World Cup
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Cup 2026
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Switzerland have beaten 10-man Bosnia and Herzegovina 4-1 with a late surge to earn their first victory of the 2026 World Cup.
Goalless after 73 minutes, Johan Manzambi scored for the Swiss with a fantastic volley, before Tarik Muharemovic was sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Ruben Vargas netted Switzerland's second, Manzambi added another and Ermin Mahmic pulled one back for Bosnia in added time, before Granit Xhaka converted a penalty.
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Still plenty for both of these teams to play for at the World Cup.
Switzerland face co-hosts Canada in Vancouver on Wednesday, while Bosnia's crucial game against Qatar kicks off at the same time (3pm ET) in Seattle.
We'll see you then for our live coverage of those games.
And Murat Yakin wrapped up by talking about the impact of captain Granit Xhaka, after he had been criticised by parts of the Swiss media before the game.
💬 “Granit used his energy on the pitch, which is where we need it. He is very important, a leader on the pitch, very decisive in many attacking situations. That's what he's like, that's Granit.
“We focused on the pitch. I told him we needed him on the pitch and please don't use your energy elsewhere. He is a captain important to me, we talk on a regular basis.
“It was important to talk about what happened in the media. He was attacked. I talked to him for 10 minutes.
“He started to refocus on training. Yesterday you could see how happy he was, how focused. These are very good moments (between player and coach). It's always fun talking to him.”
Switzerland head coach Murat Yakin discussed how he managed the cooling breaks in his post-match conference to the media.
💬 “The timing was very important. We restarted very well, we got really into the game after the first cooling break.
“It was also very important that after the second hydration break that we could react to things. this was the advantage we had. That was the reason why I brought on the players later. I waited until the hydration break.
“That was very decisive for the entire match. We could have made the changes earlier but they could have reacted immediately (during the hydration break). That's why it was the right decision. This was the moment things worked out better for us.
“Now we have learned from cooling break experience. One could tell, the first was an advantage for them, the second an advantage for us. You can tell players what to do, give instructions, show images, talk about changes and subs.
“Luckily my team understands very quickly. We can use them in our favour and learn from it and today we were successful.”
Murat Yakin went on to hail the goalscoring impact of substitute Johan Manzambi, 20, who turned the match on its head after coming on in the second half.
💬 “He is a very happy person, with so many football qualities. Right from the first moment (in his Switzerland career) he took every chance. He is very versatile: in defence, midfield, on the flanks, as a striker.
“He learned how to play on the streets. He needs to be more structured, but he is making headway with that.
“Johan has many qualities. He puts a lot of pressure on opponents, he can even surprise us as well as opponents with what he can do. He can dribble, score goals.
“Sometimes in training we can't train every player (in tactical intricacies). Johan needs more time to know all the details, all the positions. He needs to be more disciplined. Fabian Rieder is more experienced and more intense and we needed to start with more organisation.
“We are so happy to have Johan in our team and he was so important for today's match. He showed a very good performance today. Who knows, maybe we can use Johan from the start. Let's see what the future holds.”
Bosnia head coach Sergej Barbarez, in his post-match press conference, discussed the impact of the hydration breaks.
💬 “Before the first (hydration) break, we were the better team, the players were better. We had good chances and controlled the match.
“But the bottom line is we conceded based on an individual mistake. The rules (on breaks) are set, we need to abide by them.
“Chaos erupted (after the second break), but based on their goal and our red card. The last 16 minutes shouldn't have created so many problems for us, but the opponents have so much quality.
“Their team has excellent players.”
Silvan Widmer, the Swiss right-back, has been speaking after their win. “Really important to get that help from the bench,” he said. “They are excellent players. We knew it would be a hard game, we needed time to break down their defence.”
All of Switzerland’s goals came after the second ‘hydration’ break. “It was not hot that we needed the break,” Widmer added. “It changes the game. For sure the coaches can use these breaks to speak to the team and make changes.”
Will this be remembered as the red card World Cup?
Tarik Muharemovic's sending off means there have been more straight reds at this tournament (four) than there were across 128 matches at the past two World Cups combined (three).
