Fifa World Cup: Shaqiri's 90th minute strike takes Switzerland past Serbia

With this, Switzerland become the first team in this world cup to come from one goal behind and win the match

Shaqiri's strike sealed the deal for Switzerland in which they came from behind to overcome a 1-0 deficit that Serbia's Aleksandar Mitrovic effected after an early goal (minute 5) from a header. In the 52nd minute, Granit Xhaka created a moment of magic when he unleashed a ferocious curling shot from outside the box to level the scores before Shaqiri did just enough to earn his team an invaluable win. 

From the very beginning, Mitrovic had been the chief irritant for the Swiss. His opener came after Matic won possession near the Swiss area and fed Tadic, who floated a cross into the centre. Mitrovic outjumped Schär and headed a glorious goal from eight yards. Apart from his goal, Mitrovic had already made a couple more attempts, one of them being an overhead kick. 

 

Switzerland responded well to Mitrovic's strike but they couldn't truly threaten Serbia's goal in the first half. Serbia again looked to have an upper hand when the game restarted but a thunderous, and an early goal of the tournament contender, strike from Xhaka in the 52nd minute changed the complexion of the game. The Arsenal player latched on to the rebound after Kolarov blocked a Shaqiri strike and curled a left-footed rocket-of-a-shot from nearly 25 yards out that levelled the scores.  

The Swiss were on a roll after that. In the 58th minute, Shaqiri curled a ball from the edge of Serbia's box that hit the post. That should have been a warning for the Serbs. The match was evenly poised, both in terms of the scores and shots taken. But after the leveller, the Swiss were the ones dominating. That changed a bit after the 70th minute when Serbia had a sort of resurgence but they couldn't benefit out of it. 

Just when it looked like things would end in a draw, Shaqiri weaved his magic. He had been threatening all through the second half, but when the Serbs went too forward looking for that goal that would seal their place in the Round of 16, they left too much space in the back. Switzerland's Gavranovic played a long ball to Shaqiri who blasted like there was no tomorrow. He already had an advantage over the Serbian defence and when he reached in front of the goalkeeper, he also had the calm to tuck it into the bottom-right corner before erupting in joy. A wonderous moment to cap off an enthralling and gripping contest at the Kaliningrad.

Live updates:

It is all over for Serbia as Switzerland win 2-1

90': Shaqiri scores. What a moment is this in the game. He takes off his shirt and flexes his muscles. 

88': Corner to Switzerland. 

87': Serbia waste corner kick. 

86': Free kick to Switzerland. All important one. Missed. 

75': Switzerland miss the opportunity to take lead

70': The fight is getting real as both teams are leaving no opportunity to get the ball possesion. 

67': looked like a foul on part of Switzerland. What a terrific goal opportunity missed by Serbia. 

66': Good game of football. 

52': What a stunning goal. Faster than a bullet. Switzerland level the score. 1-1. Such a treat to watch. Khaka scores

51': Serbain corner. header goes over the crossbar

Second half

41': A good move by Switzerland. Seems they are upping the ante. Last five minutes of the first half. 

40': A little rough game than usual. 

37': A good free kick to Serbia went without finding the net. Serbia are on the offensive. 

34': Free kick to Switzerland. No profound result. 

30': Switzerland dined a certain goal by Serbian goalkeeper' brilliance. Corner kick too could not find the net. 

26': Switzerland misses a corner. 

21': Switzerland failing to exploit the empty spaces in the field to make a move.

20': Scissor kick. What an attempt by Serbia. Unlucky pass, could have been another goal for Serbia. 

15': Amazing move by Serbian midfield. This is good display of football by them. 

12': Brilliant cross and passing by Serbia. Totally in control of the game. 

5': Mitrovic scores for Serbia with an amazing header. What an amazing start to the match.

Here are the line-ups for Serbia vs Switzerland match

Serbia: Stojkovic; Ivanovic, Milenkovic, Tosic, Kolarov; Matic, Milivojevic; Tadic, Milinkovic-Savic, Kostic; Mitrovic

Subs: Rukavina, Spajic, Zivkovic, Prijovic, Rajkovic, Veljkovic, Rodic, Grujic, Ljajic, Radonjic, Jovic Dmitrovic

Switzerland: Sommer; Lichtsteiner, Schär, Akanji, Rodriguez; Haka, Behrami; Shaqiri, Dzemaili, Zuber; Seferovic

Subs: Moubandje, Elvedi, Lang, Embolo, Freuler, Mvogo, Fernandes, Gavranovic, Drmic, Djourou, Bürki

Referee: F Brych (Ger)

 

#SRBSUI // TEAMS! pic.twitter.com/kdl1sDMghe

— FIFA World Cup  (@FIFAWorldCup) June 22, 2018

Switzerland have lost just one of their past 23 matches: a 0-2 defeat to Portugal in a World Cup qualifier last October. In pre-World Cup friendlies, the European side drew 1-1 with Spain and beat Japan 2-0.

