Key events
95 min The Swiss have barely touched the ball in the first minutes of this half. Argentina are trying to pull apart the wall of red defenders.
93 min Another chance for Argentina, this time by Almada, but it’s handled by Kobel.
91 min Argentina need less than a minute to get their first chance. They win a corner and Messi takes it short, letting them work it around. Almada has come on to replace Fernandez.
91 min We are under way.
Here we go for extra time. Do Switzerland’s 10 men have enough to climb this next mountain (sorry) or will Messi and Argentina prove they have a ninth (or 10th) (or 11th) (or 12th) life to live?
Another mailbag dump:
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“While it’s a bit of a fussy sending-off given the first yellow, Embolo’s degree of cheating was so egregious I find it hard to have too much sympathy for him. If he hadn’t tried that, Switzerland have just equalised, eleven against eleven, momentum at their back. All out the window.” Christopher
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“Embolo’s tears are touching but misplaced. He was frustrated at the lack of protection and tried to con the ref into booking Paredes. And almost succeeded. He clearly leapt in the air not having been touched, and then kicked Paredes for good measure. I’m backing the Swiss in this match but that second yellow was 100 pct deserved” Allan
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“Not really sure Fifa is beating the rigged allegations at this point… I understand the call (I guess), but it’s hard to imagine that a team could have any more of a fortuitous route than Argentina have had if they had the game rigged.” Kentaro
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“I hope the overwhelming sentiment in your inbox is that it seems uncanny at best the way the refereeing change significantly in favor of Argentina for this and the last game. I was rooting for them, but now I am Team Suisse after the absymal calls against Embolo.” April
Full time: Argentina 1-1 Switzerland
To extra time we go. Dan Ndoye’s equaliser put the Swiss back into this game, but then the Breel Embolo sending-off after VAR’s “mistaken-identity” check changed the dynamic. Argentina looked stronger in the final few minutes, with Lionel Messi nearly finding the winner in stoppage time. But we’ll play on.
90 +9 min Messi takes the corner and it finds the foot of Lisandro Martinez, but it’s swatted away by Kobel.
90 +8 min Argentina win a corner.
90 +5 min Another Swiss change: Rodriguez is off and is replaced by Comert.
90 +4 min The mailbag is overflowing with thoughts on the Embolo sending-off (they will be posted soon enough) and references to how “Switzerland have a mountain to climb”.
90 +3 min Gonzalez skies his shot attempt into the crowd.
90 +2 min Messi nearly wins it for Argentina. He cuts on to his right foot at the top of the box and puts a shot that falls just wide of the right side of the goal.
90 +2 min Argentina win another corner-kick and take it short and quick. They work the ball around.
90 + 1 min Nine minutes of stoppage time.
90 min After a quiet second half, Argentina seem to finally have added a bit of urgency into their attack.
89 min Fernandez sends a ball in that’s narrowly kept in play by a sliding Martinez, who finds the head of Mac Allister, but the shot is not on target.
87 min Zakaria leads a break but it’s won back by Argentina. They have not had a shot since Alvarez in the 52nd minute.
86 min Switzerland make their first changes of the night with a triple substitution. Sow, Ndoye (their goal-scorer) and Rieder are off, Widmer, Amdouni and Muheim are on.
85 min More changes for Argentina: Lautaro Martinez on for De Paul and Montiel on for Molina.
85 min Messi runs in behind and chests a ball from Paredes on to his foot, but Kobel is there, and so is the offside flag.
84 min Switzerland have shifted into a back five.
80 min After a quiet spell to open this half, the Argentina fans have come back into action in Kansas City.
78 min The Embolo sending-off and the application of this “mistaken identity” rule – a revision that was made to the laws of the game earlier this year and is being applied at the World Cup for the first time – surely will become a major storyline of this game, no matter the result.
78 min Argentina make their first substitution of the match. Gonzalez is on for Tagliafico.
77 min “That seemed obviously a dive until the final replay which made the Argentina contact obvious, which was after the decision. With all the other media recorded stats, is this Fifa for Argentina for the win?” Tom
“England better hope that the deal Argentina has struck with the refs and FIFA only includes getting them to the semi finals….” Espen
“Embolo’s dive was ridiculous, but so was his first yellow, so the red is harsh.” Burt
75 min We head into the hydration break after a dramatic stretch of eight minutes, beginning with Switzerland’s equalizer in the 67th minute and then Embolo’s sending off. If the Swiss are to pull off this remarkable comeback, they will have to do it with 10 men.
73 min Reminder: we saw this VAR “mistaken identity” check applied earlier in the World Cup, with the USA’s Tim Ream and Paraguay’s Miguel Almiron.
73 min Embolo is in tears as he is guided off the pitch in tears and heads into the tunnel. Tough to watch.
Embolo sent off after ‘mistaken identity’ check
After review, there is no foul on Paredes and his yellow card is rescinded. The yellow card is instead given to Embolo for simulation, who had already received a yellow in the first half and is now finished for this game.
70 min We’re going to a VAR check on the card. Fox analyst Mark Clattenburg suspects they are reviewing the yellow as an unnecessary yellow on Paredes and says the call should be reversed.
