Switzerland knock out Colombia on penalties, advance to World Cup Last Eight

Switzerland managed to remain calm in a thrilling penalty shootout to edge past Colombia 4-3 and advance to the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals against Lionel Messi’s Argentina.

Despite putting up a highly commendable fight which saw both sides display dedication and commitment throughout the match, none of the two were able to score in the 120 minute clash.

The Swiss side seemed more adventurous compared to their opponents in the second half of the game, as their captain Granit Xhaka tested the Colombians’ patience in the second half while Denis Zakaria also got an opportunity to try and change the fortunes of the match. On his own part, Luis Suárez was the one threatening to score for the South Americans just after the hour mark.

The physicality increased as the players continued to get exhausted, with Colombia’s Davinson Sánchez picking a yellow card at the end of the regular time period while Miro Muheim of Switzerland got the same treatment in the extra time period.

Unable to score after 120 minutes, the match was decided through penalties.

Granit Xhaka opened the Swiss account with a successful penalty attempt as Colombia’s Juan Fernando Quintero followed suite.

Zeki Amdouni restored the Swiss lead, but soon after that Sánchez scored to ensure parity. Then Manuel Akanji found the back of the net before Jhon Campaz reduced the deficit for Colombia.

Cedric Itten scored and gave Switzerland a 3-2 lead, but soon after that Jhon Córdoba Hernández scored and took the shootout to a crucial phase.

Switzerland’s Ruben Vargas scored from the spot-kick number four, which left Colombia’s star winger Luis Díaz to score to save his team, but Díaz failed to score, and Swiss players went into celebration mode after booking their 4-3 win in the shootout.

With this win, Switzerland have advanced into the quarter-finals where they will face one of the favourite teams in the tournament, Argentina.

Colombia’s journey ends here as it is a bitter end for them as they have had a decent tournament, but their hopes of featuring in the quarter-finals were dashed in the most painful way.

As for Switzerland, they are still on course for their first-ever semifinal of FIFA World Cup and will try to derail Argentina in the quarter-finals.