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After 120 goalless minutes and a tense penalty shootout, Switzerland became the last team to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, beating Colombia.
BC Place Vancouver was a sea of yellow as it was firmly behind Colombia, and the large crowd watched both teams play fantastic defense on Tuesday afternoon.
Both Colombia and Switzerland came into this tournament with one knockout victory in their respective histories. Colombia’s victory came in 2014 against Uruguay, while Switzerland’s victory over Germany in 1938. After winning in the round of 32, both teams had the opportunity to make this the undisputed best World Cup in their country’s history.
In the end, that was for Switzerland, who have been on a steady rise over the last decade and will now face the reigning champions, Argentina, in the quarterfinals.
Here are my four takeaways from Tuesday’s game:
1. Extremely strict defense
Tuesday’s game was relatively tough, as neither team scored in the 120 minutes of play. (Photo by Christopher Morris/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
Both Colombia and Switzerland were playing well heading into this match, with each team winning their respective group (both teams were 2-1-0 in pool play) followed by impressive victories in the round of 32. The heart of each team’s success had been their discipline and defensive form.
Combined with the great respect the teams had for each other, it resulted in a very cautious start with each team quickly getting back into defensive shape every time they lost possession. The match needed an individual moment of brilliance, but neither team seemed willing to take the risk of committing too many players to the attack. Colombian Gustavo Puerta had the first real chance of the match in the 21st minute when he forced a great save from Gregor Kobel.
The game began to open up slightly after the hydration break in the first half. Colombian Camilo Vargas was forced to make a pair of saves from Swiss wingers Dan Ndoye and Fabian Rieder just after the half-hour mark.
In the second half, Colombia began to push a little higher and coach Néstor Lorenzo made offensive changes in the 66th and 83rd minutes. Switzerland had a little more space to operate but could not create in the first 90 minutes.
As with low-scoring games, it’s not just about defense. The players also failed to step up and make the big play that no one saw coming. Switzerland clearly missed Johan Manzambi, who suffered a knee injury in the team’s final training session. The versatile 20-year-old Freiburg attacker has been Switzerland’s best player in the last three games, with three goals and two assists.
The match ended in 120 minutes with just three shots on goal for Colombia and two for Switzerland.
2. Not many mistakes
This is not the first time that a World Cup match was very defensive, but what made this game very different is that there were very few errors from either team. Teams completed passes within their own half to avoid giving golden opportunities to opponents. There weren’t many teams that gave dangerous set pieces; Defensive punts were effective in getting the ball out of danger.
The credit for this goes to the exceptional play of the central defenders of both teams. The Swiss Manuel Akanji and Nico Elvedi, along with the Colombians Davinson Sánchez and Jhon Lucumí, were excellent and handled everything that came their way. Lucumí almost broke the tie in extra time when his header hit the crossbar with the closest opportunity of the game. Meanwhile, the Swiss defense managed to neutralize Luis Díaz, who is one of the best wingers in the world.
Interestingly, the worst miss of the match came in the 115th minute, when the most experienced and reliable Swiss midfielder in the match, Granit Xhaka, botched a clearance and gave Jaminton Campaz a golden opportunity, who then shot over the bar.
3. Confident Swiss penalty takers
When the match went to penalties, everything was on the line, but Switzerland confidently converted four of five attempts. The only Swiss player missing was Manuel Akanji, who played a great game in central defense. This time, his Swiss teammates were able to rescue him after he missed a penalty shootout attempt in the loss to England in the Euro 2024 knockout stage.
During extra time, it seemed like Switzerland was the team most comfortable with the game going to penalties. It was a bold strategy and it paid off as Granit Xhaka, Zeki Amdouni, Cedric Itten and Ruben Vargas looked strong in their attempts.
4. Best Swiss team in history
Murat Yakin has helped Switzerland reach new heights during his time as head coach (Photo by Jared C. Tilton – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
With their advance to the quarterfinals, this is the best Swiss team in the history of the program, and this advancement has been a long time coming.
Coach Murat Yakin has been the architect of the team’s success, which has seen it become one of the most improved teams in Europe over the last two decades. Now in the World Cup quarterfinals, Yakin has Switzerland playing consistently well in big tournaments.
Switzerland had a brilliant performance in qualifying for the World Cup, as they did not lose a single match. The Swiss also scored 14 goals and only conceded two goals during the qualifying phase.
Yakin took over in 2021 and led the team to qualification for the 2022 World Cup. At the World Cup in Qatar, Switzerland advanced to the round of 16. At Euro 2024, Switzerland went one step further by defeating defending champions Italy in the round of 16 before losing to England in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals.
Yankin has opted for experience in building his team, and against Colombia, no outfield player in the starting lineup had fewer than 31 caps.
Despite a poor start to the tournament against Qatar, Yakin has his team playing well and as a coach he has done a fantastic job taking his team to the next level.
