The highly effective Swiss team defeated Algeria 2-0 in Vancouver and advanced to the World Cup Round of 16 for the fourth consecutive tournament. There, on Tuesday night (11:00 p.m.), at the same stadium, they will face the winner of the Colombia–Ghana match (which will take place at 4:00 a.m. in Kansas).

Emboló in the 10th minute and Endoi in the 46th minute scored for Murat Yakin’s team, which was not particularly threatened by the Africans, who had possession for long stretches, but were ineffective.

Highlights of the match

The Match

In its first notable moment of the match, Switzerland was fortunate to take the lead. The brilliant Manzabi disrupted Algeria’s defense from the left and, with a cutback into the box, found Embolo, who scored with a header to make it 1-0.

Aouar and Seibi were unable to threaten Kobel with their shots, while Maza’s sloppy finish from a good position was probably the best Algeria had to offer in the match.

Switzerland, which aside from a header by Zakaria that went wide had nothing else noteworthy to show for itself in the first half, once again demonstrated its ruthlessness. In the 48th second (!) of the second half, Endoi capitalized on two poor clearances by the Algerian defense and, with a beautiful shot just inside the box, doubled his team’s lead.

In the 50th minute, during Algeria’s best attack of the match, Mahrez saw his shot from the penalty spot blocked by a wall of defenders, while Switzerland’s only real chance came in the 81st minute, when Rinder, facing an open net, mishit the ball and Zidane was able to make the save.

He may not have scored, but Manzabi was the man who made things… happen for Switzerland. A constant threat from the wings, the Freiburg star provided the assist that “unlocked” the match. Thus, at just 20 years old, he became the youngest player to be involved in five goals at a World Cup.

*photo source: AP