Argentina and Switzerland had very different World Cup resumes coming into Saturday night’s quarterfinal match in Kansas City. The Lionel Messi-led Argentina team is battling to win its second World Cup in a row, while the Swiss found themselves in the quarterfinals for the first time since 1954 after defeating Colombia on penalties.
Match Recap
Argentina survived a scare against Egypt, and that set up an interesting matchup between an offensive juggernaut and a Swiss squad that has leaned on its defense. In the 10th minute, moments after Messi sailed a corner past the front of the net, Alexis Mac Allister put the reigning champs on the board.
Argentina continued to control possession, though only slightly, while Switzerland matched it stride for stride and created a handful of chances. Argentina, meanwhile, failed to capitalize on a couple of excellent opportunities. The game went to halftime with Mac Allister’s tally being the only one on the board, which Switzerland would probably consider a win in a lot of ways.
In the second half, Switzerland continued to put some pressure on, and even made Argentine goaltender Emiliano Martinez make some key saves. In the 67th minute, that pressure paid off with the Swiss shocking the heavily pro-Argentina crowd when Dan Ndoye evened things up at 1-1.
Momentum had definitely swung in Switzerland’s favor, but then Switzerland got hit with a brutal decision from the officials. Argentina’s Leandro Paredes was given a yellow card, but upon review, the call was reversed, and the yellow card was given to Switzerland’s Breel Embolo. Critically, this was his second yellow card of the game, so he was sent off, and Switzerland had to continue with just 10 players.
However, the Swiss managed to stay alive, and this one was headed to extra time, and that was thanks to a stunning save on an Argentina corner from Switzerland’s Gregor Kobel in the final moments of regulation. In the first half of extra time, Argentina’s Thiago Almada and Lautaro Martínez were both shown yellow cards. Meanwhile, Switzerland managed to keep the match level despite being down a man.
However, in the 112th minute, Argentina’s Julian Alvarez called game with a beauty from way out to punch Argentina’s ticket to the semifinals. Argentina tacked on another just as added time began to extend their lead to 3-1.
Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
