Switzerland secured qualification for the round of 16 of the Qatar Cup after defeating Serbia by 3-2, this Friday afternoon (2) at Stadium 974, in Doha, for the third round of Group G of the competition.
After a five-goal fest, the Swiss are heading to the Knockout Stages! ??@adidasfootball ?? #FIFAWorldCup
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 2, 2022
With this result, the Swiss ended the initial phase of the World Cup in second place in the bracket with 6 points. Thus, they will face Portugal, leader of Group H, in the next phase.
The audience watched a very busy match, in which both teams sought victory from the first minute, when goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had trouble holding off the finish from inside Embolo’s area. At 10, it was Serbia who responded with a submission from the midfielder Zivkovic that stopped on the crossbar.
However, Switzerland were more effective and opened the scoring in the 19th minute, when Sow rolled the ball for Shaqiri to release the shot from inside the area. But five minutes later Serbia evened the score. Tadic raised in the area for Mitrovic to finish with a header.
?? @nati_sfv_asf‘s Mr. dependable pic.twitter.com/qvxOiDyTRc
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 2, 2022
And 10 minutes later the Serbs got the turnaround, when Switzerland missed the ball and Tadic dominated and played for Vlahovic, who hit the goalkeeper Kobel. But the match was open, and the Swiss returned to level when Embolo scored a low cross from the right in the 43rd minute.
The final stage started in the same rotation, and the score took just two minutes to change again. Shaqiri lifted the ball in the area with a little dig and Vargas, with a heel, found Freuler, who arrived hitting first.
A superb finish to a superb team move ?@nati_sfv_asf ?? #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/dCnnrUjrqN
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 2, 2022
With the advantage of 3 to 2 on the scoreboard, Switzerland retreated the lines and began to deny spaces to Serbia, which began to insist on the balls raised over the opponent’s area, a strategy that was not successful.
Now, Switzerland is starting to prepare for the match against Portugal for the round of 16, which will be played from 4 pm (Brasília time) next Tuesday (6) at Estádio de Lusail.
