Match 47 of the ongoing FIFA 2022 World Cup pitted Switzerland against Serbia in a pivotal match, and the Swiss team emerged victorious, 3-2, to advance to the Round of 16.
Switzerland took control of the first half straight away and started attacking right away, becoming the first side in World Cup history to attempt three shots in the first minute of play. Shortly after the kickoff, Granit Xhaka made two shots on goal, and goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic stopped Breel Embolo’s third attempt.
Andrija Zivkovic eventually made an attempt to respond for Serbia, but his powerful shot from outside the Swiss box struck the goalpost. As Serbia continued to control play, Switzerland eventually gained the upper hand and scored the game’s first goal in the 20th minute, thanks to a deflection by Xherdan Shaqiri.
After a perfect cross from Tadic in the 26th minute, Aleksandar Mitrovic scored the equalizer for Serbia only a few minutes later with one of his signature headers. After a mistake from Remo Freuler, Dusan Vlahovic put the ball into the bottom corner of the net nine minutes later, with the clock reading 35 minutes into the first half. After the Swiss opener, Serbia made a heroic comeback to grab the lead.
Switzerland unexpectedly found themselves in the losing column as Serbia scored back-to-back goals after grabbing an early lead. The team was shocked by Serbia’s unexpected onslaught and early lead. Breel Embolo responded with a beautiful shot into the Serbian goal in the closing minute of the first half, bringing Switzerland’s score even with Serbia. But as the first half came to a finish, Switzerland pulled off an unexpected equalizer. Serbia had dominated for the entirety of the first half, which eventually concluded with both teams tied at 2-2.
After a first half filled with exhilarating back-and-forth action, Switzerland took the lead early in the second half and managed to score their decisive third goal as a result of a wonderful cross-work created by Embolo and Shaqiri. The latter sent the ball to Vargas, who flicked the ball to Remo Freuler, who further thumped the ball past Milinkovic-Savic. With his fifth goal of the game, Freuler atoned for his earlier error that had allowed Vlahovic to score Serbia’s first goal.
As the game neared its conclusion, the ambiance became increasingly tense as in the 77th minute, the Serbian supporters in the crowd began making discriminatory chants and gestures, leading to a public announcement being made asking the crowd to refrain from doing so.
Serbia desperately attempted to come back and Switzerland did a fantastic job of defending their lead and not giving up any more goals. During the rough game, players from both teams—Serbia (7) and Switzerland—received 11 yellow cards.
Switzerland won the match and earned a spot in the top 16 playoffs when the referee blew the final whistle to signal the end of the game. With the defeat, Serbia missed out on the knockout stage for the fourth time since 2006.
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