Key events
On the other side of Canada the most gripping of last-32 clashes between Portugal and Croatia has just reached the most dramatic crescendo. Gonçalo Ramos scored with a header in stoppage time to claim the lead for Portugal for the first time in the game. But there was still time for a contentious call from VAR and the referee to deny Croatia a last-gasp equaliser.
Beau Dure is trying to keep up with all the drama and reaction from Portugal’s win over Croatia.
Preamble
Martin Pegan
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the World Cup match between Switzerland and Algeria at BC Place Vancouver. Kick-off in this last-32 clash is 8pm local/11pm EDT/4am BST/1pm AEST – or 4am in Algiers and 5am in Berne.
Switzerland took time to warm into the tournament when conceding late to draw their opener against Qatar. But they went on to steamroll Bosnia and Herzegovina then finished the group stage undefeated and locked in top spot with a win over co-hosts Canada.
Algeria had a much more dramatic journey to the last 32. There was no shame in being outclassed and defeated by Argentina before coming from behind to beat Jordan. But it was their clash with Austria, and an opportunity to avenge the Disgrace of Gijon, that will live longest in the memory. In arguably the best game of the group stage, Algeria again had to come from behind, this time not once but twice. They finally claimed the lead, and put one foot in the knockout stage, when Riyad Mahrez scored his second of the game in stoppage time. Another twist was still to come as Austria found time to level but by then Algeria had done enough to progress to the next stage as one of the top eight third-place finishers. That placing earned Algeria a last-32 clash with Switzerland, rather than an early meeting with Spain, with Colombia or Ghana now set to meet the winner of this game back at BC Place Vancouver.
Algeria are out to claim their first knockout stage win at a World Cup with Vladimir Petković now guiding them against the side he coached for seven years, while veteran Mahrez remains the on field spark even at the age of 35. Switzerland, on the other hand, can turn to young attacker with Johan Manzambi enjoying a breakout tournament.
I’ll be back shortly with the line-ups and team news – and the latest from the World Cup. In the meantime, get in touch with any questions, thoughts and predictions. You can shoot me an email, or find me on Bluesky @martinpegan.bsky.social. Let’s get into it!
Leave a Reply