World Cup 2026
\nKANSAS CITY
\nArgentina\u2019s Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez scored deep in extra time to secure a dramatic 3-1 quarter-final win over 10-man Switzerland on Saturday and set up a heavyweight last-four clash against England in Atlanta on Wednesday.
\nLionel Messi\u2019s Argentina side kept alive their bid to become the first team to retain the World Cup since Brazil in 1962 with a victory that sparked pandemonium among the sea of sky-blue-and-white supporters and ended Switzerland\u2019s fairytale run.
\nThe Swiss had reached the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1954, but fell one match short of an unprecedented semi-final appearance, suffering a major blow when Breel Embolo was sent off for diving in the 72nd minute.
\nThe thriller\u2013Kansas City\u2019s final game of the tournament\u2013looked headed for a shootout before Alvarez whipped a gorgeous long-range shot into the top corner in the 112th minute that Gregor Kobel at full-stretch had no chance of saving.
\nMartinez added a third for the holders nine minutes later when he calmly slotted home the rebound of Thiago Almada\u2019s shot.
\nAlexis Mac Allister had given Argentina the lead in the 10th minute, meeting Messi\u2019s corner at the front post with a flicked header that sailed beyond Kobel and into the far corner. It was the first time Switzerland had trailed in the tournament. The Swiss refused to wilt however.
\nAfter a largely uneventful first half, the contest burst into life as Switzerland repeatedly tested Emiliano Martinez, forcing the Argentina goalkeeper into a string of sharp saves and jolting the South American supporters into full voice.
\nAn equaliser felt inevitable as the Swiss piled on the pressure, and they were rewarded in the 67th minute when Dan Ndoye exchanged passes with Ricardo Rodriguez down the left before sliding a right-footed finish through Martinez\u2019s legs.
\nNdoye snarled into the nearest television camera as Switzerland\u2019s fans erupted.
\nBut the Swiss were reduced to 10 men when Embolo got a second yellow card for simulation. It came after a lengthy VAR review for mistaken identity, with the referee overturning his initial decision to caution Argentina\u2019s Leandro Paredes.
\nEmbolo collapsed in tears and was consoled by teammates as he left the pitch.
\nArgentina responded by pinning Switzerland back for long periods. Cheered on by fans who made Arrowhead Stadium feel more like Buenos Aires than Kansas City, the holders surged forward as chants of \u201cVamos, vamos!\u201d echoed around the venue.
\nMessi, playing in his sixth World Cup at the age of 39, nearly settled the contest in stoppage time with a fierce strike that flashed inches wide of the post.
\nSwitzerland weathered wave after wave of pressure and appeared destined to force a shootout but their resistance was finally broken in the closing moments of extra time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
World Cup 2026 KANSAS CITY Argentina\u2019s Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez scored deep in extra time to secure a dramatic 3-1 quarter-final win over 10-man Switzerland on Saturday and set up a heavyweight last-four clash against England in Atlanta on Wednesday. Lionel Messi\u2019s Argentina side kept alive their bid to become the first team to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":100181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100196"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100206,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100196\/revisions\/100206"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}