Bibhash Lodh, BS News Agency: The world witnessed one of the most nerve-wracking quarter-finals in football history at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. The match ended in a 1-1 draw after the scheduled 90 minutes and went into extra time. Lionel Messi's Argentina finally defeated Switzerland 3-1 to book their place in the 2026 World Cup semi-finals. The reigning world champions will face England in the last four on July 15. Argentina started playing attacking football from the start. In the 10th minute of the match, Alexis McAllister put the team ahead with a great header from Lionel Messi's perfect corner. With this assist, the Argentine captain set a record of 10 assists in a World Cup since 1966. After conceding a goal, Switzerland slowly returned to the match. After one attack after another, Dan Ndoe equalized with a great finish from Ricardo Rodriguez's pass in the 67th minute.
The match turned around in the 72nd minute. After a VAR review, Swiss striker Brill Embolo was shown a second yellow card by the referee for diving inside the penalty area. As a result, Switzerland had to play the rest of the game with 10 men.
However, despite being one man down, they managed to defend well and take the match to extra time. The Swiss defense finally broke down in the second half of extra time. In the 112th minute, Lionel Messi's attack was blocked by Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, but Julián Alvarez got the ball back. After creating space from the left side of the box, he curled the ball into the top corner of the net with a great curling shot. His extraordinary goal sent the Argentine fans into a frenzy. Then, in the very last minute of added time, substitute Lautaro Martinez increased the lead. His goal ensured a 3-1 victory and kept Argentina's dream of winning the World Cup for the second time in a row alive.