At the end of the suspense, Switzerland qualified for the 2026 World Cup quarterfinals by winning the penalty shootout (4-3) against Colombia on Tuesday in Vancouver, and will face Leo Messi and his team.
After a nail-biting finish, Switzerland qualified for the 2026 World Cup quarter-finals by winning the penalty shootout (4-3) against Colombia on Tuesday in Vancouver, and will face Leo Messi and his team.
Substitute Ruben Vargas delivered for his teammates at the end of a shootout where Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Kobel saved a shot, after both teams had kept each other tied until the end of extra time (0-0).
The Nati have reached the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1954, after being knocked out in the round of 16 in the last three editions.Switzerland will meet Argentina on Saturday (Sunday 3:00 AM Paris time) in Kansas City. Argentina, the defending champion, qualified with difficulty by coming back to beat Egypt 3-2 after being down 2-0.
“We’re living a historic moment and we need to enjoy it. It might take us a day to really take it all in, and then we’ll start preparing for the next match,” said coach Murat Yakin, praising “the maturity and patience” of his players.
“The journey continues, we’re going up against the defending champions, and in their last two matches Argentina has had a few moments of inattention, so it’s going to be an interesting game,” he added.He sidestepped questions about the young striker Johan Manzambi, who got injured during training the day before and might miss the match against the Albiceleste.
“We deserved better”
For the Colombian ‘Tri,’ it’s a deep disappointment after showing an attractive and offensive style since the start of the tournament, but once again a cruel lack of efficiency.
“It was a very tactical, very closed, and very balanced match, we deserved a little bit better,” said their coach, the Argentine Nestor Lorenzo, at the post-match press conference, adding that during this tournament, the Colombian team had shown “an impressive quality.Facing a strong Swiss squad, the lively winger Luis Diaz ran a lot and tried everything, without managing to be as effective as he has been at Bayern Munich (26 goals and 23 assists this season).
Offensive in the first half, Colombia also relied on their 34-year-old veteran captain James Rodriguez, who tried to find openings, but to no avail.
The best chance came from a combination between Diaz and Gustavo Puerta, shifted to the left, who tried a right-footed curl, forcing Gregor Kobel to stretch (21st minute). Crystal Palace full-back Daniel Munoz (2 goals in this World Cup) also delivered several crosses that were well cleared by a vigilant defense.”A sign of Colombian dominance, it took until the half-hour mark for the Swiss to take a shot on goal, with Fabian Rieder (29th) and Dan Ndoye (32nd), but their attempts didn’t fool goalkeeper Camilo Vargas.
Lucumi hits the crossbar
Swiss striker Breel Embolo of Stade Rennais, isolated up front, was kept from receiving good balls until he was substituted in the 87th minute.
After the break, the Nati became more offensive, and young Djibril Sow, coming off the bench, wasted a very good cross from Ndoye on the left (48th minute). Then a free kick from Rieder went just wide of Vargas’s goal (53rd).The knockout goal in regular time went to the Swiss, but Ndoye’s shot, set up by Sow on the right side, went just past the goal (90+1′).
At the start of extra time, Jhon Lucumi had a chance to seal qualification, but his header from a corner hit the crossbar (99′), then Kobel tipped a long floating strike from Campaz over (101′). The Swiss responded with a curled shot from captain Granit Xhaka, too high (113′).
It had to come down to penalties to separate the two teams. But Davinson Sanchez shot over, and Cucho Hernandez had his attempt saved by Kobel. Despite a huge miss by Manuel Akanji, Vargas, the last kicker in the shootout, kept his cool in front of his namesake to keep the Swiss celebration going.”I hope this is a major turning point for the Colombian team because what they showed during the World Cup should be seen as positive,” commented Luis Suarez, who will finish with one goal and one assist.
