Five things to know about Switzerland, which plays in World Cup quarterfinal in KC
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Switzerland landed Wednesday and will play Saturday at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium.
- Midfielder Johan Manzambi suffered a knee injury and was seen walking with a limp.
- This is Switzerland's first World Cup quarterfinal match since 1954.
There’s another World Cup team in Kansas City, as Switzerland landed Wednesday ahead of its historic match.
When Switzerland takes the field Saturday at Kansas City Stadium (aka Arrowhead), it will be the 10th team to play a match in KC. Add in England’s base camp at Swope Park and roughly a quarter of the teams in the World Cup will have spent time in Kansas City.
That’s quite a feat for the smallest World Cup host city, and perhaps Shatto will put out new flavors of milk for the teams that played a knockout stage match in KC (Colombia, Ghana and Switzerland).
The Swiss will face defending champion Argentina for the right to advance to the World Cup quarterfinals, and they are the lowest-ranked team still playing. Here are five things to know about Switzerland.
1. A key missing piece?
Midfielder Johan Manzambi, 20, was injured during training ahead of the Round of 16 win over Colombia.
Manzambi, who plays for Freiburg in the Bundesliga, suffered a knee injury and was spotted at Tuesday’s win over Colombia walking with a limp.
In Switzerland’s first four matches, Manzambi scored three goals and assisted on two others.
“What he’s doing at his age is incredible,” Swiss forward Dan Ndoye told reporters of Manzambi. “He’s an incredible player for us, and he helped us to go into the next step, you know. And I think he has a lot to improve again, but yeah, he makes us so much better, and we are really happy to have him in the team.”
2. World Cup form
Switzerland went 2-0-1 in Group B play and beat out co-host Canada for the top spot in the standings.
In the Round of 32, Switzerland defeated Algeria 2-0, then beat Colombia 4-3 in penalty kicks after a scoreless 120 minutes.
The Swiss haven’t lost since March 27, when they were beaten 4-3 by Germany in a warmup match. Switzerland is 4-0-4 in its last eight games.
3. Players to watch
Even if Manzambi can’t play, there are others to watch.
Striker Breel Embolo has scored twice in the World Cup, including the opening tally against Algeria in a Round of 32 victory. The goal was indicative of what you could see in Kansas City as The New York Times noted going into the World Cup, his average shot distance was just a tad under 10 yards.
Midfielder Granit Xhaka is the Swiss captain, and brings a wealth of experience to the team having played previously for Arsenal and Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen. He’s currently at Sunderland in the Premier League.
Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel made a big save in the shootout against Colombia, but he wasn’t challenged all that often during regulation or extra time. That likely will change against Argentina, and Kobel, who plays for Borussia Dortmund in Germany, will play a pivotal role in the match.
4. Champion killers?
Switzerland defeated defending Euro champion Italy in the Round of 16 at the 2024 European Championships, then pushed England in the quarterfinals before the Three Lions prevailed in a penalty-kick shootout.
In the previous Euros, the Swiss eliminated France, which was the defending World Cup champions. Switzerland then lost to Spain in penalties.
This is a historic match as it’s the first World Cup quarterfinal since 1954 for the Swiss, who have made the knockout stage in the last seven major tournaments they’ve played.
5. All-time record vs. Argentina
This will be the eighth time the sides have played, according to 11v11.com, and Argentina is unbeaten with a 6-0-2 record.
There have been two previous World Cup matches. Argentina won 2-0 during the 1966 competition in England. In the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Argentina won a Round of 16 match on its way to the championship game. Germany denied Argentina the title with a 1-0 win after extra time.
The two draws came in friendlies in 2007 and 1990. The biggest victory came in a 1980 exhibition game, which Argentina won 5-0.