This was Switzerland's biggest World Cup victory since beating Honduras 3-0 in 2014.
It was also the first time they’ve scored four goals in a game at the tournament since a 4-1 win against Romania back in 1994.
All in all, a great day for the Swiss.
Johan Manzambi is seen as one of the biggest emerging talents in the Bundesliga.
A central midfielder who may well evolve into a more attacking player as he gets older, 2025-26 was really his first season as a week-to-week starter for Freiburg, having joined the club as a 17-year-old from Servette in 2023.
He does a lot well. His goals today will present him in an attacking light, but his carrying and passing from deep is also worth your attention and thankfully, with this win, we should be able to see more of that as the tournament goes on.
Watch out for him. He's not the finished article yet, but his rate of improvement has been dramatic this season.
Today's other Group B game between co-hosts Canada and Qatar has just kicked off in Vancouver.
You can follow our live coverage of that one by heading to this link.
It was a bit of a defensive horror show for Amar Memic.
It was his tame header out volleyed in by Manzambi, him drawn towards the ball giving Vargas the space to finish, him played around for Vargas to set up Manzambi again and then him who gave away the penalty for the fourth.
Suboptimal.
Manuel Akanji was highly impressive at the heart of the Swiss defence.
He is one of Murat Yakin's leaders and generals on the pitch, despite not being the captain, and was excellent both physically and from a positioning and anticipation perspective.
Nothing he did was especially worthy of a highlight reel, per se, but he stopped several promising attacks in their infancy and would have kept a clean sheet if not for a fine volley from Mahmic.
Ruben Vargas came on with around 20 minutes left, the score locked at 0-0, and turned the game on its head.
A goal, big roles in both Johan Manzambi goals and involved in the move which led to the penalty.
Some impact, some introduction.
With the generation of Granit Xhaka, Xherdan Shaqiri, and Ricardo Rodriguez all ageing together and starting to retire, the Swiss national team needed some new blood.
As trailed in The Athletic's Stars of Soccer series, they have that in Johan Manzambi, the 20-year-old Freiburg midfielder who is so highly rated that he skipped the Under-21s and was drafted straight into the senior national squad last year.
For the most part, he has played as a box-to-box midfielder since breaking into the Bundesliga side’s first team last season, scoring one of the goals that took them to the Europa League final.
However, one of his key virtues – the thing that in the opinion of his manager at Freiburg, Julian Schuster, “makes him special” – is his adaptability.
When he was a kid, he wanted to be a goalkeeper, and has played up front and as a No 10, while Swiss coach Murat Yakin has talked about using him as a winger, because they don’t have as many options on the flanks.
Inevitably there has already been plenty of transfer buzz about him, but no move is imminent. However, that could change very quickly with a big World Cup.
Given the pace at which Manzambi’s career has moved so far and his performance today, you wouldn’t rule it out.
Johan Manzambi, 20, definitely has something about him.
He looks so natural and confident on the ball, so at ease in his surroundings.
Manzambi absolutely has the attributes to be a very fine player.
Two goals, both taken with aplomb.
Over to you, Murat Yakin. Will the head coach start him against Canada?
Don't bet against it!
So at the end of all that, what might happen in Group B?
It's advantage Switzerland, who have a 57 per cent chance of topping the group and are almost certain to be in the knockouts one way or another.
Bosnia's campaign is very much in the balance, but they do have a winnable game against Qatar to come.
It was a late goal glut inspired by substitutes Johan Manzambi and Ruben Vargas that saw Switzerland run out worthy winners.
Disappointment for Bosnia, for whom Ermin Mahmic scored a lovely consolation goal, but with Qatar still to come in their final group game, the last 32 remains in sight.
This game seemed to be going nowhere, but in the final 16 minutes – plus stoppages – we had five goals, a penalty and a sending-off!
At around 70 minutes, a stadium staffer invited those of us in the press box to use the elevator to get down to the press conference room as it would only be travelling in 10-minute intervals.
Had you taken up that offer, you would have been sat front row about to ask the managers about a 0-0 draw…
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