Serbia v Switzerland: Key moments as Swiss edge emotional fixture
Follow all the action from Group G with Flashscore
90+11' The match has just finished.
90+11' A rebound spins to Nemanja Radonjic (Serbia) inside the box, but his sliced shot flies just wide of the right post.
90+9' Fabian Schar (Switzerland) can't expect anything else than a yellow card for his hard tackle. And a yellow it is. Fernando Rapallini didn't think twice about pulling it out of his pocket.
90+6' The referee signals that it is time for a substitution and Noah Okafor (Switzerland) is coming onto the pitch as Breel Embolo cannot continue after picking up an injury.
90+5' Nikola Milenkovic (Serbia) is yellow-carded for breaking the rules of the game.
90+5' Granit Xhaka (Switzerland) gets a yellow card.
90+1' Edimilson Fernandes (Switzerland) latches on to a precise pass and finds himself one-on-one with the keeper, but his effort is straight at Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, who is alert and makes an easy save to deny him.
90' 7 additional min. will be played.
89' Sasa Lukic (Serbia) brings an opponent down and Fernando Rapallini interrupts the game.
87' The attendance for today's match is 41378.
84' Here's the change. Ruben Vargas leaves the pitch and Christian Fassnacht (Switzerland) comes on as a substitute.
83' Manuel Akanji (Switzerland) receives the ball from the resulting free kick and unleashes a strike from the edge of the box, but his effort goes narrowly wide of the right post!
82' Aleksandar Mitrovic (Serbia) uses bad language while talking to the referee and receives a yellow card for dissent.
82' Nemanja Gudelj (Serbia) will miss the next game.
81' A yellow card for a tackle by Nemanja Gudelj (Serbia). Fernando Rapallini doesn't hesitate at all to make this decision.
78' Dragan Stojkovic decides to make a substitution. Andrija Zivkovic will be replaced by Nemanja Radonjic (Serbia).
78' Substitution. Filip Djuricic (Serbia) has come on for Dusan Tadic.
69' Murat Yakin has decided to introduce fresh legs, with Denis Zakaria (Switzerland) replacing Xherdan Shaqiri.
68' Murat Yakin has decided to substitute Djibril Sow and he is replaced by Edimilson Fernandes (Switzerland).
68' It is time for a substitution. Nemanja Maksimovic (Serbia) is on for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
66' Although Predrag Rajkovic (Serbia) is just on the bench, Fernando Rapallini has awarded him with a yellow card. Unsporting behavior says the referee.
65' Aleksandar Mitrovic (Serbia) goes down under a challenge in the box, but the ref immediately waves away the appeals from all players.
57' Breel Embolo (Switzerland) is left with the simplest of tasks from close in after a lucky rebound off one of his own teammates, but somehow he skies his shot high over the bar.
56' Strahinja Pavlovic (Serbia) will miss the next game because of that yellow card.
56' Strahinja Pavlovic (Serbia) has tested the patience of referee Fernando Rapallini and goes into the book for a previous late challenge.
55' Dragan Stojkovic prepares a substitution. Dusan Vlahovic is replaced by Luka Jovic (Serbia).
55' Substitution. Milos Veljkovic makes his way off the pitch and Nemanja Gudelj (Serbia) comes on as his replacement.
48' 2 - 3 Goal! Ruben Vargas displays great vision and sends a pass to Remo Freuler (Switzerland), who shows brilliant composure inside the box to bury the ball from close range in the back of the net. The score is 2:3.
47' Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Serbia) sees a yellow card from Fernando Rapallini after he sent one of the opposing players to the ground.
46' The players are back out on the pitch following the half-time break and the second half is about to start.
45+4' The referee blows his whistle for half-time, bringing to a close the first 45 minutes of the match.
44' 2 - 2 Goal! Silvan Widmer puts the ball on a plate for Breel Embolo (Switzerland), who scores with a simple close-range finish. It's 2:2.
35' 2 - 1 Goal! Dusan Vlahovic (Serbia) pounced on a loose ball inside the penalty area and beats the goalkeeper with a shot into the bottom right corner. He makes it 2:1.
34' This yellow card was deserved. The tackle by Ruben Vargas (Switzerland) was quite harsh and Fernando Rapallini didn't hesitate to show him a yellow card.
31' Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland) threw away a promising scoring opportunity. He received a fine cross inside the 6-yard box, but his shot missed the target close to the right post.
26' 1 - 1 Goal! A nice lofted pass into the box by Dusan Tadic is pounced on by Aleksandar Mitrovic (Serbia). His close-range header flashes past Gregor Kobel and into the right of the goal. goal. 1:1.
20' 0 - 1 Goal! Djibril Sow plays it to Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), whose deflected shot from inside the box goes past the helpless Vanja Milinkovic-Savic. 0:1.
15' Fernando Rapallini shows a yellow card to Silvan Widmer (Switzerland) for a tough tackle.
11' OFF THE POST! Andrija Zivkovic (Serbia) runs towards the goal to give his teammate support. He receives a fantastic pass and shoots from the edge of the box, but it crashes against the left post. It could have been a brilliant goal, unlucky.
1' Breel Embolo (Switzerland) had time and space inside the box after picking up a neat pass, but his shot towards the middle of the goal was easily saved by Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
1' The match has just started.
Match preview
The Eagles have failed to live up to their dark horse billing thus far though, losing to Brazil and being held by Cameroon in a thrilling draw, meaning they’re now in ‘must-win’ territory in this Group G finale. Manager Dragan Stojković was furious that his side let a two-goal lead slip in that 3-3 blockbuster with Cameroon, branding his side’s defending "incomprehensible" and claiming the same should be "forbidden at this level".
Those errors will need to be corrected here if Serbia are to reach the knockout stages for the first time, and coincidentally a 2-1 defeat to Switzerland cost them that goal at Russia in 2018. That loss was the start of an alarming trend that has seen the Eagles concede at least twice in each of their last four World Cup games while failing to secure victory in any (D1, L3).
Merely avoiding defeat is likely to be enough to secure Switzerland's progression to the last 16, with qualification rivals Cameroon facing five-time Champions Brazil in the group’s other fixture. Switzerland, under the guidance of coach Murat Yakin since 2021, are looking to make it three straight appearances in the knockout stages at the World Cup for the first time in their history, and Yakin’s team are well placed to do so.
Switzerland showed they’re a tough nut to crack in holding Brazil for over 80 minutes before Casemiro’s strike eventually consigned them to defeat. A second consecutive loss would see their tournament come to an end, but they’ve not been beaten in consecutive World Cup games since 1994, so the omens look good for the Red Crosses.
Players to watch: Talismanic forward Aleksandar Mitrović netted in Serbia’s 3-3 draw with Cameroon, and he was also on target in his country’s only previous head-to-head with Switzerland. Also on the scoresheet that day was Xherdan Shaqiri, who could become his country’s highest appearance maker in World Cups with his 11th outing at the finals here.
Hot stat: Serbia have lost just one of their last 16 competitive meetings with European opposition (W11, D4).
World Cup trivia: The 1954 World Cup hosted in Switzerland was the first to be transmitted live on television.
