Reigning world champions Argentina have kept their title defense campaign on track with a convincing 3-1 extra-time victory over a resilient Swiss side at Kansas City Stadium, booking their place in the tournament’s semi-finals where they will face England. Led by star talisman Lionel Messi – who has already notched eight goals throughout this edition of the competition – Lionel Scaloni’s side executed a disciplined, clinical performance to end Switzerland’s historic run at the event.
Switzerland, who had never advanced beyond the quarter-final stage in the tournament’s history, got off to a bright start, pressing Argentina deep into their own half in the opening exchanges. Once the defending champions managed to push out of their defensive third, however, they carved out clear scoring chances almost immediately. In the 10th minute, Messi delivered a pinpoint corner onto the head of Alexis Mac Allister, who nodded the ball past Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Kobel to open the scoring for Argentina.
Switzerland’s first attempt on goal came 10 minutes later from Djibril Sow, but his tame effort failed to trouble Argentine keeper Emiliano Martínez. After Mac Allister’s opener, the tempo of the match dropped considerably. Argentina dropped deep to defend their narrow lead, with players going down dramatically under minimal contact to win free kicks and break up Swiss momentum, a tactic that earned consistent favor from the match referee. Switzerland threw everything forward to find an equalizer, but repeatedly ran into a packed Argentine penalty area. Lacking pace and penetration in their attacking build-up, they could not break through the organized defense before half time, leaving the score 1-0 at the break.
The pattern of play remained unchanged after the restart: Switzerland dominated possession in the opposing half, while Argentina sat back and hit on the break when opportunities arose. In the 50th minute, Dan Ndoye missed a golden opportunity to draw Switzerland level, failing to convert a perfectly weighted through ball from Breel Embolo past Emiliano Martínez. A full hour into the match, Embolo saw his headed effort comfortably saved by the Argentine keeper, and 15 minutes later, Ndoye came close again only to be denied by a sharp save from Martínez. A minute after that, Martínez was called into action once more to block a long-range effort from Granit Xhaka, but Switzerland finally found their equalizer in the 67th minute: Ndoye tucked a diagonal finish into the net from a Ricardo Rodríguez assist, leveling the score at 1-1.
With Switzerland gaining full momentum, a controversial moment turned the tide of the match in the 70th minute. Embolo attempted to draw a yellow card for an Argentine opponent by going down easily under contact, but VAR used the new tournament rule covering “mistaken identity” to issue Embolo a second yellow card, sending him off and giving Argentina a numerical advantage that the defending champions quickly capitalized on.
In stoppage time at the end of regular play, Messi tried to finish the match with a spectacular long-range strike, but his effort drifted just wide of the post. Shortly before the final whistle, Lisandro Martínez also saw a spectacular bicycle kick attempt go off target, forcing the match into extra time.
Argentinia pushed for a quick winning goal in extra time, but the Swiss defense held firm in the early stages. Substitute Thiago Almada came inches away from scoring in the 95th minute, when his shot fizzed just past the post. Messi also forced a free kick in a dangerous area, but the Swiss defensive wall blocked his effort. The decisive goal finally came in the 112th minute, when Julián Álvarez fired a spectacular long-range strike past Kobel to put Argentina ahead 2-1. After Xhaka gave away possession late in the second half of extra time, another substitute, Lautaro Martínez, scored to confirm the 3-1 final score, sealing Argentina’s place in the semi-finals alongside England.