FIFA World Cup: Colombia vs Switzerland heads to penalty shootout

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2 min readJul 8, 2026 04:07 AM IST

Colombia's Luis Suárez, left, and Switzerland's Nico Elvedi battle for the ball during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Switzerland and Colombia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo)

The Colombia versus Switzerland game is headed to the penalty shootout after 120 minutes at Vancouver on Wednesday were unable to seperate a winning team. Whichever team emerges victorious, their reward for winning a closely-contested game will be a battle against defending champions Argentina on Saturday at the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. The game went into extra time after neither side could score in 90 minutes.

In a game of limited chances, there was little to separate either team in the first half which ended goalless.

Just a couple of hours before the Colombia and Switzerland game, Lionel Messi had inspired Argentina to a 3-2 win over Mo Salah’s Egypt, after the defending champions were trailing 0-2 at one stage.

The Colombia vs Switzerland game was the final game of the ongoing World Cup to be played in Canada. The final game of Mexico has already been played which means that from the quarter-finals, all the remaining games will be held in the USA.

The game saw James Rodriguez become the most capped Colombian of all time. Meanwhile, Colombia became the only nation among the 48 countries at the World Cup to play in all three host countries.

Colombia kept their record intact of not conceding a goal in the first half of eight World Cup games.

Switzerland have not reached the quarter-finals of a World Cup since they played hosts to the prestigious tournament in 1954.

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The Swiss were missing midfielder Johan Manzambi, who was injured in training on Monday.

Meanwhile, Colombia last advanced to the quarter-finals at the 2014 World Cup but fell to host Brazil.

Gustavo Puerta had the first good chance for Colombia with a shot from distance in the 21st minute that was pushed away by Switzerland goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.

The Swiss got their opportunity in the 30th with Fabian Reider’s blast at Camilo Vargas, who punched the ball down. Minutes later, Vargas smothered another attempt from Dan Ndoye.

(With inputs from AP)

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