Lionel Messi and Argentina face a balanced Switzerland side that could force a World Cup draw

We have reached the last match of the World Cup quarter finals. It’s hard to believe this is almost over. Although I think football could be improved for American audiences, I thoroughly enjoyed watching these matches. I know it’s not all about us, but there are still some things that make things a little boring at times. But the times of tension are as beautiful as almost any event you can think of. I personally think this game will be tighter than the books expect.

In 1996, Madonna had a song called “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” that showed my age here. I guess it was part of a movie or something, but looking back 30 years later I can’t imagine anyone crying about this team.

Their last game was surrounded by questionable calls and what felt like a rigged result. Argentina looked like the worse team for 80 minutes of the 90 minutes. The last 10 minutes made a huge difference and I believe Egypt blew it, but the referees clearly helped too.

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Argentina have looked a bit inconsistent in the last two games despite having perhaps their best player ever in Lionel Messi. They struggled to beat Cape Verde, winning 3-2, and as mentioned before, they were not good against Egypt. Maybe you could be optimistic and say that despite looking bad, they won both games without requiring a penalty shootout. I guess I can’t disagree with this point, but sometimes it seems like you’re on the verge of losing because you’re going to lose.

On the other side of the match is Switzerland. This isn’t a team that gets a lot of attention or publicity. They quietly took advantage of their opportunities. There’s nothing flashy about the team, and there’s nothing very exciting about it either. I think they have a good club but they lack star power and even their scores are balanced. This is not a hit; this may mean that they are multifaceted rather than one-dimensional.

Canadian Tani Oluwaseyi (left) challenges Silvan Widmer of Switzerland during a match on June 24, 2026 in Vancouver, Canada. (Anne-Marie Sorvin/Imagn Images)

Getting here was a difficult process for the Swiss team. They opened the Group Stage with a 1-1 draw against Qatar. Then they defeated Bosnia-Herzegovina 4-1. They beat Canada to finish the group stage and then defeated Algeria 2-0 in the Round of 32. In the round of 16, against Colombia, they played arguably the most boring match of the tournament; They prevailed 0-0 even after extra time and eventually won on penalty kicks.

It’s hard to support Switzerland here because I think FIFA wants a France-Argentina championship match. If any of these teams are likely to score, it will almost certainly be Argentina. Messi is so good that no one can stop him completely. He was pretty quiet against Egypt but still scored late. But I could see this match going to be under 2.5 goals. The Swiss team does not play overly aggressively and seems to play the ball methodically.

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Argentina’s Lionel Messi celebrates the third goal scored by Enzo Fernandez (not pictured) during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 match between Argentina and Egypt at Atlanta Stadium on July 7, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Elsa/Getty Images)

I also think the correct play was the draw after 90 minutes. Argentina seems to be at fault lately. I think we may see another patient approach. It makes sense that Argentina are still favorites and perhaps they can act aggressively to prove themselves. At +255 I’ll have Switzerland draw to 90.

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