Switzerland ends penalty curse, reaches World Cup quarterfinals for first time since 1954

Rubén Vargas converted the decisive penalty as Switzerland beat Colombia 4-3 in a shootout after 120 scoreless minutes at BC Place in Vancouver. The victory sent Murat Yakin’s side into the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 1954 and ended a penalty-shootout streak that had hung over the program for years.

The breakthrough carried weight beyond one knockout tie. Switzerland had not reached the last eight of a World Cup in 72 years, and the way it happened matters: Gregor Kobel saved Cucho Hernández’s attempt, Davinson Sánchez missed for Colombia, Manuel Akanji failed for Switzerland, and Vargas settled the shootout with the final kick. Colombia entered the match unbeaten in four games at the 2026 World Cup, but could not turn that form into a place in the quarterfinals.

Yakin pointed to a plan built on patience and timing, saying Switzerland stayed patient and that the substitutions came at the right moment. That approach mattered in a match that stayed locked at 0-0 through normal time and extra time, where one mistake or one moment of hesitation could have decided everything. Instead of letting the pressure of Switzerland’s penalty history define the evening, Yakin’s team carried its structure into the shootout and finally found the result that had eluded it in previous tournaments.

The win also sharpened the focus on Yakin’s management style. In a tournament where teams often inherit the weight of past failures, Switzerland under Yakin looked more controlled than constrained, refusing to rush the game and trusting the sequence of decisions that carried it through 120 minutes and then through the penalties. Next comes a quarterfinal against Argentina, the defending champions, on Saturday, July 12, a far sterner test for a team that has already done the hard part of erasing its own history.