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Will Lionel Messi’s momentum continue, or will Switzerland pull off the biggest upset in World Cup history?
Defending champion Argentina enters Saturday’s quarterfinal match against Switzerland in Kansas City as a team on the brink.
Lionel Scaloni’s side overcame a scare against Egypt, overcoming a 2-0 deficit in the final minutes and escaping with a 3-2 victory. Messi, who leads the Golden Boot lace with eight goals, remains the main event of the World Cup, but Argentina’s defense looked vulnerable.
Meanwhile, Switzerland is navigating uncharted territory by defeating Colombia in a penalty shootout and advancing to the quarterfinals for the first time in 72 years. Losing top scorer Johan Manzambi to a knee injury severely hurt the team’s chances.
Stay tuned for live updates:
Argentina vs Switzerland highlights
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The matchup will kick off at 9pm ET.
Argentina’s starting lineup remains unchanged from the round of 16 win over Egypt.
GK: Dave Martinez
D.F.: Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martinez, Nicolas Tagliafico
M.F.: Rodrigo de Paul, Enzo Fernandes, Leandro Paredes, Alexis Mac Allister
FW: Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez
Goalkeeper: Gregor Korbel
Defender: Nico Elvedi, Manuel Akanji, Ricardo Rodriguez
Midfield: Denis Zakaria, Remo Freuler, Granit Xhaka (C), Djibril Sow, Fabian Rieder
attack: Brielle Embolo, Dan Ndoye
- 8 goals – Lionel Messi, Argentina 🇦🇷
- 8 goals – Kylian Mbappé, France 🇫🇷
- 7 goals – Erling Haaland, Norway 🇳🇴
- 6 goals – Harry Kane, England 🏴♀️
- 6 goals – Jude Bellingham, England 🏴♀️
- 5 goals – Ousmane Dembele, France 🇫🇷
The quarterfinals will be held at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.
Seth Terny: Argentina 1-1 Switzerland (Argentina won on penalties)
They can’t keep getting away with it, right? Argentina just narrowly escaped Cape Verde and Egypt in the knockout stages and the well-organized Swiss side should push them to the limit. In the end, Messi and his team won in a penalty shootout.
john arnold: Argentina 2-0 Switzerland
Argentina certainly weren’t making it easy on themselves or their star attacker Lionel Messi. However, stylistically, this match may resemble the group match against Austria more than the Cape Verde or Egypt contests. Advantage, Argentina.
Jesse Yomtov: Argentina 3-0 Switzerland
Argentina bounced back from the win against Egypt with a big win and an incredibly easy advance to the semi-finals.
victoria hernandez: Argentina 2-1 Switzerland
I don’t think Argentina will repeat the title, but I also don’t think Switzerland will beat Lionel Messi, especially without Johan Manzambi. La Albiceleste survives one more round.
round 16
- July 4: France vs. Paraguay – Philadelphia
- July 4: Morocco vs. Canada – Houston
- July 5: Norway vs. Brazil – East Rutherford
- 5th July: England v Mexico – Mexico City
- July 6: Spain vs. Portugal – Arlington
- July 6: Belgium vs. USA – Seattle
- July 7: Argentina vs. Egypt – Atlanta
- July 7: Switzerland vs. Colombia – Vancouver
quarterfinals
- July 9: France vs. Morocco – Foxborough
- July 10: Spain vs. Belgium – Inglewood
- July 11: Norway vs. England – Miami
- July 11: Argentina vs. Switzerland – Kansas City
Semi-final
- July 14: France vs. Spain – Arlington
- July 15: Norway/England vs. Argentina/Switzerland – Atlanta
final
- July 19th at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey
Lionel Messi plays club ball for Inter Miami of Major League Soccer.
Lionel Messi is 39 years old and celebrated his birthday during this World Cup.
Saturday’s World Cup quarterfinal match between Argentina and Switzerland is scheduled to begin at 6pm Pacific time.
- 2022: Argentina
- 2018: France
- 2014: Germany
- 2010: Spain
- 2006: Italy
- 2002: Brazil
- 1998: France
- 1994: Brazil
- 1990: west germany
- 1986: Argentina
- 1982: Italy
- 1978: Argentina
- 1974: west germany
- 1970: Brazil
- 1966: england
- 1962: Brazil
- 1958: Brazil
- 1954: west germany
- 1950: Uruguay
- 1938: Italy
- 1934: Italy
- 1930: Uruguay
Argentina national team midfielder Enzo Martinez plays for Chelsea in the English Premier League.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi scored eight goals through five games in the 2026 World Cup, setting a new World Cup scoring record.
The 2034 FIFA World Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia.
Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister played for Liverpool and won the league title with the team in the 2024-25 season.
The World Cup quarterfinal match between Argentina and Switzerland kicks off at 8pm Central time.
Lionel Messi has won one World Cup and won the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
Argentina reached the final in 2014, making this the third of Messi’s six World Cup appearances.
The quarterfinal match between Argentina and Switzerland is being held at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.
Argentina national team defender Cristian Romero plays club soccer for Tottenham.
Lautaro Martinez from Argentina plays for Inter Milan in Italy.
If a match in the knockout stage is tied at the end of regulation, the match will go into 30-minute overtime (2 x 15-minute halves), and if the score is still tied after 120 minutes, penalty kicks will be taken.
The 2026 World Cup will be Lionel Messi’s sixth appearance in the world’s biggest tournament, his first appearance being in Germany in 2006.
Swiss captain Granit Xhaka is 33 years old and spent the 2025-26 season with Sunderland in the English Premier League.
The match between Argentina and Switzerland will kick off at 6pm Pacific time.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup Final will be held on Sunday, July 19th at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Xherdan Shaqiri represented Switzerland in four World Cups (2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022), but retired from the national team in 2024.
Shaqiri, 34, currently plays for Swiss club FC Basel.
The 2030 World Cup will be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina will also host one match each to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first World Cup.
Argentina national goalkeeper Emiliano “Div” Martinez plays for Aston Villa in the English Premier League.
