggish first half.

Gaelle Thalmann made a superb double save late on when she denied Leuchter and Danielle van de Donk’s follow up, although the flag subsequently went up for offside, while Riola Xhemaili saw her shot tipped over the bar for the Swiss.

But the Netherlands snatched the lead when substitute Leuchter nodded in her first international goal with seven minutes remaining.

The Dutch put the icing on the cake with two further goals late on as Switzerland’s players tired.

Victoria Pelova fired in, prompting a lengthy VAR check for a potential offside, before Leuchter slid in a fourth and her second in added time.

The Netherlands will play France for a place in the semi-finals at Rotherham’s New York Stadium on Saturday, 23 July (20:00 BST).

Dutch will need to be better, despite late flurry

When the Netherlands won the European Women’s Championship for the first time five years ago they progressed from the group stage with a 100% record.

They have not been quite as convincing this time despite the late flurry of goals in this game, although they do go through unbeaten after drawing with group winners Sweden and beating Portugal and now Switzerland.

Their progress is all the more impressive considering they have been without their star player – Arsenal forward Vivianne Miedema, who has not played since the opener against Sweden after testing positive for coronavirus.

In her absence, the Netherlands have lacked a creative spark, evident in the first half of this game as they struggled to create notable chances and only coming alive when Switzerland’s players tired in the heat.

But with progression secured, the Netherlands will hope to have Miedama available for the France game because, given how impressive France have been so far, they will certainly need her.