VANCOUVER, British Colombia (AP) — Ruben Vargas converted his penalty and Switzerland advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals with a 4-3 shootout win over Colombia after a scoreless draw on Tuesday.
Switzerland will next face defending champion Argentina on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Argentina defeated Egypt 3-2 earlier in the day.
Switzerland had not reached the quarterfinals of a World Cup since hosting the tournament in 1954. And the Swiss were shorthanded Tuesday without young midfielder Johan Manzambi, who was injured in training on Monday.
Vargas, who has scored two goals in the World Cup, also left Monday’s training early but was available off the bench and came on in stoppage time at the end of regulation.
Colombia defender Davinson Sanchez’s penalty attempt hit the crossbar and Switzerland goalkeeper Gregor Kobel saved an attempt by Cucho Hernandez.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino was among those at BC Place, where the sellout crowd was overwhelmingly clad in yellow in support of Colombia.
Colombia failed to qualify for the last World Cup in 2022. The team made the quarterfinals at the 2014 tournament in Brazil, defeating Uruguay in the round of 16 before losing to the host country 2-1.
The Swiss reached the round of 16 at the past three World Cups but failed to advance with a smaller field of 32 teams.
The match was tightly contested by two teams with contrasting styles, the Swiss with a more organized approach and Colombia more attack oriented. Switzerland had a slight edge in possession.
Manzambi, a 20-year-old midfielder who plays for German club Freiburg, had three goals in the World Cup and was one of the tournament’s breakout stars. The Swiss were also without Luca Jaquez and midfielder Michel Aebischer.
Gustavo Puerta had the first good chance for Colombia with a shot from distance in the 21st minute that was pushed away by Kobel.
The Swiss got one of their best opportunities in the 30th with Fabian Reider’s blast at Camilo Vargas, who punched the ball down. Minutes later, Vargas smothered another attempt from Dan Ndoye.
The Swiss had a free kick in the 52nd minute, but Reider’s attempt curled around the wall and went into the side netting.
In the first extra time period, Jhon Lucumi’s header hit the cross bar and caromed away as Colombia put pressure on Kobel.
Colombia and Switzerland also met in the group stage at the 1994 World Cup in the United States, with South American team winning 2-0.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Pickleball Read morePickleball
Dirk van Ulden said:
Kkleinbaum said:
Go Kaitlyn!
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.