Argentina beat Switzerland after controversial Embolo red card in World Cup quarterfinal

Argentina beat Switzerland in a World Cup quarterfinal after Breel Embolo was sent off following a VAR review that judged him guilty of simulation. The sequence began with Leandro Paredes initially booked on the play, then the video check showed Embolo was already falling before contact. Because Embolo had already been on a yellow card, the second caution became a dismissal.

The decision fell under FIFA’s mistaken-identity protocol, a narrow rule that lets VAR intervene when the wrong player is cautioned for a specific incident. ESPN says Embolo’s dismissal was only the second time a yellow card had been overturned under that protocol at a World Cup. The point of the law is to fix an obvious disciplinary error, but the Embolo case showed how quickly that correction can become a credibility problem when the sequence is hard to follow in real time.

Switzerland’s reaction was immediate. Nico Elvedi said he did not understand how VAR could make that decision. Murat Yakin went further, calling the rule “absolutely incomprehensible” and saying the call “destroyed our game.” Their complaint went beyond the red card itself. The issue was the gap between what the officials reviewed and what players and coaches saw unfold on the pitch, where a booking for one player turned into a dismissal for another.

The episode also added another contentious chapter to a World Cup matchup that already carries knockout history. Argentina and Switzerland first met in a World Cup in 1966 in Sheffield, where Argentina won 2-0 at Hillsborough. They met again in the 2014 World Cup round of 16 at Neo Química Arena in São Paulo, where Ángel Di María scored in the 117th minute to give Argentina a 1-0 win. Against that backdrop, the Embolo dismissal was not just a disciplinary call. It became another reminder that VAR’s authority depends as much on clear communication as on the technology itself.