The international soccer calendar just doesn’t allow for inter-confederation clashes anymore, with European and South American nations often having to wait for World Cups to face off.
The UEFA Nations League has contributed to the death of friendlies, with high-profile encounters between the confederation’s elite reduced to collector’s items.
Switzerland may not rank among Europe’s aristocracy, but its nonetheless been a consistent and formidable soccer force in the 21st-century. Steady on the big stage and often regarded as harmless, the Swiss tend to beat who they’re expected to and succumb to the elite.
On Saturday night in Kansas City, Switzerland is aiming to secure its most significant World Cup result of modern times when it takes on title-holder Argentina. La Albiceleste have thrived in chaos so far this summer and have somehow maintained their hope of becoming the first nation since Brazil in 1962 to retain the World Cup trophy.
Here’s how Argentina and Switzerland have fared in their previous matchups, ahead of Saturday’s quarterfinal.
The Last Time Argentina and Switzerland Faced Off
Argentina has continued to win at this World Cup, but Lionel Messi has sorely missed his partner in crime, Ángel Di Maria.
Di Maria was instrumental in the nation’s success in Qatar, even if Messi was the glorious protagonist, and he came up big for the Albiceleste when they last faced Switzerland.
The two teams met in the round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, with a turgid tie decided by Di Maria’s strike in extra time. Throughout the contest, Messi had been crowded out by a plethora of red shirts, as Alejandro Sabellas’s rather uninspiring finalists struggled in Sao Paulo before Di Maria’s late intervention.
Messi is the sole survivor of that Argentina side on Lionel Scaloni’s current roster, while Ricardo Rodríguez and Granit Xhaka both started for Ottmar Hitzfeld’s Switzerland that day.
Argentina vs. Switzerland at the World Cup
The aforementioned Argentinian victory in Sao Paulo was one of just two World Cup meetings between the two nations.
The first, at the 1966 World Cup in England, was their maiden duel altogether.
Switzerland was already eliminated when it met Argentina at Hillsborough on Matchday 3 of the group stage, having been thumped 5–0 by eventual runners-up West Germany and defeated 2–1 by Spain. Argentina sought to edge La Roja to second spot in the group, with the Germans imperious, and it made sure of its progression via second half goals from Luis Artime and Ermindo Onega.
Argentina was subsequently defeated by hosts England in an infamous quarterfinal, with captain Antonio Rattín curiously sent off after 35 minutes before Sir Geoff Hurst struck the game’s only goal in the closing stages.
La Albiceleste Dominate Historically
Saturday’s quarterfinal will be the eighth meeting between Argentina and Switzerland, with the latter still searching for its first victory.
La Albiceleste have won five of the games, while the Swiss earned a pair of draws into two friendly meetings in 1990 and 2007. They seemed destined to earn another result in 2012 when a young Xherdan Shaqiri cancelled out Lionel Messi’s opening goal, but Argentina’s No. 10 proved decisive at the last, scoring twice more to notch the first of his 11 international hat-tricks.
Argentina’s most emphatic victory arrived in a 1980 friendly, at a time when Switzerland was in the midst of its longest World Cup drought. César Luis Menotti’s world champions put the Europeans to the sword in a 5–0 rout, with Diego Maradona among the goalscorers.
Argentina vs. Switzerland: Complete Head-to-Head Record
| Date | Result | Competition | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 19, 1966 | Argentina 2–0 Switzerland | World Cup | United Kingdom |
| December 16, 1980 | Argentina 5–0 Switzerland | Friendly | Argentina |
| September 1, 1984 | Switzerland 0–2 Argentina | Friendly | Switzerland |
| May 8, 2005 | Switzerland 1–1 Argentina | Friendly | Switzerland |
| June 2, 2007 | Switzerland 1–1 Argentina | Friendly | Switzerland |
| February 29, 2012 | Switzerland 1–3 Argentina | Friendly | Switzerland |
| July 1, 2014 | Argentina 1–0 (AET) Switzerland | World Cup | Brazil |
