World Cup
FIFA World
Cup 2026
LIVE
57s ago
Advertisement
live
Updated
Argentina and Switzerland face each other in the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup in Kansas City today.
Lionel Messi is looking to inspire Argentina to another knockout win, while Switzerland have a chance to produce a huge upset against the defending champions.
After scraping past Cape Verde and Egypt in the two previous rounds, Argentina will hope for a more assured performance against a side making their first World Cup quarter-final appearance since 1954.
Quarter-final, or Messi? Traffic cops were already redirecting permitted cars to alternate lots because of overflow, and there must be 15 times the media to watch Lionel Messi square off against Switzerland than last week's round of 32 match between Colombia and Ghana.
And here's how Switzerland counter:
Here's how Argentina line up for tonight's quarter-final:
You could play spot the Switzerland shirt outside – and it would take you a while to find one. Argentina have taken over.
Betting against Lionel Messi might seem like madness given his otherworldly form at this World Cup. But Argentina are not at the level of the 2022 champions.
They are defensively vulnerable, dependent on a 39-year-old and have scraped past heavy underdogs thanks to large slices of luck and questionable refereeing decisions in successive matches.
This time, they lose out after extra time — leaving Switzerland and Murat Yakin victorious.
Argentina have been shaky in the knockout rounds, while Switzerland have been defensively solid. This will be a tight game but Lionel Messi might just prove the difference again to see Argentina through.
But not before the Swiss, even without Johan Manzambi, drag them into an extra 30 minutes of extra time — as they did in the last-16 at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
I am of the opinion Switzerland are sneakily good. They’re better than the other teams Argentina have struggled to eliminate.
The team have been together for a long time. Granit Xhaka and Remo Freuler are a tigerish midfield.
I suspect we will go to penalties, so I think this finishes 2-2 after extra time and Argentina will need Emiliano Martinez to repeat his heroics from four years ago in Qatar.
This will probably be another demanding game for Argentina — and one reason why I no longer expect them to retain the World Cup is because, to use boxing parlance, they’re having far too many hard fights at these finals.
But my expectation is they’ll score first against Switzerland, the Swiss will be forced to chase the game and someone like Lionel Messi will pick them off for a second time.
I don’t see a shock coming.
I expect Switzerland to adopt a similar approach to their game against Colombia: stay in a solid shape, avoid overcommitting and look to grab a goal on the break.
Against a shaky-looking Argentina, it could well work. But with breakout star and top-scorer Johan Manzambi still out injured, I don’t see them packing enough of an attacking punch.
I promised predictions, didn’t I? Well, here they come.
Let’s see who’s brave enough to call an upset!
Here’s one for each side involved today.
No team has scored more left-footed goals at this World Cup than Argentina, with nine — while no quarter-finalist has scored fewer right-footed ones than their two. Incidentally, did you know that Messi is left-footed?
As for Switzerland, they are facing the only squad left with more international experience than them. Argentina’s 1,251 combined caps is just ahead of their 1,132 total. Both sides also have 17 of their 26 players from the 2022 World Cup, the joint-highest share at the tournament.
Portuguese official Joao Pinheiro will referee his third match at this summer’s World Cup today — and his second appointment for a fixture involving Switzerland.
Pinheiro, officiating at his first World Cup, showed a straight red card to Bosnia and Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic in their 4-1 group-stage defeat by Switzerland, after he brought down Breel Embolo in a denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Pinheiro was at the centre of big protests from Canada’s squad during their round-of-32 victory against South Africa after he waved away their penalty shouts following a challenge on Richie Laryea shortly before the break. VAR upheld his decision not to give a spot kick.
The 38-year-old also refereed the UEFA Super Cup final between Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain last year.
It has served them well, by the skin of their teeth at times, but Argentina’s reliance on Lionel Messi makes their tactical approach predictable.
Lionel Scaloni’s side funnel possession through the middle 34 per cent of the time — a higher share than any other team at the tournament — with much of their attacking play geared towards finding Messi between the lines.
Until that breathtaking final 15 minutes, Egypt largely nullified this strategy by packing the centre themselves and smothering those central spaces. Switzerland are a stronger defensive side than Egypt, conceding just three shots on target in 120 minutes against Colombia, a game that showed their ability to make things compact, congested and difficult out of possession.
Argentina will need to vary their attacking patterns and have Messi’s supporting cast contribute if they are to enjoy a smoother ride here.
Scaloni’s team also looked vulnerable on the counter-attack and Switzerland have quick, direct runners in Dan Ndoye, Breel Embolo and Ruben Vargas, all capable of hurting Argentina if they are as sluggish as they were in Atlanta.
Switzerland could do with sharpening their set-piece routines. They are the only quarter-finalists yet to score via that route and in a game where they are likely to spend long spells on the back foot, a well-worked dead ball may be their best route towards nicking a goal.
