Switzerland in the World Cup quarter-finals: a 72-year wait ends on penalties
Switzerland beat Colombia 4-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw and reached a World Cup quarter-final for the first time since 1954. Argentina await on Saturday in Kansas City.
The last time Switzerland played a World Cup quarter-final, the tournament was on home soil and the year was 1954. Seventy-two years later, the wait ended in Vancouver: 0-0 against Colombia after 120 minutes, then a 4-3 penalty shootout win that puts the Swiss among the last eight.
The hero has the temperament of a Swiss watch: Gregor Kobel. The goalkeeper saved Cucho Hernández’s penalty after Davinson Sánchez had rattled the crossbar, leaving Rubén Vargas to convert the kick that sealed it. No fuss, no superstars — Swiss football running like the trains back home.
How did Switzerland reach the World Cup 2026 quarter-finals?
Switzerland won Group B, saw off Algeria 2-1 in the round of 32 and outlasted Colombia on penalties in the last 16 — a quiet campaign without a single defeat inside 90 minutes. It is the kind of run nobody celebrates in July and everybody remembers in September, much like Argentina’s wild comeback against Egypt, the other tie that closed out the round.
When is Switzerland vs Argentina in the quarter-finals?
Switzerland-Argentina kicks off on Saturday 11 July in Kansas City, with a semi-final place on the line. Waiting on the other side are Messi’s world champions, who needed eleven minutes of madness to avoid going out. The Swiss arrive with zero pressure and a goalkeeper in the form of his life — a combination favourites tend to hate. The official match page is on the FIFA website, and we are following every round in our World Cup 2026 tracker.
By Vasco Almada
Image: Sandro Halank, Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)