Argentina’s Julian Alvarez (9) celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal throughout the World Cup quarterfinal soccer match against Switzerland in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Julian Alvarez sent defending champion Argentina back to the World Cup semifinals with a long-range strike within the 112th minute against Switzerland, while one other goal by Lautaro Martinez with seconds left in overtime only served to make the 3-1 victory look an entire lot easier than it was Saturday night.
Alexis Mac Allister also scored off a corner kick from Lionel Messi, helping La Albiceleste gut out one other down-to-the-wire thriller and advance to play England on Wednesday in Atlanta. The Three Lions beat Norway 2-1 earlier within the day.
Messi’s nine-game World Cup scoring streak ended, but his pursuit of a second World Cup title continues. With Argentina and England joining France and Spain within the semifinals, it’s the primary time the highest 4 teams within the Fifa rankings have all advanced that far.
READ: World Cup: Messi leads Argentina to 3-2 comeback win over Egypt
World Cup: The defending champions advanced to the ultimate 4 after defeating Switzerland in overtime. pic.twitter.com/lFqnu1MZjW
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The sport swung within the second half on a call sure to rile up critics who consider Argentina has been favored by officials on this tournament.
The Swiss had just tied the sport on Dan Ndoye’s goal within the 67th minute when Leandro Paredes was shown a yellow card for a tackle on Breel Embolo. But video showed the Swiss player falling before the Argentina midfielder made contact with him, and since Embolo received a yellow card earlier within the match, he was sent off and Switzerland was left to defend with 10 players.
It was the second time a yellow card has been overturned using the “mistaken identity” protocol on the World Cup. The rule allows the video assistant referee to intervene when an incorrect player is shown a yellow or red card.
Argentina, which is riding a 12-match World Cup unbeaten streak, had looked quite beatable within the knockout rounds. Lionel Scaloni’s squad needed overtime to squeak past tiny Cape Verde before rallying from a 2-0 deficit in the ultimate 11 minutes of regulation to beat Egypt and earn a date with Switzerland at the house of the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Swiss, meanwhile, were playing their first World Cup quarterfinal since 1954. They still have never made a semifinal, nor have they beaten Argentina in eight meetings — three of those within the tournament that matters essentially the most.
Argentina has made its base for the past month in Kansas City, training at the house of MLS club Sporting Kansas City while winning over hundreds of latest fans. And on Saturday night, they filled Arrowhead Stadium for the second time this tournament, hoping to see Messi make more magic after his hat trick against Algeria in the identical constructing a number of weeks ago.
READ: World Cup: Messi, Argentina beat Cape Verde, 3-2, in overtime thriller
Argentina’s Alexis Mac Allister, center, celebrates scoring their first goal with Lionel Messi throughout the World Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Argentina and Switzerland in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
It was brutally hot and humid throughout the day, however the temperatures began to fall with the setting sun, producing a picturesque setting for the one hundredth match of an expanded World Cup, and the ultimate match of the quarterfinal round.
The defensive-minded Swiss had only conceded three goals in five games, and so they dominated the ball within the opening minutes. But leave it to Messi, whose eight goals within the tournament are tied for essentially the most with France’s Kylian Mbappé, to send a jolt through a heavily pro-Argentina crowd that included Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
He helped to earn an early corner kick with some nifty footwork, then delivered the ball that Mac Allister become a 1-0 lead.
For a lot of the match, the Swiss struggled to interrupt down an Argentina back line that had conceded two goals apiece in its last two games. And it didn’t help their cause that they were playing without Johan Manzabi, one in every of their best goal-scorers, who remained out with a knee injury after missing their round of 16 penalty shootout win over Colombia.
But after forcing Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez into making a few tough second-half saves, the Swiss broke through when Ricardo Rodriguez slipped a tidy pass to Ndoye and he easily found the back of the online.
Whatever momentum the equalizer gave the Swiss disappeared with Embolo’s red card a number of minutes later.
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Argentina turned up the pressure with Mac Allister missing wide with a header within the 89th minute, and Messi creating a chance in front of the goal that he sent just wide within the second minute of stoppage time, leaving the sport tied into overtime.
Just as they’ve all tournament, La Albiceleste found a strategy to keep their quest for back-to-back championships alive.