Oppressively superior, but shockingly ineffective: In the 5th minute of injury time, Switzerland gave up the mandatory win against Qatar – Boualem Khoukhi headed the equalizer.
In the 1-1 (1-0) win on Saturday (June 13, 2026) in San Francisco, Breel Embolo, who was only allowed to enter the USA two days late due to problems with his visa, scored the decisive goal with a penalty kick in the 17th minute. The Swiss then outdid themselves in missing scoring opportunities and the penalty followed deep into stoppage time.
The game started five minutes late, but it didn’t take much time to get going. Switzerland immediately started pressing aggressively and had their first shot on goal after 35 seconds – but Breel Embolo’s attempt was blocked. In return, Qatar almost took the lead: After a sloppy defensive action by Nico Elvedi and Manuel Akanji, Edmilson Junior suddenly appeared free in front of Gregor Kobel, tunneled through the Dortmund keeper, but the ball got stuck on his back heel.
Ndoye lacks composure – but Embolo scores
The Swiss immediately increased the number of shots again and created a series of shots: Dan Ndoye stormed towards the Qatari goalkeeper alone after a perfect through pass from Michel Aebischer, but Mahmoud Abunada quickly dived into the left corner (6th). Four minutes later the 1-0 was overdue, but Ndoye again finished too hectically: Ruben Vargas had played precisely into the back area, but the Nottingham Forest striker aimed his shot into the second floor completely unchallenged.
In this phase, Qatar could no longer get over the halfway line and no longer had any relief. When Remo Freuler poked the ball past the Qatar keeper after a pass from Embolo, Abunada hit the Swiss with his head – both players remained lying down and referee Said Martinez immediately pointed to the penalty spot. What was astonishing, however, was that, judging from the TV pictures, Freuler was offside when Embolo passed the ball – the penalty still stood, and Embolo converted with confidence.
Zakaria should have followed up immediately
Even if the leadership came about in doubt, it was definitely deserved. And Switzerland should have followed up four minutes later. After a lightning combination via Ndoye and Embolo, Denis Zakaria had a great chance to make it 2-0, but was denied by Abunada, who closed the short corner well. Shortly before the end of the first half, Murat Yakin’s team had 65 percent possession of the ball, had 10:2 shots on goal and were still able to thank Kobel for not conceding the equalizer in the 43rd minute: the goalkeeper, who had previously been unemployed for half an hour, saved with a foot defense against Edmilson Junior.
Even more in focus than Kobel was Abunada, who defused further dangerous shots from Ndoye and Ruben Vargas until the half-time whistle – the Al Rayan goalkeeper made an outstanding save. In the 7th minute of added time he was beaten – but Boualem Khoukhi scratched Aebischer’s low shot off the goal line for him.
Xhaka fails from distance
Nothing changed in the second half, except that the Swiss moved away with possession values of over 70 percent. Vargas repeatedly tried to break open the Qatari defense on the left wing, Granit Xhaka tried several times from distance – but either the precision was lacking or Abunada still got his hands on the ball.
In contrast to the two promising scenes from the first round, Qatar no longer took place on the offensive. Tactical expert Julen Lopetegui’s team looked more like they wanted to save the 0-1 deficit over time. But the Swiss negligently kept their opponents, who had poor football skills, in the game: Vargas shot from half-left to unplaced (75th), Embolo put the ball past Abunada but also past the left post after a great pass from Johan Manzambi. The Freiburg player then tried it himself from 18 meters, but he also missed the target. When Switzerland’s strength weakened, the decisive counterattack followed: The Swiss were asleep on the right side of the defense, Khoukhi rose up in the center and beat Kobel with a header.
Switzerland now against Bosnia-Herzegovina
The Swiss will continue against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Los Angeles on June 18th (9 p.m. CEST), with Qatar meeting co-hosts Canada three hours later in Vancouver.