2018 FIFA World Cup (Group E):
- Serbia 1-2 Switzerland
Switzerland became the first country at the on-going 2018 FIFA World Cup to recover from a goal down and win a game.
The Swiss overcame Serbia 2-1 in a group E tie played on Friday night in Kaliningrad.
Aleksandar Mitrovic’s early goal in the 5th minute gave Serbia a 1-0 lead at the half-time break.
Serbia only required maximum points to book their slot in the round of 16 from the group, and at the half-way stage they are on the right track.
Switzerland had the possession in the first half, but Serbia were more dangerous in their attack.
Granit Xhaka then his boot to the ball and fired a missile into the back of the net to tie things up in the 52nd minute as the game was drawn level at one goal apiece.
From that moment on the Swiss seemed to take control of the play, but couldn’t capitalize.
One again Shaqiri found himself with the space to get a shot off from the right of the net, but his effort grazed the corner of the far post and crossbar, and it looked as though we were destined for a draw.
And again we were surprised when suddenly, out of nowhere, Xherdan Shaqiri found himself in a situation where he was one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and there were no blocks or crossbars this time.
That was that, as the Swiss would hold on in added time to pick up three points and climb to the top of the group with Brazil.
As things currently sit, Switzerland and Brazil both have four points, but Brazil is ahead on goal difference.
Serbia goes from having a shot to clinch a spot in in the knockouts heading into the Switzerland match to being in third place with one match left against group-leading Brazil who overcame Costa Rica 2-0 earlier on Friday.
Serbia heads into the final matches of Group E play on Wednesday, 27th June 2018 at 2 p.m looking for a win, but they won’t necessarily be eliminated with a draw.
That would give the team four points, and if Switzerland loses to Costa Rica, advancing would come down to a tiebreaker between the Serbs and Swiss (with Brazil nabbing the top spot with five points).
Switzerland will advance with at least a draw in their final group stage match, and they still have a great shot at winning the group outright.
Costa Rica will be take on Switzerland at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium and at the same time, Brazil will be playing Serbia at the Spartak Arena.
