Time: Saturday, July 11, 9:00 pm ET.
Venue: Kansas City Stadium
Money line: Argentina -325, Switzerland +250
Argentina are the reigning World Cup champions but did not look particularly sharp in the round of 16. It narrowly avoided defeat to Cape Verde in the round of 16 and had to overcome a two-goal deficit in the second half to leapfrog Egypt.
Until now, it was believed that the Albiceleste had done enough to allow Messi’s heroics to save the day. For long stretches of Tuesday, it really looked like Messi wouldn’t be enough.
“I felt like I let the team down at an important moment,” Messi said, according to Oliver Kay of The Athletic. “But luckily fate had something special in store for me at the end and I managed to even the score.”
Argentina are certainly not a one-man team, but they will need standout players like Julian Alvarez and Enzo Fernandez to make their presence known against Switzerland and take the lead.
It is not surprising that the Swiss, sensing that Argentina is on the verge of defeat, will accept the role of the underdog and play dangerously aggressive football.
Switzerland, of course is outsider. She reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 1954 and beat a formidable Colombia team to get here. Argentina’s defense will be regularly tested by Johan Manzambi, Dan Ndoye, Ruben Vargas and the powerful Swiss attack.
The prediction is that both defenses will work together to make this a low-scoring game. Messi shows some late-match magic again to outshine Manzambi and secure Argentina’s place in the semi-finals.
Forecast: Argentina – Switzerland 2:1