07/03/26 12:21:00
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07/03 00:17 CDT Embolo, Ndoye score and Switzerland moves on at the World Cup
with a 2-0 win over Algeria
Embolo, Ndoye score and Switzerland moves on at the World Cup with a 2-0 win
over Algeria
By ANNE M. PETERSON
AP Soccer Writer
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) --- Breel Embolo and Dan Ndoye both scored and
Switzerland advanced to the round of 16 at the World Cup with a 2-0 victory
over Algeria on Thursday night.
Switzerland will play the winner of Friday's match between Colombia and Ghana
in Kansas City, Missouri. The round-of-16 game is set for next Tuesday in
Vancouver.
Switzerland has not won a knockout-round match since 1938 in France, but in
1954 the team won a playoff game to reach the quarterfinals.
Although the Swiss reached the round of 16 at the past three World Cups, there
was a smaller field of 32 teams in each of those tournaments, and they could
get no further.
Algeria was eliminated after returning to the World Cup for the first time
since 2014, when it advanced to the knockout round but fell to eventual
champion Germany.
Algeria dominated the first 10 minutes before Johan Manzambi raced down the
right side and crossed to Embolo for the tap-in. Embolo celebrated his 26th
international goal with a knee slide.
Less than a minute into the second half, Ndoye scored with a blast from the top
of the box that diving Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane couldn't stop.
Fabian Rieder nearly got a third goal for Switzerland in the 81st minute but
missed on the tap-in as the ball skirted across the face of Algeria's goal.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino was at the game, his second of the day. Earlier
his attended the match between Spain and Austria in Inglewood, California.
Algeria advanced as a third-place finisher after a 3-3 draw against Austria
last Saturday in Kansas City. The result sent both teams through to the
knockout round but eliminated Iran. Algeria captain Riyad Mahrez, 35, scored a
pair of goals.
The Swiss got goals from Rubn Vargas and Manzambi to beat Canada 2-1 on
Wednesday --- spoiling Canada's hopes of playing their first-ever
knockout-round game on home soil. Instead, Switzerland got the return trip to
Vancouver.
The Swiss also got a week off, during which time they returned to their
training base in San Diego.
Manzambi, 20, has become the breakout star for Switzerland in the tournament,
with a pair of goals and two assists. He played off the bench to start the
World Cup, but earned a starting role in the team's last two games.
Algeria head coach Vladimir Petkovic coached Switzerland from 2014-21 and led
the team to the out of the group stage in the 2018 World Cup. He also was at
the helm when the Swiss went to the quarterfinals of the European Championships
in 2020.
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See more of AP's World Cup coverage here
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