Switzerland beat Algeria 2-0 to reach World Cup Round of 16 in style

Switzerland beat Algeria 2-0 to reach World Cup Round of 16 in styleSwitzerland remain unbeaten at the 2026 World Cup and will face either Colombia or Ghana in the next game.Switzerland ‌striker Breel Embolo struck early and winger Dan Ndoye added a second as their side ⁠cruised to a 2-0 ⁠win over Algeria on Thursday and into the last 16 at the FIFA World Cup, where they will meet Colombia or Ghana back in Vancouver next week.Murat Yakin’s Swiss ⁠side put on a tactical masterclass, shifting formations and laying traps for Algeria before hitting them with two sucker-punch goals that decided a contest short on excitement, but full of intrigue and nuance.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Senegal’s World Cup agony: Nation left rueing last-gasp collapselist 2 of 3Ronaldo scores as Portugal come back to win, Croatia denied by late VARlist 3 of 3‘They gave their best’: Congolese reflect on historic World Cup runend of listPitted ⁠against a familiar foe in Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic, who had seven years at the helm of Switzerland between 2014 and 2021, Yakin set his team up to absorb early pressure and strike on the break, and that is exactly what they did.Their opener was as simple as it was effective.Breel Embolo #7 of Switzerland celebrates scoring his first goal of the tournament [Fran Santiago/Getty Images via AFP]The Swiss won ‌the ball in their own half and sent 20-year-old Johan Manzambi off down the left on the counter, and he squared for Embolo to steer the ball into the net from close range in the 10th minute.The lead secured, Switzerland shifted to a five-man midfield out of possession, snuffing out the space and challenging the Algerians to play through them, but Petkovic’s charges struggled to break their opponents down.Algeria’s best chance came in first-half stoppage time when Ibrahim Maza dragged ⁠a snap shot wide of the near post, one of the few efforts ⁠on goal they managed in the game.Switzerland’s Dan Ndoye celebrates scoring their second goal [Lee Smith/Reuters]The Swiss struck again almost immediately after the break, attacking down the right before a half-hearted clearance from Rafik Belghali ended up at the feet of Ndoye, and the winger placed his shot beyond the ⁠dive of goalkeeper Luca Zidane.