69 min Paredes gets a yellow card for what appeared to be a harsh tackle on Embolo, but on review looks more like a dive by Embolo. Argentina look a bit rattled here.
The Swiss have looked their most dangerous in the past 10 minutes, and it felt like this goal was coming. Dan Ndoye does some nice combination play with Ricardo Rodriguez before cutting inside from the left and scoring Switzerland’s equalizer.
GOAL! Argentina 1-1 Switzerland (Ndoye 67′)
Ndoye breaks through!
66 min Xhaka goes for another long-range shot and it’s saved by Emi Martinez on a dive to his left. He gestures to the crowd behind him, perhaps to inject some more energy into a game that hasn’t had many spells of Argentinian attacks.
66 min Ndoye has another chance on a header, but it’s patted away by Emi Martinez. The Swiss are putting a bit more pressure on the Argentinian defense.
64 min Ndoye gets a nice break, but he again takes a touch too many and has his run blocked by an Argentina defender. The ensuing Swiss corner is headed out.
61 min As we pass the hour mark, the Swiss have done a solid job defending outside of the conceded goal on the corner. Argentina have had at least 10 shots in all five of their World Cup matches, and at least 19 in the two knockout games. They have six tonight.
60 min Embolo gets on the end of a cross but it falls to Emi Martinez and is handled.
57 min Play resumes and Paredes is good to continue.
56 min The referee stops play with Paredes down and pointing to his knee.
54 min USA legend Landon Donovan, on the Fox broadcast, wants to see more “risks” from Switzerland. Sandgk, in my email inbox, wants to see Murat Yakin in a hair-dye-for-men commercial.
52 min Messi’s corner is flicked on by Fernandez to the near post, but the Chelsea man gets a bit too much on it. Argentina looking dangerous on set pieces yet again.
52 min Alvarez’s left-footed shot deflects off Akanji for a corner. Messi takes his time walking (he’s quite good at that) to the flag.
50 min Another instance of defensive vulnerability for Argentina. Embolo gets a long ball and lays it off to Ndoye, who takes too long to get a shot off and is met by Lisandro Martinez flying in with a crunching tackle.
50 min Molina gets Argentina’s first shot since the 10th minute. Alvarez was wide open in the center of the box, but Molina goes for the long shot instead and it’s wide.
48 min Switzerland’s set pieces aren’t going anywhere in this game. Their latest free-kick goes straight into the arms of Emi Martinez.
47 min Switzerland have come into this second half with a bit of energy, but they’re struggling to find a hole in the Argentinian defence.
46 min The second-half is under-way.
Messi’s corner-kick that led to Mac Allister’s goal was the 10th assist of his World Cup career.
Also of note: it was Argentina’s fifth set-piece goal of this tournament, tied with the United States for the most of any team.
Some big-picture thoughts from the mailbag:
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“Time is a flat circle in football. France has the look of Brazil ‘02 (a dynamic front 3, possible 3 finals in a row, cruising), Argentina circa ‘90; defending champion being dragged by one man, Spain is 2010 again, possession with a tight defence…and England gives the look of Argie 2022, just trade Jude with Lionel, add a solid structure and depth.” Andrew B
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“It looks like the four teams in the semi-finals will be the highest four ranked teams in the world! So why bother having a tournament with 48 teams when we could have saved everyone a bunch of time by just having 8 or 16 at the most? As nice as it was to see some new teams in the World Cup did we really need them?” Luke C
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“If Argentina win then the four teams Fifa earmarked to be kept apart until the semi finals will, indeed, be the four semi finalists. Gianni will be so pleased.” Tom H
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“It’s hard not to agree with Jonathan Wilson’s article on the huge problems Infantino’s apparent love-in with Trump over Balogan has created within the game. Already it seems England fans are convinced that an Argentina win against Switzerland means the footballing authorities have pre-confirmed a re-run of the last final between Argentina and France. So by such logic English and Spanish fans can look away now. It seems only a Swiss victory can assuage such fears.” Samuel D
From US soccer editor Alex Abnos, who is at Kansas City Stadium for this one:
“It is my extreme displeasure to report that the personal style of Switzerland manager Murat Yakin actually might be the most interesting thing about this game.”
Is Yakin auditioning for a Warby Parker commercial? The role of a Bond villian? A Miami Vice reboot? Wrong answers only.
For most of that first half, Argentina seemed content to let Switzerland keep possession and then wait for their own opportunities on the counter. The dangerous part of that approach, though, is that the longer they hold a 1-0 lead without eagerly chasing another to pad their lead, the more they’re risking Switzerland punching back and all of a sudden making this a much closer game. (See: Cape Verde.)
Half-time: Argentina 1-0 Switzerland
Alexis Mac Allister’s 10th-minute header off a corner-kick by Lionel Messi was the difference in the first 45 minutes of play. Mac Allister’s goal was one of just three shots for the holders in the first half, and they went without an attempt for the next 35 minutes before the whistle, but Argentina still managed to look in control. Switzerland, while holding the advantage in possession, haven’t exactly threatened in return. Murat Yakin may have to turn to his bench for a surge of energy if they want to keep their semi-final hopes alive.
45 + 4 min Ndoye was down briefly after going up for a header, and Pinheiro gives the captains a brief chat about contact as we near the half-time whistle.
