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Who: Argentina vs Switzerland
What: FIFA World Cup 2026 – Quarterfinal
The place: Kansas Metropolis Stadium in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri, the USA
When: Saturday at 8pm (01:00 GMT on Sunday)
How you can comply with: We may have all of the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 22:00 GMT earlier than our stay textual content commentary stream.
Beneficial Tales
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After two gruelling knockout contests, outlined by controversies greater than objectives, Argentina enter the enterprise finish of the World Cup.
The reigning champions outclassed most title contenders within the group stage, because of the unstoppable putting drive of Lionel Messi.
However their unconvincing, stuttering run within the knockout section – the place they have been pitted in opposition to far inferior opponents – has raised a query: Can Argentina actually retain their title?
Up subsequent for the two-time world champions is Switzerland, who’ve quietly made a exceptional return to the quarterfinals for the primary time in 72 years.
The spectacular duo of Breel Embolo and Johan Manzambi has received Swiss hearts, and Saturday’s conflict gives them an opportunity to hunt revenge for a World Cup defeat by Argentina in 2014.
How did Argentina and Switzerland attain the quarterfinals?
Argentina had a robust exhibiting within the first spherical, topping Group J by beating Austria, Jordan and Algeria. Within the spherical of 32, they have been pushed to their limits by Cape Verde earlier than squeezing previous 3-2 in additional time, and got here from two objectives all the way down to beat Egypt 3-2 in a controversial last-16 contest which drew allegations of officiating bias.
Switzerland topped Group B with an unbeaten document, profitable in opposition to Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and drawing with Qatar. They beat Algeria 2-0 within the spherical of 32 and beat Colombia 4-3 on penalties to achieve the quarterfinals for the primary time in 72 years.
‘Argentina usually are not invincible’: Swiss coach
What began out as a assured marketing campaign has slowly was a shaky title defence for Argentina.
Event debutants Cape Verde – the smallest nation to play within the World Cup knockouts – gave Argentina a wake-up call, forcing the reigning champions to dig deep for victory.
The Argentinian struggling continued within the subsequent sport, the place they trailed 2-0 in opposition to Egypt earlier than turning it round in stoppage time – in a contest the place the opposition accused the referee of favouring the title holders.
These performances have pushed Argentina all the way down to fourth within the pecking order of the favourites, whereas they’ve additionally slipped from the highest spot to quantity two within the FIFA rankings.
It has instilled the assumption within the Swiss camp that beating Argentina shouldn’t be out of attain.
“We’re up in opposition to the defending champions, which is a singular alternative. On the similar time, we’ve realised that Argentina usually are not invincible,” Switzerland coach Murat Yakin mentioned.
“It needs to be an fascinating match from a tactical viewpoint.”
Can ageing Messi sustain with the calls for of the World Cup?
At 39, when most gamers’ careers are lengthy behind them, Messi is proving that age is only a quantity.
In his sixth and presumably final World Cup, Messi has maintained an ideal document, scoring in every of Argentina’s 5 matches up to now. His eight objectives hold him second within the Golden Boot race, solely behind France’s Kylian Mbappe, who has additionally scored eight objectives however has performed a sport extra, on account of assists.
Though not at his athletic peak, Messi continues to be very a lot carrying the burden of the goal-scoring duties for his nationwide staff – and rescued them from early elimination within the spherical of 16 with a objective and help.
In a uncommon present of emotion, he even broke down after that sport, saying he was determined for his World Cup journey to proceed.
However after his personal admission of fatigue after taking part in 120 minutes in opposition to Cape Verde and pushing exhausting in opposition to a resilient Egypt, Messi’s ageing physique is combating to maintain up with the gruelling calls for of match soccer.
Because the stakes get larger and the margins for error scale back, it begs the query: Will age lastly meet up with him?
Argentina vs Switzerland predictions
The Opta supercomputer offers Argentina a 57.1 % chance of profitable in regulation time, whereas Switzerland’s probabilities of profitable are 18.7 %.
The mannequin estimated a 24.2 % chance of the sport going to additional time.
Argentina vs Switzerland: TV schedule, kickoff
- Argentina: TyC Sports activities, TyC Sports activities Play (10pm, Argentina Time)
- Switzerland: SRF, RSI, RTS (3am on Sunday, Central European Summer time Time)
- United Kingdom: ITV1, ITVX, STV (2am on Sunday, British Summer time Time)
- US: FOX, FOX One, Telemundo App, Telemundo Community, Peacock (9pm, Japanese Daylight Time)
To examine the TV listings to your nation, head to FIFA’s TV itemizing schedule here.
Who will the winner face within the semifinals?
The winner of the Argentina vs Switzerland match will face both Norway or England within the semifinals in Atlanta on Wednesday.
Argentina vs Switzerland: Head-to-head
The 2 international locations have met seven occasions, with Argentina profitable 5 of these matches, whereas two resulted in a draw.
Argentina have additionally received each of their World Cup video games in opposition to Switzerland: 2-0 in a gaggle sport in 1966 and 1-0 within the spherical of 16 in 2014, which was additionally the final assembly between the edges in any competitors.
Solely three gamers stay from the 2014 assembly: Messi, Swiss captain Granit Xhaka, and defender Ricardo Rodriguez.
Argentina vs Switzerland: Group information
Whereas no accidents are reported within the Argentina camp, Switzerland’s Manzambi and Jaquez are out with knee and muscle accidents, respectively, whereas Aebischer is uncertain.
Manzambi, Switzerland’s 20-year-old breakout star, additionally missed the final sport.
Argentina’s predicted lineup
(4-1-3-2): Martinez (goalkeeper); Molina, Romero, Lisandro, Tagliafico; Paredes; De Paul, Enzo, Mac Allister; Messi, Lautaro
Switzerland’s predicted lineup
(4-2-3-1): Kobel (goalkeeper); Zakaria, Elvedi, Akanji, Rodriguez; Freuler, Xhaka; Vargas, Rieder, Ndoye; Embolo
