Colombia crash out on penalties as Switzerland reach first quarter-final in 72 years

Your World Cup is over. Colombia 0–0 Switzerland, and Switzerland won the penalty shootout 4–3 to advance to the quarter-finals (1) (3) (4). Goalkeeper Vargas saved the decisive penalty, and Colombian players collapsed on the Vancouver turf. The dream of matching 2014's quarter-final run died on spot kicks.

Muñoz had a tough night

Crystal Palace right-back Daniel Muñoz struggled against Dan Ndoye, losing key duels on the flank (7). ESPN called it a night where he "lacked clarity on the ball in attack" and was beaten too often defensively (7). Ndoye, praised across Swiss media for growing stronger as the match progressed, forced a 32nd-minute save from Vargas before being substituted in the 92nd minute (9).

Xhaka nearly gifted it, then celebrated

Granit Xhaka almost gave it away. The Swiss midfielder, already frustrated enough to hurl his water bottle during the first cooling break, nearly caused a 0–1 scoreline late in the match before recovering (8). Afterwards he was proud. "I think this generation we have now is a special one," he said (5). Switzerland will face Argentina in their first World Cup quarter-final since 1954 (4) (5).

Shooting first keeps backfiring

Every penalty shootout at this World Cup has been won by the team shooting second. Colombia shot first and fell on the wrong side of that trend (2). Four shootouts, four wins for the team going second. A small detail that keeps proving decisive.

Fan reactions

Colombia fans on Reddit were already framing this as the end of an era. One post noted this World Cup has felt like a passing of the torch, with James Rodríguez wrapping up his international career alongside names like Ronaldo and Modrić. The mood was shock more than anger. See the full discussion