Switzerland beat co-hosts Canada in their last match
Algeria have conceded seven goals across three group games
Switzerland have made the last 16 at the previous three World Cups
In what the sportsbooks see as one of the most even contests of the Round of 32, Switzerland face Algeria in Vancouver with a tie against Colombia or Ghana as the prize. Below, we try to pick the likely winner.
Both of these sides have considerable World Cup experience, and are more than capable of producing a big result, and this promises to be an absorbing game even if it is not considered one of the glamor ties of the second stage. With plenty of players capable of getting among the goals, it may offer a high-scoring display.
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Absolutely nobody thinks of Switzerland as potential winners of a World Cup, but the knockout stages of a major tournament always seem to feature them. That reality was called into question when a seemingly straightforward opening game against Qatar ended 1-1 thanks to a farcical late own goal. The disappointing result in that game seemed to wake Murat Takin’s men up, and a 4-1 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina was followed by a 2-1 victory over co-hosts Canada which meant the Swiss won Group B.
Switzerland can also take encouragement from the fact that their seven goals scored so far have included only one by main striker Breel Embolo. The ability to find goals from elsewhere, notably two from Ruben Vargas and three from midfielder Johan Manzambi, makes them dangerous in the closely-fought arena of knockout play.
Then what of Algeria? They’re not viewed as one of the standouts even among the sizeable African contingent that has made this stage of the competition, but they definitely have their strengths, one of which is the capacity to score goals. After an understandable 3-0 reverse against Argentina, they improved to beat Jordan 2-1. The closing group game saw them share six goals in a see-saw draw with Austria, ageless winger Riyad Mahrez grabbing a double.
The bigger question will be Algeria’s ability to stop the flow at the other end. Anyone can concede a hat-trick to Leo Messi, as they did in their opener. It’s less forgivable to give up a 96th-minute equaliser to Sasa Kaladzic, and that kind of looseness could be what separates them from a place in the last 16.
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We don’t want to make timepiece-related puns to highlight the Swiss national team’s reliability in tournament soccer, so we’ll settle for saying that once they reach this stage they rarely underperform, and there is plenty of reason to consider them the favorites here. Both the competing sides here have what it takes to score goals, but when it comes to defensive organization there’s a very clear reason that the World Cup betting sites have them as the side likely to prevail here. Though Algeria arguably have the more talented attacking individuals, it’s usually the team with greater balance that wins at this stage, and that’s Switzerland.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Algeria’s 3-3 draw against Austria – a game in which both sides could have settled for playing out an uneventful 0-0, and knew this beforehand – is that both sides kept swinging until the very end, looking for the win. It’s unlikely that les Fennecs will settle for keeping it tight here and hoping for counter-attacks or penalties, and FanDuel’s odds on a high-scoring game are tempting. With both XIs fully capable of creating and scoring at any point, it’s hard to see this ending as a narrow 1-0 for either side no matter the stakes.
Switzerland’s approach to the game – trusting Embolo to make the defenders nervous with strong running, then getting midfielders into attacking spaces – has served them well thus far and it is likely to give Algeria a hard time here. Vargas, who plays in Spain with Sevilla, has a wealth of pedigree and the happy knack of arriving to score crucial goals, as shown against Bosnia-Herzegovina, and he’s a good shout for a goal here.
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