* The remaining three African nations’ Round of 32 matches are this Friday night involving Egypt v Australia (20h00); Cape Verde v Argentina (00h00); and Ghana v Colombia (03h30)
* As Cristiano Ronaldo’s dreams survive after a late VAR drama disallowed Josko Gvardiol equaliser for Croatia in the 113th minute to date Spain, who beat Austria 3-0
Maravi Express
From 10 representatives that Africa had at the FIFA World Cup™ 2026, only three are still in contention following the exit of Algeria, who lost 0-2 to Switzerland last Thursday night.
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The remaining three will conclude their Round of 32 assignments this Friday night: Egypt v Australia (20h00); Cape Verde v Argentina (00h00); and Ghana v Colombia (03h30).
After seeing off Algeria, Switzerland — who scored through striker Breel Embolo and winger Dan Ndoye — will meet winners between Ghana and Colombia in the Round of 16.
The Swiss put on a tactical masterclass, shifting formations and laying traps for Algeria before hitting them with the two sucker-punch goals that decided a contest short on excitement, but full of intrigue and nuance.
Pitted against a familiar foe in Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic, who had seven years at the helm of Switzerland between 2014 and 2021, set his team up to absorb early pressure and strike on the break, and that is exactly what they did.
Their opener was as simple as it was effective. The Swiss won the ball in their own half and sent 20-year-old Johan Manzambi off down the left on the counter, and he squared for Embolo to steer the ball into the net from close range in the 10th minute.
Breel Embolo celebrates
The lead secured, Switzerland shifted to a five-man midfield out of possession, snuffing out the space and challenging the Algerians to play through them, but Petkovic’s charges struggled to break their opponents down.
Algeria’s best chance came in first-half stoppage time when Ibrahim Maza dragged a snap shot wide of the near post, one of the few efforts on goal they managed in the game.
The Swiss struck again almost immediately after the break, attacking down the right before a half-hearted clearance from Rafik Belghali ended up at the feet of Ndoye, and the winger placed his shot beyond the dive of goalkeeper Luca Zidane.
Algeria captain Riyad Mahrez could have pulled a goal back moments later, but he fired straight at a defender from a central position, summing up a frustrating evening for the Algerians.
Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez dejected after the second goal
With Granit Xhaka steering Switzerland’s defensive shape, they reverted to their original game plan of ceding possession and launching lightning-fast counterattacks, but the Algerians were wary of committing players forward, lest they concede again.
Despite the sellout crowd at BC Place, the last 15 minutes were played in virtual silence, only broken by cheers and then groans as Swiss substitute Fabian Rieder somehow contrived to miss with the goal at his mercy, scuffing his shot back across goal where a grateful Zidane was able to avert the danger.
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup dreams were kept alive in controversial fashion as he helped Portugal fight back from a goal down to beat Croatia 2-1 and set up a mouth-watering last-16 tie with Spain.
VAR denied Josko Gvardiol the chance to be Croatia’s hero despite the Manchester City defender finding the back of the net in the 113th minute.
The goal was chalked off with the help of ‘Snicko’ technology after it was deemed Igor Matanovic got a faint touch on Ivan Perisic’s cross, making Mario Pasalic, the assister, offside. Following a recommendation by Premier League referee Jarred Gillet for an on-field check, on-pitch official Espen Eskas decided to rule out the goal.
What was essentially the last kick of the game capped off a whirlwind second half that had seen Croatia take the lead through Perisic. Ronaldo, who had been rumoured before the game to be preparing to retire from international duty in the event of a defeat, levelled the score from the penalty spot.
That goal was the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s first in the knockout stages of a World Cup. Though the 41-year-old was subbed off by Roberto Martinez with the game still finely poised, much to his disappointment, Ronaldo could watch on in glee as Goncalo Ramos glanced home a sumptuous Rafael Leao cross in added time.
While there was delight for one veteran in Ronaldo, the opposite was true for Croatia captain Luka Modric, with the 40-year-old likely playing in his last World Cup.
Having marked the first anniversary of Diogo Jota’s tragic passing with a victory, Portugal can look forward to a replay of the 2025 Nations League final, where Ronaldo’s side were triumphant against the European champions, Spain.
In memory of Diogo Jota
A brace from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro goal earned Spain a 3-0 over Austria earlier in the night in which Spain had been frustrated to see Marc Cucurella’s goal controversially disallowed for a foul on the goalkeeper but it was only a temporary reprieve for a spirited Austria side.
Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring late in the first half and there was no way back as Pedro Porro doubled the advantage soon after by nodding in from close range to crush Austria’s hopes of a comeback.
Oyarzabal then sealed the convincing victory by converting Cucurella’s centre to send a message to the other World Cup heavyweights.
Spain were a little underwhelming in the group stage, famously drawing with African FIFA World Cup™ debutants Cape Verde — but Luis de la Fuente’s side are yet to concede a goal at this tournament and his team are now 34 games unbeaten inside 90 minutes in competitive internationals.—Reporting by Reuters & SkySports News; editing by Maravi Express
Knockout stages results
* South Africa 0-1 Canada
* Jordan 1-3 Argentina
* Brazil 2-1 Japan
* Germany 1(3)-Paraguay 1(4)
* Netherlands 1(2)-Morocco 1(3)
* Côte d’Ivoire 1-2 Norway
* France 3-0 Sweden
* Mexico 2-0 Ecuador
* England 1-2 DR Congo
* Belgium 3-2 Senegal
* USA 2-0 Bosnia & Herzegovina
* Spain 3-0 Austria
* Portugal 2-1 Croatia
Today
* Switzerland v Algeria (15h00)
* Australia v Egypt (20h00)
* Argentina v Cape Verde (00h00)
* Colombia v Ghana (03h30)
Round of 16
Saturday
* Canada v Morocco (19h00)
* Paraguay v France (23h00)
Sunday
* Brazil v Norway (22h00)
* Mexico v England (02h00)
Monday
* Portugal v Spain (21h00)
* USA v Belgium (02h00)
Tuesday
* TBD v TBD (19h00)
* Switzerland v TBD (22h00)
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