Switzerland are back in a World Cup quarter-final for the first time since 1954 after beating Colombia 4-3 on penalties, and it took one decisive kick from Ruben Vargas to end the wait. Camilo Vargas guessed wrong, Ruben Vargas sent the ball the other way, and Switzerland finally moved beyond the last 16.
That mattered because Murat Yakin had carried a streak of three straight last-16 exits at the World Cup, and this was the night he broke it. The shootout had already turned tight and uneasy by then: Sánchez hit the bar for Colombia, Amdouni scored for Switzerland, Akanji blazed over, Hernández was denied by Kobel, and Campaz saw his effort squirm under the keeper. By the time the winning penalty arrived, there was no room left for recovery.
For Switzerland, this was more than a narrow escape. It was a cut-off point between decades of near misses and a place among the final eight. The last time they reached this stage was 1954, and the result now sends them into the fourth and final quarter-final on Saturday night in Kansas City against Argentina. The winners there will meet Norway or England in the semi-finals.
Colombia’s run ended after matches in Mexico City, Vancouver, Miami and Kansas City, a sequence that now closes with one missed step at the line. Camilo Vargas ended the shootout on the goal line, wrong-footed on the one penalty that mattered most, but the margin stayed razor-thin until the final kick. That is what makes the result sting for Colombia and land so hard for Switzerland: one side is going on, and the other is left with a shootout lost by a single strike.
