Live Match,

Published On 11 Jul 2026

18 Updates

  • Argentina unchanged

    Argentina will face ⁠Switzerland in ⁠the World Cup quarterfinal with the same starting lineup that ⁠secured a 3-2 win over Egypt in the last 16, with striker ⁠Julian Alvarez and midfielder Leandro Paredes retaining their positions.

    Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni told reporters on Friday he planned to ‌start with a “very similar team to the other match.”

  • News of the Argentina team sheet

    Argentina: Emiliano Martinez; Nahuel ⁠Molina, Cristian Romero, Lisandro ⁠Martinez, Nicolas Tagliafico; Leandro Paredes, Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister; Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez

  • Argentina vs Switzerland poll reminder

    Don’t forget to get involved in our live coverage by letting us know who you think will open the scoring in the match between Argentina and Switzerland:

  • Early Switzerland team news

    Switzerland’s Manzambi and Jaquez are out with knee and muscle injuries, respectively, while Aebischer is doubtful.

    Manzambi, Switzerland’s 20-year-old breakout star, also missed the last game.

    Switzerland’s predicted lineup

    (4-2-3-1): Kobel; Zakaria, Elvedi, Akanji, Rodriguez; Freuler, Xhaka; Vargas, Rieder, Ndoye; Embolo

  • Early Argentina team news

    There are no injuries are reported in the Argentina camp, with the South Americans expected to be unchanged.

    Argentina’s predicted lineup

    (4-1-3-2): Martinez; Molina, Romero, Lisandro, Tagliafico; Paredes; De Paul, Enzo, Mac Allister; Messi, Lautaro

  • Pre-match reading: FIFA is not an independent sporting organisation; it is a political tool

    This World Cup has increasingly put FIFA and its leadership under scrutiny. Its decision to overturn the suspension of an American football player after US President Donald Trump’s intervention has roiled fans around the world. Meanwhile, there have been accusations of referees favouring Argentina in their decisions during games against Egypt and Cape Verde.

    In Palestine, we have seen and experienced FIFA’s corrupt nature for years. Despite its statute explicitly requiring the organisation to respect human rights, it has systematically failed to do that when it has come to Palestinian football.

    It has repeatedly refused demands from the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) to suspend the Israeli Football Association (IFA) for allowing its league games to be played on occupied and stolen Palestinian land by teams that reside in illegal settlements.

    It has not condemned the mass killing and maiming of Palestinian football players or demanded the release of detained football players – most recently Rand Halawani and Natalie Abu Dayyeh, members of the Palestinian women’s football team. It has not protested against the destruction of Palestinian football stadiums. It has done nothing to force Israel to abandon the various policies that restrict and undermine Palestinian football, including denying Palestinian teams travel permits.

    IFA has not just tolerated and normalised racism, apartheid and occupation, but it has also taken part in efforts to congratulate the participation of Israeli footballers in war crimes in Gaza or Lebanon.

    Read more: Football fans around the world are only now finding out what Palestinians have long known

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  • Argentina vs Switzerland poll

    You can get involved in our live coverage via our polls on X, including who you think will win:

  • Can ageing Messi keep up with the demands of the World Cup?

    At 39, when most players’ careers are long behind them, Messi is proving that age is just a number.

    In his sixth and possibly last World Cup, Messi has maintained a perfect record, scoring in each of Argentina’s five matches so far. His eight goals keep him second in the Golden Boot race, only behind France’s Kylian Mbappe, who has also scored eight goals but has played a game more, on account of assists.

    Although no longer at his athletic peak, Messi is still very much carrying the burden of the goal-scoring duties for his national team – and rescued them from early elimination in the round of 16 with a goal and assist.

    In a rare show of emotion, he even broke down after that game, saying he was desperate for his World Cup journey to continue.

    But after his own admission of fatigue after playing 120 minutes against Cape Verde and pushing hard against a resilient Egypt, Messi’s ageing body is fighting to keep up with the gruelling demands of tournament football.

    As the stakes get higher and the margins for error reduce, it begs the question: Will age finally catch up with him?

  • ‘Argentina are not invincible’: Swiss coach

    What started out as a confident campaign has slowly turned into a shaky title defence for Argentina.

    Tournament debutants Cape Verde – the smallest nation to play in the World Cup knockouts – gave Argentina a wake-up call, forcing the reigning champions to dig deep for victory.

    The Argentinian suffering continued in the next game, where they trailed 2-0 against Egypt before turning it around in stoppage time – in a contest where the opposition accused the referee of favouring the title holders.

    These performances have pushed Argentina down to fourth in the pecking order of the favourites, while they’ve also slipped from the top spot to number two in the FIFA rankings.

    It has instilled the belief in the Swiss camp that beating Argentina is not out of reach.

    “We’re up against the defending champions, which is a unique opportunity. ‌At the same time, we’ve realised that Argentina are not invincible,” Switzerland coach Murat Yakin said.

    “It should be an interesting match from a tactical point of view.”

  • WATCH: How much does playing in the World Cup pay?

    The 2026 World Cup has a prize pool of $871m, the biggest in football history. How much is every country getting, and where does the money come from?

    Al Jazeera’s Yasmeen Eltahan explains.

  • England and Norway kick off in the second half

    England and Norway were level at 1-1 at half-time. The winner will face Argentina or Switzerland in the semifinal.

    Click here to join our live coverage of that one.

  • How an Egypt-Argentina World Cup game became a referendum on Palestine

    Tuesday’s Round of 16 FIFA World Cup match between Egypt and Argentina in Atlanta was perhaps both the tournament’s most controversial game and its most politically consequential.

    After going 1-0 up against the defending champions, Egypt had a second goal controversially disallowed and its request denied for a video review (VAR) of an Argentina goal.

    Fans and experts complained that VAR was employed unevenly and that Egypt’s 3-2 defeat was unjust.

    Egyptian manager Hossam Hassan said the game was “not fair”, suggesting that FIFA wanted Argentina and its global superstar, Lionel Messi, to advance.

    The Egyptian Football Association filed a formal complaint on Wednesday.

    Lost in the game’s controversial ending is perhaps a much bigger story — the way in which the Egypt-Argentina game has turned into the latest marker of the Palestinian struggle.

    Increasingly, positions on Israel and Palestine are seen as a gauge of political and moral integrity, while the Palestinian cause has emerged as a visible political dividing line within sport.

    Nowhere in recent sporting memory has this been clearer than the Egypt-Argentina match.

    Read more: Contested calls and rival flags showed how Palestine now shapes debates over power and fairness in sport

  • WATCH: Highlights from Day 30 of the 2026 World Cup

    Catch the latest match highlights from the FIFA World Cup 2026 in North America:

  • England or Norway await Argentina or Switzerland

    The winner of Argentina and Switzerland’s match with play England or Norway in the semifinals of FIFA World Cup 2026.

    The match between the English and the Norwegians is approaching half-time, and you can click here to join our live coverage of that one.

  • Welcome to our live FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage

    Hello, welcome and thanks for joining Al Jazeera’s live coverage of Argentina against Switzerland in the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Cup.

    Argentina are the defending champions, following their defeat of France in the final at Qatar 2022, but have had a bumpy ride to this stage.

    The Swiss are making their first quarterfinal appearance in 72 years.

    Either England or Norway await the winner in the semifinals.

    I’m Kevin Hand, and I’ll bring you all the pre-match build-up, analysis and photo coverage of the game.

    Rohan Sharma will provide the team news as soon as the lineups are announced and will take you through the minute-by-minute live commentary.