FIFA World Cup 2022: Serbia vs Switzerland 2-3 Report

Switzerland overtook Serbia to secure the place in  Round of 16

With a narrow 3-2 victory over Serbia, Switzerland reached the round of 16 of the World Cup for the third time in a row.

With a place in the round of 16, the first half started from start to finish with Xherdan Shaqiri’s goal, his fifth goal in 11 World Cup appearances.

However, Serbia scored two goals within 10 minutes to turn the game around and Aleksandar Mitrović’s equalizer was followed by Dušan Vlahović’s goal.

Breel Embolo equalized in the 44th minute, making it the first time since 1998 that both sides have scored at least two goals before half-time in a World Cup game.

Shortly after the restart, Remo Freuler scored the last goal of the game and led his country to a deserved victory.

Switzerland finished second despite being level on points with Brazil, who lost 1-0 to Cameroon, meaning Murat Yakin’s side will face Portugal in the round of 16 on Tuesday.

Switzerland went into the game knowing that a win would secure them a place in the last 16 and a draw would earn Brazil a point, while Serbia knew full well that only a win would give them a chance to advance.

There were some thrilling and dramatic games in the last round of the group stage and the first exchanges of blows at the 974 Stadium indicated that another thrilling match was about to happen.

Within the first 30 seconds, Vanja Milinković-Savic was forced into a double stop to prevent Embolo and Granit Xhaka from giving Switzerland an early lead.

Moments later, it was Serbia’s turn to get closer to goal when Nikola Milenkovic fired high into the box and headed in from the corner.

Dragan Stojković’s men sought the first goal going forward and cursed their luck when Andrija Živković’s sharp shot hit the post.

Serbia would be even more frustrated in the 20th minute when Djibril Sow put the ball down the path of Shaqiri, who shot the near post slightly diagonally.

Their lead lasted just seven minutes, however, as Dušan Tadic capitalized on Mitrović’s clever run and the Fulham striker produced a superb header that thumped the onrushing Gregor Kobel.

After seeing his partner join the scorers, Vlahović sprung into action and put Serbia ahead by deflecting the ball into the corner with a final left-footed shot.

They might have thought their lead would last at least until half-time, but Switzerland had other ideas and equalized thanks to Embolo, who leveled from close range after a low cross from Silvan Widmer.

Just three minutes into the second half, Switzerland restored their lead when Freuler pushed past Milinković-Savić after a good cross from Ruben Vargas.

The pace slowed after Freuler’s efforts, despite Serbia’s efforts to keep the pressure on the opposition as they tried to level.

A cautious second half failed to respond to the tense drama of the first 45 minutes and as the game entered the closing stages Serbia began to take a more direct approach which ultimately proved fruitless as Switzerland managed to collect three crucial points.

Lineups:

Serbia Replacements: Dmitrovic, Erakovic, Maksimovic, Radonjic, Gudelj, Jovic, Rajkovic, Stefan Mitrovic, Babic, Racic, Djuricic, Lazovic, Ilic, Mladenovic, Grujic

Switzerland Replacements: Fernandes, Zakaria, Seferovic, Steffen, Omlin, Aebischer, Fassnacht, Comert, Okafor, Frei, Rieder, Jashari

Scorers:

Yellow Cards: