The two teams cancelled each other out on Tuesday in the final game of the last 16 – the last match to be played at the 2026 stadium outside the United States.
Colombia, once again backed by thousands of passionate fans in Vancouver, had conceded just once in their four games before Tuesday’s match and the Swiss had also proved difficult to break down. The first action of note came in the 21st minute when Kobel was forced into a flying save to keep out Gustavo Puerta’s curling effort from the edge of the penalty area.
Switzerland stepped up after the first hydration break, with Camilo Vargas beating away a shot from Fabian Rieder before denying Dan Ndoye.
The first half ended with a goalless draw. The second wasn’t any different as both teams looked to get a goal but the game ended with a 0-0 draw, so did the extra-time and then went on for a penalty shootout.
Substitute Ruben Vargas scored the winning penalty in Vancouver, British Columbia, following a heroic save from Switzerland goalkeeper Gregor Kobel to deny Cucho Hernandez after earlier misses from Colombia’s Davinson Sanchez and Switzerland’s Manuel Akanji.
