World Cup 2026: Switzerland advances to Round of 16 with 2-0 win over Algeria

It will be Switzerland in the Round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup after a 2-0 win over Algeria on Thursday.

It’s the fourth straight time the Swiss have reached the Round of 16, but they’re still looking for their first quarterfinal appearance since hosting the tournament in 1954. This time around will see them face the winner of Colombia and Ghana on Friday (9:30 p.m. ET, Fox).

Thursday was a third straight win for Switzerland, which they had previously never done in the World Cup. The previous two wins were against Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The match started even in Vancouver, with Algeria still riding the high of its chaotic advance through the group stage. They had the first few scoring chances, but Switzerland had the first one that found home.

Johan Manzambi got the ball on a counter-attack and sped through the Algeria defense, setting up an easy goal for Breel Embolo in the 10th minute.

That wound up being the dynamic of the match. Algeria maintained possession for longer than the favored Swiss and completed passes overall, but Switzerland’s attack found far more soft spots.

That bore out early in the second half as well, when Dan Ndoye scored from the top of the penalty area to make it 2-0.

In a World Cup that has seen more than its fair share of chaos, including in Portugal-Croatia earlier Thursday, the rest of the match didn’t contain much stress for Switzerland. The closest either team came to scoring for the rest of the match was an astounding Swiss miss, which didn’t stop their supporters from singing their way through stoppage time.