Switzerland beat Algeria 2-0 to reach World Cup Round of 16 in style

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkSwitzerland players celebrate after reaching the World Cup last-16 [Simon Fearn/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters]By Al Jazeera Staff and ReutersPublished On 3 Jul 20263 Jul 2026Switzerland ‌striker Breel Embolo struck early and winger Dan Ndoye added a second as their side ⁠cruised to a 2-0 ⁠win over Algeria on Thursday and into the last 16 at the FIFA World Cup, where they will meet Colombia or Ghana back in Vancouver next week.Murat Yakin’s Swiss ⁠side put on a tactical masterclass, shifting formations and laying traps for Algeria before hitting them with two sucker-punch goals that decided a contest short on excitement, but full of intrigue and nuance.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Senegal’s World Cup agony: Nation left rueing last-gasp collapselist 2 of 3Ronaldo scores as Portugal come back to win, Croatia denied by late VARlist 3 of 3‘They gave their best’: Congolese reflect on historic World Cup runend of listPitted ⁠against a familiar foe in Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic, who had seven years at the helm of Switzerland between 2014 and 2021, Yakin set his team up to absorb early pressure and strike on the break, and that is exactly what they did.Their opener was as simple as it was effective.Breel Embolo #7 of Switzerland celebrates scoring his first goal of the tournament [Fran Santiago/Getty Images/AFP]The Swiss won ‌the ball in their own half and sent 20-year-old Johan Manzambi off down the left on the counter, and he squared for Embolo to steer the ball into the net from close range in the 10th minute.The lead secured, Switzerland shifted to a five-man midfield out of possession, snuffing out the space and challenging the Algerians to play through them, but Petkovic’s charges struggled to break their opponents down.Algeria’s best chance came in first-half stoppage time when Ibrahim Maza dragged ⁠a snap shot wide of the near post, one of the few efforts ⁠on goal they managed in the game.Switzerland’s Dan Ndoye celebrates scoring their second goal [Lee Smith/Reuters]The Swiss struck again almost immediately after the break, attacking down the right before a half-hearted clearance from Rafik Belghali ended up at the feet of Ndoye and the winger placed his shot beyond the ⁠dive of goalkeeper Luca Zidane.Algeria captain Riyad Mahrez could have pulled a goal back moments later, but he fired straight at a defender from ⁠a central position, summing up a frustrating evening for the Algerians.With ⁠Granit Xhaka steering Switzerland’s defensive shape, they went back to their original game-plan of ceding possession and launching lightning-fast counter-attacks, but the Algerians were wary of committing players forward lest they concede again.Despite the sell-out crowd at BC Place, the last 15 ‌minutes were played in virtual silence, only broken by cheers and then groans as Swiss substitute Fabian Rieder somehow contrived to miss with the goal at his mercy, scuffing his shot back across ‌goal ‌where a grateful Zidane was able to avert the danger.Fortunately for Switzerland, it had no bearing on the outcome as they celebrated moving into a last-16 clash on Tuesday.Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez looks dejected after the second goal scored by Switzerland’s Dan Ndoye [Anne-Marie Sorvin/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters]