4 July 2026
Switzerland End 88 Years of Knockout Hurt to Face Colombia
Goals from Breel Embolo and Dan Ndoye gave Switzerland a landmark 2-0 win over Algeria and ended nearly nine decades of World Cup knockout misery.
Switzerland finally broke one of football's most stubborn hoodoos on Friday, beating Algeria 2-0 in Vancouver to claim their first World Cup knockout stage win in 88 years, according to Sky Sports. The Swiss had been knocked out in each of their previous seven knockout games at the tournament, a streak stretching back almost a century.
Breel Embolo opened the scoring in the tenth minute and Dan Ndoye added a second to book a last-16 place for Murat Yakin's side. They will now face Colombia, who beat Ghana 1-0 in their own last-32 tie.
The result sets up a compelling last-16 tie and, according to The Guardian's power rankings, Switzerland have been powered in part by 20-year-old breakout star Johan Manzambi, whose coach Yakin described as someone you can really use in every single position. It is, Yakin said, just so much fun to work with him.
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