FIFA World Cup 2022:Scintillating Switzerland oust Serbia 3-2, advance to Round of 16

Switzerland defeated Serbia 32 in an electric encounter on Friday to finish second in Group G and advance to the World Cup knockout round at Stadium 974 on SaturdayThe Swiss team made it to the knockout stage for the third time in a row and will now lock horns with Portugal in the round of 16 clashes on December 7Xherdan Shaqiri gave Switzerland the lead in a match that ebbed and flowed at lightning speed in the first half at Stadium 974 but Serbia quickly scored twice within 10 minutes through Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic to turn the game aroundAlso Read FIFA World Cup 2022 HeeChans stoppage time goal helps South Korea stun PortugJust before the half Breel Embolo gave the contest another twist by bringing Switzerland to parity Remo Freuler then scored three minutes into the second half to give Switzerland a onegoal lead yet againSerbia equalized through a trademark Aleksandar Mitrovic header in the 20th minute after Xherdan Shaqiri had given Switzerland the lead with a deflected shot Serbia then unexpectedly took the lead when Dusan Vlahovic found the bottom corner briefly moving them up to second place in Group GBreel Embolo provided a lategame comeback for Switzerland in an exciting first half but they soon took the lead again thanks to an outstanding team goal that Remo Freuler finished offDespite reports of a FIFA announcement inside Stadium 974 asking fans to halt discriminatory yells and gestures Switzerland persevered and won the gameGranit Xhaka and Embolo both had efforts blocked by goalkeeper Vanja MilinkovicSavic as Switzerland became the first team in World Cup history to have three shots in the opening minute of playAlso Read Morocco ready to lsquoaim for the skyrsquo after fairytale run in QatarDespite the early scare Serbia impressed as Andrija Zivkovics powerful shot from outside the area struck a post However it was Switzerland who broke the score when Shaqiris attempt entered the net via a deflectionThough Serbia continued to be in control Mitrovic quickly brought his team even with a spectacular glancing header from Tadics perfectly placed cross Seven minutes later Vlahovic took advantage of Freulers error to score into the bottom corner putting them in a position to advanceThe last twist would come in the first half though when Silvan Widmer crossed from the right and Embolo came on to sidefoot in for a score of 22At the beginning of the second session Switzerland put together a fantastic play involving Embolo and Shaqiri before Vargas passed the ball to Freuler who quickly made up for his earlier mistake and slammed in the games fifth goalFabian Schaers challenge caused Mitrovic to fall too easily in the middle of the second half but the referee denied his appeals for a penalty and the Serbian dugout spilled out onto the field to protest the callSerbias replacement Nemanja Radonjic nearly scored an equalizer in the dying seconds of stoppage time as the two teams battled it out but Switzerland held on to secure a quarterfinal matchup against Portugal on TuesdaySince 2014 Switzerland has advanced to the round of 16 at every World Cup and European Championship With six points they tied for second place with Brazil who was defeated 10 by Cameroon in Group G on goal differenceThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever