Another Argentine knockout nail-biter, another win

An Argentine player not named Lionel Messi finally delivered in the clutch, striker Julian Alvarez breaking a 1-1 deadlock late in extra time with a goal of the tournament conteder off his right foot. It was an impressive effort by their Swiss opponents to nearly extend the match to a penalty shootout following striker Breel Embolo’s sending-off in the 72nd minute following a rare VAR review for mistaken identity. Embolo would be shown a second yellow card after replay revealed a rather obvious dive, Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes initially booked. The Swiss forward couldn’t have picked a worse time to put his country down to 10 men, teammate Dan Ndoye having equalized the match minutes before. Alexic Mac Allister provided the match’s opening goal on a 10th minute corner kick swung in by Messi, heading it in. After Alvarez found the top corner in the 111th minute—giving Sidny Lopes Cabral’s Round of 32 strike a run for its money—Argentine substitute Lautaro Martinez sealed the deal, finishing off a late counter attack to cap off the 3-1 win. The sea of blue and white-striped shirts spotted across the Kansas City stadium will make their way back down to Atlanta (the site of Argentina’s Round of 16 match against Egypt) for a semifinal date with England and the on-fire Jude Bellingham. A footballing rivalry with a storied history, Messi will look to carry what is likely his final World Cup run onto the final with one more win.

Back in Kansas City for the first time since Messi’s impressive World Cup-opening hat trick against Algeria, you would’ve thought the Argentine faithful never left. An incredibly overwhelming crowd of blue-and-white-striped shirts was rearing to go, hoping to witness another masterclass from their beloved Leo. Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni fielded the same lineup, Nahuel Molina and Julian Alvarez doing enough against Egypt in the Round of 16 to retain their starting spots. As for the Swiss and their Miami Vice-looking coach Murat Yakin, just one change was needed. Djibril Sow replaced Ardon Jashari in attack, Fabian Rieder sliding into the #10 role while Sow went out to the right. Johan Manzambi would be dearly missed, still dealing with a knee injury he picked up in training ahead of Switzerland’s last knockout fixture against Colombia. The Swiss were hoping they could continue their impressive streak of not trailing—somehow still in tact after the entirety of World Cup qualifiying and the tournament thus far.

Switzerland, without their starboy Manzambi and facing a daunting foe in Argentina, looked admirably fearless in the opening minutes. They pushed possession up the pitch into the Argentine half, controlling the initial flow of the match. Despite this, all they could muster on the shot chart was a hilarious 7th-minute volley from captain Granit Xhaka at long range. The Argentine supporters erupted in both laughter and glee as it sailed towards the upper levels of the stands. Alexis Mac Allister nabbed his side their first corner of the night in the 9th minute, an effort from distance blocked behind by Swiss defender Nico Elvedi.

Mac Allister was unmarked on the ensuing corner kick, Messi’s delivery finding him for a free header—Breel Embolo deflecting it out for another set piece. This time, the Messi-to-Mac Allister connection generated the opening goal. The all-time great dropped an inwswinger perfectly onto the midfielder’s head, Mac Allister directing it into the far corner and putting his name onto the scoresheet.

Messi became the sole all-time World Cup assist leader (10) with the contribution, breaking a tie with West Germany’s Fritz Walter. Remarkably, every single Messi assist has been to a different Argentine teammate. Following the early goal, it felt as if perhaps the match was already decided, Manzambi sidelined and the Messi storybook run seeming to demand an inevitable quarterfinal victory for Argentina. Sow sent a 30-yard long shot goalwards in the 20th minute, but it was always heading right into the grasp of opposing keeper Emi Martinez.

Past the half-hour mark, Dan Ndoye finally created a sizeable chance for the Swiss, rolling Embolo a through ball into the center as the striker approached the box. Trying and failing to collect the pass as it came near, Embolo was nearly bailed out by Argentine center back Lisandro Martinez—fumbling his touch to set up a shot for the Swiss forward. Before Embolo could get his boot on it, the keeper Martinez slid in to clear the danger. Switzerland continued to control possession as the half drew to a close, holding 58% by the 40th minute. A rare giveaway allowed Rodrigo De Paul to spring a countrer for Argentina in the 41st, trying to find Messi with a pass but having it deflected into the air by a Swiss defender. The ball nearly fell for a sprinting Alvarez inside the area, but his outstretched boot only found air as opposing keeper Gregor Kobel came out to collect.

Leandro Paredes gifted Switzerland a free kick late in the half, sliding in with an unnecessary tackle as the ball was about to go out of play on the left endline of his own half. Remo Freuler fumbled the ensuing set piece opportunity, his right-footed effort from the left edge of the 18-yard box sailing over everybody as it went over the far corner of the net. Embolo received a booking before halftime, a reckless challenge on Paredes leaving the Argentine to perform his best exaggerated ballerina routine, clattering onto the ground. The many Messi fans around the stadium rejoiced in song before the break, delighted and confident with a 1-0 lead.

Play resumed and the singing did as well, Argentina hoping to find a two-goal cushion. In the 50th minute, Messi rolled a pass in behind for the overlapping Molina—opting for a bold diagonal effort towards the far post instead of squaring it for a trailing Alvarez in the middle. His shot ended up well wide of the target, the striker upset at the fullback’s selfishness. Up until the hour mark, the Argentine defense looked well up to the task, the Swiss continuing to be closed down after the occasional venture into the final third. That would soon begin to change.

Left back Ricardo Rodriguez teed up Embolo for a header from the center of the box in the 60th minute, forcing Martinez to dive to his right to make the catch, nearly finding the bottom-left corner. After Argentina ran 72 seconds off the clock on a routine long-range free kick, Messi’s poor delivery created a counter opportunity for the Swiss’s Ndoye who drew a corner off a deflected cross—leading to nothing. Another Rodriguez cross from the left wing in the 65th minute created danger for the Argentines, Ndoye heading it on early at the near post and forcing Martinez to dive across the goal to push it out. Granit Xhaka took his turn in the 66th, sending an audacious 35-yard screamer at Emi Martinez who did well to parry the ball before pouncing on the rebound.

Dan Ndoye finally found the answer. Just moments after Xhaka’s long shot, the Swiss recovered possession once more as the left winger looked to continue his side’s onslaught in the final third. Off a quick one-two pass with his teammate Rodriguez on the left, Ndoye was unleashed into the box. Cutting the ball onto his right and opening his body well, the Swiss man coolly rolled a shot between the legs of Martinez and into the far corner—Embolo drawing away defenders as he crashed towards the 6-yard box.

Embolo shockingly turned the match on its head mere moments after the goal. Near the touchline, it first appeared as if Leandro Parades had crashed into the Swiss striker with a rash challenge, Embolo writhing in pain on the ground. However, to the surprise of the broadcast and many viewers from afar, Portugese referee Joao Pinheiro would head to the monitor for a VAR review. An alternate angle immediately revealed that Parades in fact made zero contact with Embolo, the latter very much embellishing on a dumbfounding dive. Due to FIFA’s brand-new mistaken identity rule, the yellow card given to Parades was forced to be shown to Embolo after Pinheiro overturned the call. It was a tough decision, likely not deeming a booking if the flop was caught in real time—but Pinheiro ruled correctly. Embolo was reduced to tears as he exited the pitch, embarking upon the seven stages of grief following his sending-off, Switzerland suddenly down to 10 men.

Swiss boss Yakin quickly coalesced his defense into a 5-back look, Sow coming in at left wingback while Rodriguez assumed a center back position.

In the 85th minute, Paredes chipped a wonderful through ball over the top of the defense to Messi, the magic man now one-on-one with Kobel at the far side of the box. He went for a chipped scoop effort over the Borussia Dortmund keeper, but Kobel held his ground easily to pull in the shot. Both sides opted for multiple substitutions, Scaloni bringing on Gonzalo Montiel and Lautaro Martinez as Molina and De Paul came off. Yakin slotted in Miro Muheim, Silvan Widner and Zeki Amdouni—Rieder, Sow, and the goalscorer Ndoye done for the day.

