Swiss memory holds rare and bizarre events during their national football team's first World Cup quarterfinal 72 years ago in 1954, when the country was hosting the tournament. In late June, at the La Pontaise stadium in Lausanne, the hosts faced their neighbors Austria in the quarterfinals. It was a day no one who experienced it would forget: the temperature soared to 40 degrees Celsius under a blazing sun, while the average June temperature in Lausanne is usually 26 degrees. People later called this match 'Hitzeschlacht von Lausanne'... the heat battle of Lausanne. In less than four minutes, between the 16th and 19th minutes, Switzerland shook the net three times. The fans cheered, while the Austrians looked around in disbelief. Three clean goals, and the match seemed decided, but under that harsh sun, the picture suddenly turned. The Austrian team awakened as if revived: in just three minutes (from the 25th to the 27th), they scored three consecutive goals, equalizing, and then they didn't stop. A fourth goal in the 32nd minute, and a fifth in the 34th. The Swiss fans were in shock. Just before the end of the first half, Switzerland reduced the deficit, and the half ended with a fantasy score: 5-4 for Austria. Nine goals in one half, a World Cup record that remains unbroken to this day. The battle did not calm in the second half. In the 53rd minute, the Austrians scored their sixth goal, and in the 60th, Switzerland responded with their fifth. As everyone gasped from the heat and exhaustion, the decider came in the 76th minute with a seventh Austrian goal. The match ended 7-5 for Austria, the highest scoring match in World Cup history so far. What added to the strangeness was that Kurt Schmied, the Austrian goalkeeper, was suffering from severe heatstroke from the early minutes and nearly collapsed. But the trainer, Josef Ullrich, stayed by his side throughout the match outside the lines (since substitutions were not allowed), pouring cold water on him, rubbing him with a wet sponge, and instructing him on how to stand and move. It is said that Schmied lost consciousness between halves, and that after the final whistle, he celebrated with his teammates without remembering anything that happened. He remained that way until his death in 2007, never recovering memories of that scorching battle. On Sunday dawn, more than seven decades later, Switzerland returns to the quarterfinals for the fourth time in its history, as they face Argentina, chasing a long-awaited dream: reaching the semifinals for the first time.