(Photo credit: Simon Fearn-Imagn Images)
Breel Embolo scored in the first half, Dan Ndoye tallied at the start of the second half and Switzerland advanced to the World Cup’s round of 16 with a 2-0 victory over Algeria on Thursday night in Vancouver.
Johan Manzambi set up the first goal with a dazzling run and Gregor Kobel made two saves as the Swiss reached the round of 16 for the fourth consecutive World Cup.
Switzerland will face either Colombia or Ghana on Tuesday in Vancouver. The latter two squads meet Friday night in Kansas City, Mo. The Swiss will be looking to earn their first World Cup quarterfinal berth since 1954.
Luca Zidane made two saves for Algeria.
Switzerland’s first goal came in the 10th minute after a long run by Manzambi.
As Manzambi neared the goal line, he sent a pass back toward Embolo in front of the net. Embolo was able to get his left leg on the ball for an easy tap-in.
Switzerland had a solid chance in the 37th minute off a free kick, but Denis Zakaria sent a header high and wide of the right post.
Switzerland made it 2-0 in the first minute of the second half after Algeria’s Rafik Belghali sent a clearance attempt directly to Ndoye.
Ndoye capitalized by immediately sending a sharp right-footed shot into the left corner of the net.
The quick goal right after the break took some of the charge out of Algeria, who struggled to create chances.
Switzerland failed to pad the lead in the 81st minute as Zakaria’s centering pass went by a sliding Embolo to a wide-open Fabian Rieder at the far post. But despite the net being wide open, Rieder meekly hit the ball with his left heel and Zidane recovered to make the save.
In the 88th minute, Algeria seemed to have a rare chance when Anis Hadj Moussa took a left-footed shot from beyond the box. Kobel knocked the ball aside, but an offside call wiped out the play anyway.
Switzerland outshot Algeria 11-8 and had a 5-2 advantage in shots on target.
–Field Level Media
