Switzerland is through to the quarter-finals of the Coupe du monde 2026 after beating Colombia 4-3 on penalties in Vancouver, with Ruben Vargas striking the decisive kick. The match finished 0-0 before the shootout, and Switzerland took the only route left to qualification.
For readers searching Switzerland now, this was the last of the round-of-16 ties and it changed the bracket immediately: Switzerland now meets Argentine in the last eight. The result was settled without a goal in normal time or extra time, so the pressure shifted entirely to the spot-kicks, where Switzerland held its nerve and Colombia did not.
That is what made Vargas’ penalty matter most. Itten and Xhaka also converted for Switzerland, while Quintero scored for Colombia, Hernandez missed, and Davinson Sanchez stepped up for his attempt on the Colombian side. The sequence ended 4-3, enough to send Switzerland through and end Colombia’s run.
It was a qualification built on refusal as much as precision. Switzerland did not score from open play, did not need extra time to find a winner, and still walked away with a quarter-final place. In a tournament where margins shrink fast, that is often enough to decide a team’s place in the next round.
Vargas was the man who made it final, and now Switzerland must carry that composure into a quarter-final against Argentine. The question from here is not how it got there, but whether it can repeat that same nerve when the stakes rise again.
