Switzerland's Remo Freuler celebrates scoring their third goal with Granit Xhaka, Ardon Jashari and teammates during the Qatar World Cup final Group G match between Switzerland and Serbia at Stadium 974 on December 2, 2022. (REUTERS/Hannah Mckay)
Switzerland held off Serbia 3-2 in a feisty final Group G game to continue their run of successive Round of 16 qualification at a major international tournament.
Xherdan Shaqiri put Switzerland ahead in the 20th minute before Alexander Mitrovic equalised from a glancing header six minutes later. Dusan Vlahovic put the Serbians ahead in the 35th minute, but Breel Embolo ensured both teams went into half-time level with a close range finish.
Remo Freuler sealed the win for the Swiss team three minutes into the second half as Switzerland held on to qualify second in the group with six points despite Cameroon beating Brazil by a lone goal. They will now face Group H leaders Portugal in the next round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Switzerland's Xherdan Shaqiri celebrates scoring their first goal with Granit Xhaka. (REUTERS/Alberto Lingria)
“We started out well, took the lead and unfortunately lost the ball and we conceded. We were happy to get back into the game, Granit and Shaq supported the team today. We are very happy to move into the round of 16 and everything else is just speculation,” Switzerland coach Murat Yakin said after the match.
Serbia could have gone ahead, but Andrija Zivkovic’s curler came off the post in the 12th minute. Serbia coach Dragan Stojkovic said his side would look for the holes in the Swiss defence like their cheese, but Switzerland went ahead in the 20th minute. Shaqiri opened his Qatar 2022 account with a fine left-footed finish past Vanja Milinkovic-Savic off a slight deflection
from Strahinja Pavlovic.
The Serbians soon found the holes, and Mitrovic pulled them level with a trademark glancing header into the bottom corner from Dusan Tadic’s cross.
Dragan Stojkovic’s formation to start with two forwards seemed to give the attack more threat, as the Eagles soon went ahead in the 35th minute. Vlahovic making his first start in Qatar, scored his 10th goal for Serbia, latching on to a loose ball in the Swiss defence before dragging his effort into the bottom corner, wrongfooting Gregor Kobel.
Breel Embolo pulled the Swiss level just before half-time from close range after Silvan Widmer, with so much space, picked out the 25-year-old with an inviting cross.
Switzerland came out of the changing rooms blazing and were ahead soon enough just three minutes after the restart. A silky move saw Embolo keep the ball alive in the Serbian box, and laid it on for Shaqiri, who clipped a lovely ball over the top for Djibril Sow to set up Remo Freuler with a lovely touch and the latter made no mistake, hitting a sweet volley
past Vanja.
Serbia pushed for an equaliser, but Switzerland had the better chance to score as Embolo skied a simple tap in from close range that would have given the Swiss more comfort in the lead.
Tadic flashed a shot just wide as Serbia, with Luka Jovic on as a sub, struggled to find the
holes in a re-energised Swiss defence.
The game got feisty as Argentine referee Fernando Rapallini waved off calls for a penalty after Mitrovic went down in the box easily.
Serbian substitute goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic was flashed a yellow card for his aggressive and unsportsmanlike protest.
Christian Fassnacht could have eased Swiss nerves, but Vanja rushed out early to save before Jovic glanced a header harmlessly wide on the other end.
The loss means Serbia have failed to win in five games at the World Cup, their longest losing streak in the competition. It is also the second straight time they have left the competition due to a defeat to Switzerland.
“I’d like to congratulate Switzerland on a well deserved victory. We are obviously not happy to lose which is expected. But given the problems we faced since our arrivals and the injuries we had to struggle with, especially with the best players — we tried to get them in the best shape.
“You cannot play at the World Cup without being 100% fit,”
Stojkovic told reporters after
the match.
“The guys put up a fight and did their best and unfortunately for a competition of this capacity it was not enough,” he added.
