Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri turned the match in Switzerland’s favour as they beat Serbia 2-1 at the Kaliningrad Stadium. Xhaka scored a brilliant goal from distance in the second-half and Shaqiri’s stunner in the 90th minute sealed the match for Switzerland. Both Serbia and Switzerland will fancy a spot in the round of 16.
Switzerland face already-knocked out Costa while Serbia take on favourites Brazil in their final group stage match.
Follow the match updates:
Switzerland 2-1 Serbia!
FULL TIME!
90+4 minute: Substitution for Switzerland J. Drmic in for S. Zuber.
4 minutes of Stoppage time!
Switzerland 2-1 Serbia!
90 minute: GOAL!!! Shaqiri makes a brilliant solo run into the Serbian penalty box and comfortably taps the ball in. What a goal!
2 minutes to go!
88 minute: Corner for Switzerland! Mitrovic clears the ball away.
86 minute: Yellow card! Serbia's Mitrovic gets booked.
84 minute: Shaqiri goes down outside the box. Free-kick to Switzerland at a promising position, the ball gets deflected off a Serbian player. Corner for Switzerland.
10 minutes to go!
80 minute: Substitution for Serbia. Radonjic replaces Milivojevic.
77 minute: Free-kick to Serbia at a dangerous position. Swiss defenders clear the ball to safety.
75 minute: Both teams are pushing hard to squeeze a goal in, with 15 minutes to go for Full-time.
72 minute: Substitution for Switzerland! Embolo in for Džemaili.
68 minute: MISS! That was close! Serbian player makes a perfect cross inside the Swiss penalty box but fails to find a teammate.
65 minute: Substitution for Serbia. A. Ljajic in for F. Kostic.
Possession
Switzerland- 68 percent
Serbia- 32 percent
57 minute: Switzerland's Shaqiri fires a rocket into the Serbian goal but the ball gets deflected from the crossbar. What an effort!
Switzerland are back into the match with that equaliser, What a match this is turning out to be.
Switzerland 1-1 Serbia!
52 minute: GOAL!!! Xhaka scores. What a powerful and precise shot by the Switzerland player. Switzerland equalise.
50 minute: Corner for Serbia. That was close. The Serbian player heads it away from the goal.
46 minute: Substitution for Switzerland. M. Gavranovic replaces H. Seferovic
Second-half is underway
Serbia 1-0 Switzerland!
Half-time!!
45+2 minute: Serbia's Matic gets a Yellow card for a bad challenge.
45+2 minute: MISS! Serbia's Tadic attempts a long-range shot but clouds it away from the crossbar.
2 minutes of Stoppage time!
43 minute: Corner for Serbia. That was close. Serbian player managed to touch the ball but failed to direct it. Goal-kick for Switzerland.
41 minute: Serbia's Matic tries to find a teammate with a cross from the left-flank. The ball goes for throw-in.
39 minute: Yellow card! Milivojevic gets booked, Serbia need to be careful here.
38 minute: Switzerland are pushing hard to create space in the final third. They desperately hunt for an equaliser.
35 minute: Free-kick to Serbia at a promising position on the left, Switzerland cannot afford to concede another goal.
32 minute: Yellow card! Serbia's Milinkovic-Savic gets booked for a high-boot challenge.
29 minute: MISS! Switzerland's Dzemaili nearly scored the equaliser but the Serbian goalkeeper taps it away. That was Switzerland's first shot on target.
Possession
Switzerland- 68 percent
Serbia- 32 percent
25 minute: Corner for Switzerland, the Swiss player hits it directly into the hands of the Serbian goalkeeper.
Behrami is the first Swiss player to appear in four different World Cups.
17 minute: Free-kick to Serbia. Mitrovic goes for a bicycle kick but it goes past the crossbar.
14 minute: Serbia are up and attacking in the final third forcing Switzerland to defend deep in the early minutes of the match.
Interestingly, Mitrovic has scored 15 goals in his last 18 starts for Serbia. This was also the third fastest goal at this World Cup.
7 minute: Corner for Switzerland. The defence clears it from the box. Free-kick to Serbia.
Serbia 1-0 Switzerland!
5 minute: GOAL!! Mitrovic heads a stunner, the goalkeeper had no chance of saving that.
3 minute: Switzerland's striker finds space up-front but clouds the ball away from the goal.
Kick-off
FORMATION // #SRBSUI
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 22, 2018
Lineups:
Serbia XI: Stojkovic, Kolarov, Tosic, Milenkovic, Ivanovic, Matic, Milivojevic, Kostic, Milinkovic-Savic, Tadic, Mitrovic.
Switzerland XI: Sommer, Rodriguez, Akanji, Schar, Lichtsteiner, Xhaka, Behrami, Zuber, Dzemaili, Shaqiri, Seferovic.
Both teams know what they need to do to remain at the top when they face off at the Kaliningrad Stadium, Kaliningrad. A Serbia win will ensure a place for them in the Round of 16 (pre-quarterfinals) while Switzerland need a win to stay alive in the tournament.
Serbia will have to counter the physical game of Switzerland. The two teams have never played against each other before. But Switzerland did play against erstwhile Yugoslavia, which broke into several independent countries including Serbia, met 13 times and winning six.
In fact, the current Serbian coach Mladen Krstajic slotted home the winner the last time Yugoslavia met Switzerland in September 2001 for a 2-1 victory. He will be hoping for an encore by his team.
Full squad:
Serbia: Goalkeepers - Marko Dmitrovic, Predrag Rajkovic, Vladimir Stojkovic. Defenders - Branislav Ivanovic, Nikola Milenkovic, Milan Rodic, Antonio Rukavina, Uros Spajic, Vladimir Stojkovic, Dusko Tosic, Milos Veljkovic. Midfielders - Marko Grujic, Filip Kostic, Adem Ljajic, Nemanja Matic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Luka Milivojevic, Nemanja Radonjic, Dusan Tadic, Andrija Zivkovic. Forwards - Luka Jovic, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Aleksandar Prijovic
Switzerland: Goalkeepers - Roman Buerki, Yvon Mvogo, Yann Sommer. Defenders - Manuel Akanji, Johan Djourou, Nico Elvedi, Michael Lang, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Francois Moubandje, Ricardo Rodriguez, Fabian Schaer. Midfielders - Valon Behrami, Blerim Dzemaili, Gelson Fernandes, Remo Freuler, Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka, Denis Zakaria, Steven Zuber. Forwards - Josip Drmic, Breel Embolo, Haris Seferovic, Mario Gavranovic
