Switzerland handed 10-man Bosnia-Herzegovina a 4-1 defeat in their FIFA World Cup 2026 Group B tie as South Africa held Czechia to a 1-1stalemate in Group A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Super subs Johan Manzambi and Ruben Vargas fired Switzerland to the win that puts the Swiss in with a strong chance of reaching the knockout round as one of the top two teams in Group B.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They had been controlling a largely tepid stalemate at the SoFi Stadium until coach Murat Yakin rang the changes in the 72nd minute, bringing on the pair of forwards who immediately transformed the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Swiss had the better of the early exchanges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Veteran midfielders Xhaka and Remo Freuler orchestrated forays down the left flank to Dan Ndoye, which fizzled out with poor crosses and lackluster finishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having started very deep, the Bosnians slowly grew into the half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Forty-year-old star Edin Dzeko created their first big chance in the 32nd minute, cleverly switching play across the six-yard box to Benjamin Tahirovic, who failed to connect at the far post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ndoye nearly gave Switzerland a spectacular lead after the break, smashing a bicycle kick from Xhaka’s cross toward Nikola Vasilj, who did well to palm it over the bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An increasingly frustrated Dzeko earned a booking for bulldozing Manuel Akanji, and was substituted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yakin made three changes in the 72nd minute, and two minutes later, two of those subsitutes combined to finally put his side ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vargas ran up the left wing, his first cross bounced back to him, and on his second attempt, Amar Memic’s attempted headed clearance fell to Manzambi, who volleyed home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In between those goals, Bosnia had Tarik Muharemovic sent off in the 80th minute for a desperate sliding tackle on Breel Embolo, who was clear through on goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The floodgates then opened. In the 84th minute Manzambi, coming in from the right, found Embolo who played it to an open Vargas to slot home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Six minutes later, Vargas cut back to Manzambi, who guided the ball across the ‘keeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three minutes into stoppage time, Gregor Kobel slapped a corner out to Bosnian substitute Mamhic, who rifled his shot home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the Bosnian backline had lost their heads, and a desperate foul by Amar Memic gave Swiss captain Xhaka the chance to bury his penalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Teboho Mokoena’s penalty kept South Africa’s dream of reaching the FIFA World Cup 2026 knockout stages for the first time alive after a 1-1 draw with the Czechia on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Michal Sadilek’s early opener had the Czechs on course for just their second World Cup win as an independent nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Mokoena’s late spot-kick kept both teams in the hunt for the last 32, although they will almost certainly have to win their final Group A fixture to advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both sides started with disappointing performances and defeats on the World Cup’s opening day, but the Czechs quickly set about making amends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patrik Schick is the biggest name in a Czechia side lacking the star quality of previous generations but the Bayer Leverkusen forward missed a glorious chance inside the first minute when he planted a header wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Miroslav Koubek’s men only had to wait another five minutes to take the lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adam Hlozek’s cross was classily cushioned by Alexandr Sojka into the path of Sadilek, who calmly stroked the ball past Ronwen Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Czechs were left to rue not making more of their chances to kill the game off early in the second half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vladimir Darida took too long to get his shot off with a big chance before Lukas Cerv’s long-range effort was tipped over by Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were thousands of empty seats on show at the futuristic home of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, but those that were in attendance loudly booed the mid-half hydration breaks in an enclosed and air-conditioned stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The majority of the crowd were backing South Africa and finally had something to cheer seven minutes from time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thapelo Maseko’s shot hit the arm of the unfortunate Pavel Sulc and referee Tori Penso, part of an all-female officiating team, pointed to the spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mokoena confidently drilled home the spot-kick for his nation’s first World Cup goal in 16 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They came close to a second five minutes later when Matej Kovar saved from Relebohile Mofokeng.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But both sides had to settle for a point that could yet prove vital come the end of Wednesday’s final Group A games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Switzerland handed 10-man Bosnia-Herzegovina a 4-1 defeat in their FIFA World Cup 2026 Group B tie as South<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[430],"tags":[276,63],"class_list":["post-13960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-fifa","tag-football"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t