Nico Gonzalez, on earlier for Nicolas Tagliafico, slid in to keep the ball from going out of play over the left endline of the attacking third in the 89th minute, somehow crossing it into the middle in the process. Mac Allister thrusted forward to the near post to try and turn a header in, but it sailed high and wide from close range, the midfielder adamant it took a deflection off Swiss center back Elvedi. A bit of Messi magic came close to finding a winner, the talisman dropping his shoulder and cutting the Trionda onto his weaker right foot outside the top of the area as he glided past opposing captain Xhaka. Sending an outside-the-box right-footer curling towards the far post, it ended up just wide of the target. Yakin made another swap in stoppage time, Eray Comert making his World Cup debut to replace fellow defender Rodriguez in the parked bus.

Argentina had a last-gasp attempt to steal the match: A corner kick in the ninth minute of stoppage time. Messi sent an outswinger towards the middle, Mac Allister flicking it on at the near post before the ball popped out for Lisandro Martinez in the middle of the box. The defender impressively connected on a flying scissor kick, sending a shot towards the bottom-left corner. Swiss keeper Kobel, somehow able to spot the bouncing ball through a heap of bodies in the box, dove to his right to deny the chance. We were headed to an extra 30.

Scaloni brought on Thiago Almada for Enzo Fernandez early on into extra time, sending the midfielder to the bench after a quite forgettable stint. The Swiss continued to find success in parking the bus, hoping to extend the match to a penalty shootout—key blocks denying inside-the-box shots from Lautaro Martinez and Nico Gonzales inside 60 seconds of the extra period. Almada quickly catalyzed a few chances of his own, a 93rd-minute give-and-go with Lautaro seeing the former’s shot at close range saved by Kobel. In the 95th, he cut the ball onto his right foot before splashing a shot from outside the area into the side netting. Messi drew a free kick, one of the little man’s many specialities, but his effort from just beyond 25 yards out flew directly into the Swiss wall. Murat Yakin used his final substitution of the night to bring on Ardon Jashari for Denis Zakaria, the former buying a ticket from long range in the 105th minute as he sent a long-range effort into the stands.

Two final changes for Argentina saw Nicolas Otamendi inserted for Cristian Romero and Jose Manuel Lopez—making just his second World Cup appearance—enter the fray for Paredes. The Swiss were just 15 minutes away from miraculously extending the match to penalties, a man down. With eight left to play, Messi once more took matters into his own hands to try and left-footer from the top of the box after cutting inside from the right thanks to a pass from Almada. Kobel dove to push it away, but Argentina recovered the ball, taking their time as they continued to work around the Swiss parked bus.

The substitute Lopez drawing multiple defenders as he hung around the near-side edge of the Swiss area with the ball, he quickly played a pass over to Alvarez—space around him at the corner of the 18-yard box to make a move. The Atletico Madrid man took a wonderful touch to pivot towards goal, setting himself up to unleash a cannonball. Hit with power and curve, the Trionda beautifully tucked itself into the top-right corner of the net. My goodness me, we have another goal of the tournament frontrunner.

With the Swiss forced to press up the field in search of a late equalizer, still a man down, Argentina looked to counter and put the fixture out reach as extra time came to a close. Messi had a chance to break in the 119th minute, needing a goal to extend his record-breaking 9-match streak of World Cup games with a tally—but his left-footer was blocked by a defender. With seconds to go in stoppage time, Xhaka looked to send a deep cross into the Argentina area from the right side. Before he could do so, the goalscorer Alvarez slid from behind to dispossess the Swiss captain. Nico Gonzales quickly booted the ball ahead for Lautaro Martinez, suddenly holding a three-on-one advantage in transition. He played a through ball in for Almada on the left, the Atlanta United man shifting the Trionda onto his right foot past a lone defender. Kobel charged out to deny Almada’s poked attempt, but a trailing Lautaro was in the perfect spot to send the rebound towards goal, bouncing it into the right corner of the net.

