The City defender was his customary composed and classy presence at the heart of what was a hugely impressive Swiss display at the Frankfurt Arena in their Group A finale.
And for 91 minutes it looked as if the Swiss were set for a famous win after Dan Ndoye had fired them into a deserved 28th minute lead.
However Julian Nagelsmann’s hosts - skippered by former City captain Ilkay Gundogan - levelled three minutes into stoppage time thanks to a fine header from substitute Niklas Fullkrug.
Germany had enjoyed the lion’s share of the early pressure and thought they had taken a 17th minute lead when Robert Andrich’s 25-yard shot beat Swiss keeper Yann Sommer.
However, referee Daniele Orsato was advised to take a VAR check and ruled that Jamal Musiala had committed a foul in the build-up.
The Swiss then began to threaten themselves and it was Marat Yukin’s underdogs who struck first on 29 minutes as Ndoye’s first-ever international goal stunned the hosts.
A neat Swiss build up pinned the Germans back and an inviting ball from Remo Freuler was finished superbly by Ndoye’s instinctive right-footed close-range volley.
Germany sought to up the ante after the break with Musiala forcing a 47th minute save from Sommer with Kai Havertz then seeing a 63rd minute header arrow just wide.
Akanji then produced a stunning 69th minute block to deny Joshua Kimmich what seemed a certain leveller as the hosts further ramped up the pressure.
Switzerland had the ball in the net again eight minutes from time when Ruben Vargas stuck after a lightning counter-attack but he was marginally offside.
And it then needed a stunning save from German keeper Manuel Neuer to deny Swiss skipper Granit Xhaka’s superb 88th minute strike.
However, two minutes into stoppage time Germany substitute Fullkrug rose to head home a dramatic leveller to rescue a point – and so confirm the hosts’ place as group winners.
Akanji’s Switzerland go through as group runners-up, having now reached the knockout stages at their last six tournaments, and will face the runners up in Group B in the knockout stages. Germany will face the runners-up from England’s Group C.
Hungary finished third on three points after beating Scotland 1-0 in Stuttgart - the Scots finished bottom of Group A on one point.