Switzerland’s run to the quarter-finals has not been built on flair or panache. They have touches of both in their squad but their style of play is based on a rigid defensive structure in which few risks are taken and positional discipline is essential.
The one thing you don’t get against Switzerland is big gaps to work with.
Against Colombia in the last 16, they gave away very few chances and Murat Yakin’s side was impressive at scrambling to cover and shore things up on the occasions Colombia looked as if they had split the Swiss open. But Colombia were reluctant to push their full-backs forward. They clearly sensed a threat from Switzerland out wide, even without Johan Manzambi.
Manzambi has been ruled out of this game but in many ways, the key player in the entire machine is the captain, Granit Xhaka. The Sunderland man sits at the centre of midfield, pulling the strings with his short-range passing and, more importantly, organising the structure around him.
He’s a talker, he’s a natural leader and with Xhaka in position, the rest of the players appear to know exactly where they should be.
Yakin has been with this team for five years now. There’s a strong level of understanding between coach and squad, and they absolutely know the type of side they’re supposed to be. They topped their group, they’ve conceded three times in the entire tournament, so it would be wrong to say they’ve made the last eight through luck or chance.
They’re simply the least dangerous attacking side left in the tournament — so to upset Argentina, they’ll likely need a repeat of the story against Colombia: solid through 90 minutes, solid through extra time and then clinical in a penalty shootout.
It’s a big ask, but it’s not out of the question.
Tears. The two Lionels — Scaloni and Messi — being capable of containing their emotions and looking calm until the final whistle, then letting it all out.
Argentina don’t do straightforward. They are the opposite of emotionless. Games that look like bland prose on paper become works of epic poetry.
In Miami, Argentina kept taking the lead against Cape Verde but only sank the newcomers with an own goal in extra time. In Atlanta, it was 3-2 again, just with more drama. It required a historic remontada. When Enzo Fernandez completed arguably the most famous comeback in World Cup history, Scaloni and Messi burst into tears.
On the one hand, performances like these do not inspire confidence. It should not be this difficult.
Four years ago, Scaloni was able to introduce freshness from the bench and radically change Argentina’s fortunes. Players such as Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez went from playing on the margins to taking a leading role in Argentina’s first World Cup triumph since 1986.
This time around, Scaloni hasn’t been able to transform the team mid-tournament. Argentina have, as a consequence, looked stale and pedestrian.
All of this fails to take into account the intangibles that continue to make Argentina formidable. Leaving aside Messi’s genius, this group have been together for years. They have mostly won together. They retained the Copa America in 2024. It means Argentina never know they’re beaten. Belief is unfaltering, even in adversity.
If at any point the Swiss think they have got Argentina where they want them, that’s when they need to be at their most wary.
OK, we have three hours to kick-off in Kansas City and only 90 minutes until we get the official team news.
Let’s ramp up what we’re expecting — and predicting — ahead of the action between Switzerland and Argentina.
Buckle up!
English referees Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor will not be allowed to take charge of the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium on July19 if it includes either England or Argentina, who are on the same side of the draw and on course to meet in a possible semi-final.
Officials are not allowed to take charge of their own nations to avoid potential conflicts of interest and ensure neutrality, but Oliver and Taylor also cannot officiate Argentina matches for political reasons: namely the legacy of the 1982 Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina.
The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with an Argentine surrender, returning the islands to British control. There were 649 members of the Argentine military, 255 members of the British military and three Falkland Islanders killed.
The subject continues to generate strong feeling in Argentina, with the country’s current president Javier Milei strongly reaffirming his belief in Argentine sovereignty over the territories.
For this World Cup, it means both Oliver and Taylor will only be considered for the final if either Norway — who are currently playing England — or Switzerland advance to the tournament decider.
Taylor was also under consideration for the World Cup final in Qatar four years ago after an impressive tournament, but was unable to do so when Argentina advanced to meet France.
For the wider World Cup context, some teams have enjoyed a gentle commute — others have endured a continent-sized obstacle course.
The Athletic calculated the estimated straight-line distance travelled by the quarter-finalists from the start of the tournament to their last-eight venue. Seven of our eight figures were confirmed by the nations, while Argentina did not respond.
England lead the way — if that is the right way to put it — with their Kansas City base camp, six match cities and a distance roughly equivalent to a return flight from London to Los Angeles. Their punishing route to the World Cup quarter-finals saw them already travel almost 11,000 miles ahead of facing Norway today.
Meanwhile France, with their place in the semi-finals already secured, clearly don’t need the help — but have had been able to have their feet up, travelling fewer than 2,000 miles.
That is quite the difference. You can read the piece in full right here.
GO FURTHER
Which World Cup quarter-finalist has travelled the furthest? Only one team is over 10,000 miles
Their route has been built around a Kansas City base, where they have also played twice, Dallas twice, Miami and Atlanta. Today’s quarter-final is back in Kansas City, as we know.
Argentina have come through two tight knockout games and are given an 18 per cent chance of retaining their crown.
Game Details