Where to watch
 

Time: 11:30 PM

FIFA World Cup 2018 Serbia vs Switzerland match will take place on Friday, June 22, 2018, at 11.30 PM 

Serbia vs Switzerland will be broadcast on Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 2 HD, Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD in English Commentary and Sony Ten 3 and Sony 3 HD in Hindi Commentary.

Serbia vs Switzerland match will be available for live streaming on Sony Liv. And Both Airtel and Jio would broadcast the FIFA World Cup 2018 matches for free to their respective subscribers

Vladimir Petkovic-coached Switzerland carried on that form with an impressive 1-1 draw against Brazil in their World Cup opener on Sunday, showing remarkable defensive solidity and enough potency in attack to suggest that they might cause Serbia problems in Kaliningrad.
 

For Switzerland, Fabian Schar and Manuel Akanji are likely to play in central defence and there is a chance Johan Djourou could also start. Stephen Lichtsteiner and Ricardo Rodriguez will be the full backs with Granit Xhaka, Blerim Dzemaili and Valon Behrami in midfield. Up front Xherdan Shakiri, Steven Zuber and centre-forward forward Haris Seferovic will provide pace on the break.

The match against Brazil showed the Swiss can soak up a lot of pressure and keep their shape when they don't have the ball, which will be important too on Friday.

For Serbia, holding midfielder Nemanja Matic, who is indispensable in the Manchester United midfield, will be key in his ball distribution.
 

Southampton's midfielder Tusan Tadic, has 51 caps and 13 goals for Serbia, and contributes a lot at the offensive end, as is Torino's Adam Ljajic. Serbia also have a dynamic midfielder in Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who is coming off a fantastic season with SSC Lazio in the Italian Serie A.

In front of the trio will be rising star Aleksandar Mitrovic, who is currently at Fulham on loan from Newcastle United, appears to be irreplaceable for his national team. With 36 caps, the 23-year-old has scored 13 goals, making him the most efficient scorer for Serbia.

Branislav Ivanovic and Kolarov serve as the team's previous and new captains. The 34-year-old former Chelsea right-back and the Roma left-sided defender, are both competent in different positions in the defence. Other defenders are younster Nikola Milinkovic, Antonio Rukavina, 34, and Duško Tošic, 33.

Kolarov cautioned that the Serbs would take nothing for granted against the Swiss. "It's very important that we have these three points in the bag, but it's not over, Switzerland will be the hardest match," he said.

"I don't want to do the maths for now, if we draw it would not work, we want to win of course."

This will be the first match featuring Switzerland against Serbia as an independent nation. In 13 matches between Switzerland and Yugoslavia, the latter won six, drew five and lost just two.

Serbia Squad

Goalkeepers: Vladimir Stojkovic, Predrag Rajkovic, Marko Dmitrovic.

Defenders: Aleksandar Kolarov, Branislav Ivanovic, Dusko Tosic, Antonio Rukavina, Milos Veljkovic, Milan Rodic, Uros Spajic, Nikola Milenkovic.

Midfielders: Nemanja Matic, Luka Milivojevic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Marko Grujic, Adem Ljajic, Dusan Tadic, Filip Kostic, Andrija Zivkovic, Nemanja Radonjic.

Strikers: Aleksandar Mitrovic, Aleksandar Prijovic, Luka Jovic .

Switzerland Squad

Goalkeepers: Roman Buerki, Yvon Mvogo, Yann Sommer.

Defenders: Manuel Akanji, Johan Djourou, Nico Elvedi, Michael Lang, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Jacques-Francois Moubandje, Ricardo Rodriguez, Fabian Schaer.

Midfielders: Valon Behrami, Blerim Dzemaili, Gelson Fernandes, Remo Freuler, Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka, Steven Zuber, Denis Zakaria.

Forwards: Josip Drmic, Breel Embolo, Mario Gavranovic, Haris Seferovic.