Defending champion Argentina will face Switzerland in the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2026. Argentina have an unbeaten record against Switzerland, having won 5 out of 7 matches and drawn 2. The team would like to maintain this record.
missouri [यूएस]July 12 (ANI): Defending champions Argentina will face Switzerland in the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2026 on Saturday (local time). In this knockout match, the South American team will go against the European country with its unbeaten record.
Argentina’s dominance in head-to-head
The two teams have met seven times previously, in which Argentina has won five matches and drawn two. ‘La Albiceleste’ has scored 15 goals and conceded only three. Argentina has never lost to Switzerland in nearly six decades of meetings.
Their first World Cup encounter came during the 1966 edition in England, when Argentina won 2–0 in the group stage with goals from Luis Artime and Ermindo Onega.
Argentina continued to dominate in subsequent friendlies, including a 5–0 win in Córdoba in 1980 and a 2–0 win in Bern four years later. The remaining two friendly matches in 1990 and 2007 ended in 1–1 draws, with goals scored for Argentina by Abel Balbo and Carlos Tevez respectively.
When Messi scored his first international hat-trick
One of the most memorable meetings between the two teams was a friendly match in Bern in 2012, when Lionel Messi scored the first hat-trick of his international career as Argentina won 3–1 over Switzerland.
Memorable clash of 2014 World Cup
However, the teams’ most prestigious World Cup encounter took place in the Round of 16 of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. After a tight contest, Argentina broke the deadlock in the 117th minute of extra time when Messi passed a pass to Angel Di Maria, who scored the winning goal to send his team through to the quarter-finals. Switzerland came very close to taking the match to a penalty shootout in the final moments, but Blerim Dzemeli’s header hit the post and the ball deflected off his knee on the rebound.
Now that the teams are set to meet once again on the World Cup stage, Argentina will aim to continue their unbeaten run against Switzerland and book a place in the semi-finals as they continue their campaign to defend their FIFA World Cup title. (ANI)
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