Extra Time, Full-time: Argentina 3-1 Switzerland

Fifa match officials’ novel use of the term “mistaken identity” reared its head again in sensational circumstances during this quarter-final, leaving Swiss forward Breel Embolo in tears and the European side a man down for a total of 67 minutes against the defending champions.

“It’s completey not understandable,” Switzerland head coach Murat Yakin said afterward. “I know that they will protect their referee but this rule destroyed the game today.”

Interesting insight from Martín writing in from Argentina:

“Awful match. Weird double yellow (fair, I think, but so stupid that maybe the ref could just let it pass). As an argentinian, I’d prefer another approach. We need to be better. Against England, I’d rather lose playing our game than being this again. We already are champions, we have an identity, let’s not lose it.”

More mailbag thoughts:

• “Well, at least if Messi does a Maradona and punches through a goal against England, VAR will overrule it – maybe. (No guarantees when it’s Argentina.)” Burt
• “As successful as they’ve been in this World Cup, Argentina are unconvincing to me. Cape Verde, Egypt, and now Switzerland have pushed them hard, and they’re making heavy weather out of what should be winnable matches. They have a glass jaw, and I don’t see this team getting past England.” Chris
• “It bothers me that VAR has been very inconsistent when applying the rules, seemingly favoring the ‘bigger’ teams over others. A semi-final of Argentina – England is a great one in theory, but I fear the worst with this tournaments refereeing track record. I for one will be preparing myself for heartbreak…” Michael H
• “Was hoping for a Swiss upset but honestly I don’t think that England should fear Argentina from what we have seen.” Kyle

Argentina, meanwhile, live another day. They are unbeaten in a remarkable 12 World Cup games, dating back to the 2022 tournament in Qatar, and their dream of becoming the first back-to-back champion since Brazil in 1962 continues.

Everything said before this match – that this style of play makes for compelling drama and captivating narratives, but is not without its flaws – seems still very true after this game.

Switzerland will be (rightfully) upset about the way that match finished, but I think many viewers will have been surprised that their 10-man defence didn’t break sooner.

There will undoubtedly be lots of conversation to continue about the Embolo sending-off. It does feel as though this World Cup has been played against a backdrop of refereeing and officiating discourse/questions of discipline. Maybe that’s just the way things will be in the VAR era of football? Maybe it’s all setting up for a massive decision of consequence in a final. We’ll see.

Watching Argentina games at the 2026 World Cup has felt like that one internet meme from 2016:

“Well, I’d like to see Argentina wriggle their way out of THIS jam!”

*Argentina wriggles their way out of the jam easily*

“Ah! Well. Nevertheless,”

How deceiving this 3-1 scoreline will be. Lautaro Martinez started this sequence on the counter and laid the ball off to Thiago Almada, who seemed to get a shot off but had his attempt saved by Gregor Kobel. Martinez was in position to fire the rebound of the save into the empty net.

Have Argentina done it again? They just may have. That’s a wondrous strike by Julian Alvarez to break the deadlock in the 112th minute. He picks up a pass from Jose Manuel Lopez, who had just entered in the 110th minute for Leandro Paredes, takes just a few touches on his right foot at the left edge of the penalty area and fires a curling shot into the top right corner. It’s Alvarez’s first goal of this World Cup.

Another change for Argentina: Otamendi is on for Romero, who put in a nice shift. As Ronald wrote in: “Could someone please remind Cristian Romero (and Pedro Porro for that matter) that it’s OK to play this well for Spurs? Thanks!”

Shyam writes in: “Surely after another grueling game, Argentina, should they get past the Swiss, will be knackered when they face England and even more so should they face Spain or France in the final?

It’s interesting to compare cricket and football World Cups. In the former, winning close matches leads to a team being battle hardened and likely to prevail in the final. But in football World Cups too many harrowing matches just lead to exhaustion!”

Extra time, half time: Argentina 1-1 Switzerland

A few days after they played for a penalty shootout against Colombia, the Swiss are doing it again. Argentina had more of the chances in the first 15 minutes of extra time but Switzerland are holding firm.

105+1 min From Sydney, Gervase asks: “If Switzerland hang on until full-time, what are the chances Messi opts out of the penalties? Given his record to date, I think he’s a very doubtful starter.”

You have to think yes, but it is a good reminder that Messi, for all his undisputed greatness, is not the World Cup’s finest penalty taker. He missed against Egypt and is 4-for-8 at the World Cup in his career.

Source: TheGuardian