At the Al Janoub Stadium on Thursday, Switzerland defeated Cameroon 1-0 thanks to a goal from Breel Embolo against the country of his birth.
The Yaounde-born attacker’s second-half tap-in ignited wild celebrations for the Swiss at full time as Murat Yakin’s team handed Cameroon its eighth straight World Cup loss, one short of the record.
Though there were a few red flags for Cameroon immediately before the interval, the Indomitable Lions got the best of the first half and kept Yann Sommer in the Switzerland goal somewhat busy.
Embolo, who had been a part of one of those events, was appropriately the one to break the score in the 48th minute, with Switzerland eventually deserving of the victory following a strong second-half performance.
Bryan Mbeumo struck a shot at Sommer, and Karl Toko Ekambi strangely missed with the rebound, giving Cameroon the chance to score ten minutes in.
Unfazed, Cameroon looked more dangerous and tested Sommer from a tight angle 20 minutes later. A superb clearing by Silvan Widmer also prevented a tap-in for Toko Ekambi.
However, Switzerland came out of the break stronger, and only a last-ditch challenge from Jean-Charles Castelletto stopped Embolo from scoring before Manuel Akanji headed narrowly wide in stoppage time.
But just after the interval, Embolo scored for Monaco after Xherdan Shaqiri sent a low cross from the right side.
With a superb stop to deny Ruben Vargas just after the hour, Andre Onana kept Cameroon in the game, but Rigobert Song’s team was unable to capitalize at the other end.
The team Yakin referred to as “one of the finest Swiss national teams that have ever existed” did not exactly put up a vintage performance, but in the second half they frequently displayed remarkable fluidity.
This was a significant step toward Switzerland maintaining its run in Qatar. Switzerland is one of just three European teams that have advanced to the knockout rounds in each of the previous four major international competitions.
Shaqiri may not have the same impact on Switzerland’s overall play as he previously had, but he consistently performs well for his country.
His cross, deftly pushed out just a bit, set up Embolo’s winning goal with an easy finish, giving the seasoned winger his 12th goal involvement for the Swiss over the previous four international tournaments—exactly 50% of their total.
Despite his running and effort, the left winger’s performance was generally disappointing.
Despite the fact that he generated two chances, which was a high for Switzerland, he squandered two wonderful chances: the first saw him slice a cross over the goal with Granit Xhaka ready for a tap-in, and the second saw him miss beating Onana from close range.
