Argentina has secured back-to-back World Cup semifinal appearances after a 3–1 victory over Switzerland on July 11 during extra time.
The quarterfinal bout in Kansas City was Argentina’s Lionel Messi’s 15th appearance in a World Cup knockout match, earning him a 10th career assist within the tournament. It also marked the first match so far this tournament in which he did not score a goal. He remains behind France’s Kylian Mbappe in the race for the World Cup’s Golden Boot.
Meanwhile, it was Switzerland’s first appearance at that stage of the global tournament since 1954. They still have never made it beyond that point.
Argentina drew first blood just 10 minutes into play. A corner kick from Messi soared over the crowd in front of the net and turned into a header off Alexis Mac Allister down low in the corner of the six-yard box that was deposited in the back of the net.
The Seleccion held that lead through the end of the first half and the early stage of the second half. But the Swiss found their way past Argentina’s goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez in the 67th minute.
Dan Ndoye juked his way below Argentina’s back line of defenders deep in the attacking zone and slid the ball through Martinez’s legs into the back of the net.
The Swiss were not without their opportunities throughout the game, taking nine shots and forcing Martinez to make four saves.
But Swiss hopes were stunted just five minutes later when a red card left them playing down a man for the rest of the game.
After initially handing Argentina’s Leandro Paredes a yellow card for illegal contact with Switzerland’s Breel Embolo, the referee turned to the Video Assistant Referee. Upon inspection of the playback, it was determined that Embolo dove ahead of the incoming tackle, and the referee rescinded the yellow card on Paredes and instead gave it to Embolo.
A similar situation happened at the start of the tournament during Team USA’s opening match against Paraguay. An initial yellow card against the Americans was ultimately rescinded and handed to Paraguay after video review.
However, it was Embolo’s second yellow card of the night. A second yellow card automatically converts to a red card, which means the receiving player is ejected from the game, and his team unable to replace him on the pitch.
Switzerland out-fouled Argentina 15–9.
The Swiss held on to their tie through the rest of the 90 minutes, including nine minutes of added stoppage time. They then went into 30 minutes of extra time against the defending World Cup champions, still shorthanded.
Ten men would prove enough to maintain the draw through half of the extra time, but Argentina broke through again in the 112th minute of play to make it 2–1.
Julian Alvares picked up the ball from Jose Manuel Lopez, carried it towards the top center of the penalty box, and then launched the ball over traffic, curving into the top right corner of the net.
The Swiss launched a furious retaliation in the final eight minutes, but it was to no avail. In fact, the deficit only got worse.
A late breakout downfield in the first minute of stoppage time resulted in a goal from Lautaro Martinez.
Argentina has a 37-win, 2-draw, and 2-loss record for matches in which they are leading at half-time.
The defending World Cup champions move on to face Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, and the rest of England’s squad in the semifinal set for 3 p.m. ET on July 15 in Atlanta.
