Sweden 1-0 Switzerland: World Cup highlights and recap

Sweden beat Switzerland 1-0 in the World Cup on Tuesday, July 3. Here are all the highlights from the match.

Sweden beat Switzerland 1-0 in the World Cup round of 16 on Tuesday, July 3, to make it to the quarterfinals for the first time 1994 and only the second time since the ‘50s. Emil Forsberg got the winning goal midway through the second half with help from a big deflection of Switzerland’s Manuel Akanji.

Sweden’s approach was the same as it has been all tournament. Defend in numbers, and look to hit their opponent on the counter-attack and at set pieces. It wasn’t particularly pretty, but they created the better chances throughout the match, with number 9 Marcus Berg once again profligate in front of goal.

Switzerland controlled possession, but seriously struggled to break down the Swedish defense. For the most part, their best route to goal appeared to be a moment of magic from Xherdan Shaqiri, who spent much of the match cutting in on his left foot and taking speculative shots or curling hopeful crosses into the area. Needless to say, it didn’t produce much.

Forsberg was the standout attacking player on the day, one of few Swedish players who didn’t routinely waste the ball when it came to him. He had little to work with when he did find space and get his head up, but was deserving of his luck when he cut in on his right foot in the 66th minute and took a shot that was deflected past Yann Sommer and into the net.

Switzerland put some pressure on the Swedish defense late on as they chased the game. The closest they came was a Haris Seferovic header well saved by Robin Olsen in second half stoppage time, but for all their willingness to throw numbers forward, they still never really got in behind Sweden’s defense.

The Scandinavian side finally killed the game in the last minute of stoppage time, Martin Olsson getting Michael Lang sent off for a deliberate denial of a goalscoring opportunity on the top of the Swiss penalty area. Ola Toivonen missed the free-kick, but it was the last kick of the match as Sweden booked their spot in the quarterfinal.

Next: The best player on every team at the World Cup

Highlights

Sweden will face the winner of Colombia and England on Saturday, July 7, in the quarterfinal.