This one was ova.

Argentina, Argentina, Argentina. How do they always do it? Another extra-time knockout win, somehow pulled out of the fire. While it was another impressive day at the park from the iconic Lionel Messi—assisting Mac Allister’s opener—the shine for me goes all to Alvarez for his late goal (and what a goal it was) to break the 1-1 deadlock. It was a mixed bag for the Argentine starting XI, but the central defending trio of Paredes, Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martinez put in some important work against a surprisingly competent Swiss attack (at times, I’ll add). I liked what I saw from Nicolas Gonzalez off the bench, Thiago Almada and Nicolas Otamendi contributing some key additional support in their substitute roles. It has become very difficult to get a proper read on Argentina, to be quite honest. In their three knockout round matches, they’ve been forced to the brink by three on-paper inferior sides in Cape Verde, Egypt, and now the Swiss. You cannot fault them for having the prowess to notch the late goals required to escape from these fixtures, but I can only wonder what we’ll see against England and Jude Bellingham in the upcoming semifinal tie. Atlanta awaits the Argentines, perhaps they should first stop by the iconic Magic City for good luck.

Switzerland completely wasted wonderful performances from goalscorer Dan Ndoye, assistee Ricardo Rodriguez and captain Granit Xhaka—all thanks to the rash decision of Breel Embolo to dive. The Swiss did their best to shell up like a turtle in defense and pray they could outlast the Argentine’s attacks until a penalty shootout, but the loss felt almost inevitable. Gregor Kobel did his best to hold the lead in goal, denying Lisandro Martinez’s scissor-kick late in regular time. There was simply nothing stopping the top-right corner-bound laser from Julian Alvarez with eight minuts to go until penalties. It truly is unfortunate that we weren’t able to see Johan Manzambi suit up for either of Switzerland’s final two knockout fixtures. I have a feeling that the end result of this one would have been quite different (assuming Embolo doesn’t flop like a fish, of course). The Swiss can look ahead to Euro 2028 with a World Cup run to be proud of. Sayonara, fellas.

Julian Alvarez took until the quarterfinals to finally find a run of form, but by golly he did it. There aren’t many words left to describe his incredible extra-time strike, pulling the inevitably-seeming Argentine win out of the fire. He was impressive down the stretch in a 120-minute stint, tracking back as the Swiss pushed for a late equalizer—his tackle on Xhaka leading to Lautaro’s exclamation point.

Embolo’s 69th minute dive that led to his sending-off. It’s simply inexcusable from the Swiss forward, despite all the cries about the decision unfairly favoring Argentina. Whatever you want to say about the mistaken identity rule, Embolo’s theatrics were wholly unnecessary—especially considering Ndoye’s equalizer immediately preceded them. What a way to throw your country’s World Cup hopes down the drain, seconds after they were brought back from the dead.

As a reminder, the match card reflects my thoughts on the entire fixture as a whole—and is comprised of the following:

Man of the Match: The man of the match will be awarded card’s player face/headshot

Aura (AURA): How much “aura” or unique atmosphere/feel that the match had

Goals (GOL): A rating of the game’s quality of goals

Entertainment (ENMT): Was the game engaging, lively, memorable?

Memes (LOL): Did the game have any funny/memeable moments?

Rewatchability (RWD): Would I watch this match again—is it worth doing so?

Emotional Investment (EMO): A rating based on how attached I was, or became, to the match

Thank you for continuing to read my work on the World Cup. It has honestly become quite rough having to isolate myself for so long to accomplish this body of work. Any and all support means the world to me, I’m really not sure how I’ve made it this far. Alvarez’s goal was incredible, but in my mind—it doesn’t clear Sidny Lopes Cabral’s. -E$