Key events
Switzerland’s route to the last 16
Group B – P3 W2 D1 L0
Drew 0-0 v Qatar, San Francisco Bay Area
Won 4-1 v Bosnia and Herzegovina, Los Angeles
Won 2-1 v Canada, Vancouver
Last 32
Won 2-0 v Algeria, Vancouver
Top scorers
Johan Manzambi 3
Breel Embolo 2
Rubén Vargas 2
Top assist-makers
Breel Embolo 2
Johan Manzambi 2
Rubén Vargas 1
I don’t think I need to tell you who the danger men are … although there is no Manzambi today. Milan’s Ardon Jashari starts in his place.
Iván Bartón was the referee who came out with that booming voice when sending Miguel Almirón off for covering his mouth in the group stage, by the way … and that is at least something to look forward to if we have a VAR review.
Lineups: James Rodríguez starts for Colombia
Both teams have a veteran Rodriguez in their XI, with Ricardo at left-back for Switzerland and James retaining his place for Colombia after coming off at half-time in the previous round against Ghana.
Switzerland (4-2-3-1): Kobel; Zakaria, Elvedi, Akanji, Rodriguez; Freuler, Xhaka; Rieder, Jashari, Ndoye; Embolo.
Subs: Mvogo, Keller, Muheim, Widmer, Sow, Fassnacht, Vargas, Comert, Okafor, Amdouni, Amenda, Itten.
Colombia (4-3-3): Vargas; Muñoz, Sánchez, Lucumí, Mojica; Puerta, Lerma, J Arias; Rodríguez, Suárez, Díaz. Subs: Ospina, Montero, S Arias, Castano, Rios, Carrascal, Cordoba, Mina, Portilla, Ditta, Hernández, Quintero, Campaz, Machado, Gómez.
Referee: Iván Bartón (El Salvador)
Team news is coming up shortly but one man who definitely won’t be involved this afternoon in Vancouver is Johan Manzambi. Switzerland’s breakout star of this tournament – with three goals and two assists – has been ruled out with a knee injury. Michel Aebischer and Luca Jaquez are also not fit to play.
‘Yellow fever’ has reached Vancouver! After Mexico City, Guadalajara, Miami and Kansas City, the mass migration of Colombia fans has reached its northernmost point.
José Orlando Asencio has been speaking to a few of them, including a family trekking across the States in a minivan …
Argentina await the winners in Saturday’s quarter-final in Kansas City after producing a sensational late comeback against Egypt, with Lionel Messi scoring one and setting up another before Enzo Fernández’s stoppage-time winner.
Scott Murray just about kept it all together …
And Ed Aarons has summed it up nicely …
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the final fixture of the World Cup’s last 16 – not much has happened, eh? It’s all gone smoothly so far for Switzerland and Colombia, who topped their groups and progressed through the last 32 with a minimum of fuss. For Switzerland, they are looking to take the next step that so often eludes them – reaching a World Cup quarter-final. Since they played in the last eight at their home tournament of 1954, they’ve failed to clear this hurdle five times and were knocked out at this stage in 2014, 2018 and 2022.
As for Colombia, they are out to emulate the class of 2014 – and still have a few of those faces hanging around. James Rodríguez is their captain but has struggled to make an impact at these finals. Their run 12 years ago was ended by hosts Brazil and no doubt a quarter-final date with Argentina on Saturday will be highly prized. Their fans, as always, have turned up in huge numbers.
The curtain comes down on Canada’s involvement in this World Cup too, with Vancouver Stadium hosting its final game of the tournament.
Kick-off is 1pm local time, 4pm EST, 9pm BST and 6am AEST. Let’s go.
