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The former Arsenal defender knows plenty about keeping things tight late on.
Here is what he told ITV about the captain’s equaliser for Qatar: “The glory is his. Superb. Goalkeeper no chance. And the Swiss have been made to pay.”
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Qatar grabbed their first World Cup point ever when they earned a late draw against Switzerland.
The Swiss went ahead through Breel Embolo, when the striker - initially denied a visa to enter the United States - converted a spot-kick, though there were grumbles of offside in the build-up.
Switzerland then enjoyed plenty of possession and wasted more than 20 chances in pursuit of a second goal to settle the tie, but they were too profligate in front of goal.
Julen Lopetegui’s men continued to press for Qatar deep into added time in the second half, and ultimately they grabbed their chance when it came their way.
Qatar captain Boualem Khoukhi beat his marker as he pushed forward, heading past Gregor Kobel in goal on 95 minutes.
The result leaves Bosnia-Herzegovina, Qatar, Switzerland and co-hosts Canada all on one point in Group B after their first match played.
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Qatar secure a point in dramatic circumstances.
The minnows have fought back and punished Switzerland for their profligacy.
Switzerland had more than 20 chances, and they took one of them. That’s simply not good enough at this level.
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Wowzer.
Khouki gets on the end of a cross to finish for Qatar as he equalises. A huge moment for the country appears to have won a point.
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You can follow the liveblog with the excellent Rob Smyth here.
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Jashari and Muheim come onfor Rodriguez and Freuler for Switzerland.
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Embolo attempts to drag the ball into space when he should have probably just shot. He loses the ball and the danger passes when he is in the box.
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Manzambi whips a shot at goal from distance, he drops the shoulder and lets fly, but it’s a couple of yards wide and curling away.
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Manai for Madibo for Qatar, while Vargas is off for Amdouni for Switzerland.
10 minutes or so of normal time remaining.
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— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 13, 2026"Why are they not showing us?.. we are all thinking it" 🤔
Neville, Wrighty and Big Dunc debate the potential offside in the build-up to Switzerland's penalty pic.twitter.com/TVOZ5LkXMu
Former Scotland terrifier Duncan Ferguson has his say.
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Boudiaf shoots from distance but it sails over.
The Swiss are generally on top, but one goal invites problems.
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We’ve got a drinks break, so get your crosswords out.
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Aebischer and Ndoye off, Rieder and Manzambi come on.
The Swiss make two changes.
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Three changes for Qatar.
Abdurisag, Gaber and Aloui come off.
Alaaeldin, Boudiaf and Fatehi are on.
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The Swiss are in charge of the ball but not doing a great deal with it so far this half.
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Sunderland midfielder Granit Xhaka takes a look from distance, and his shot from distance flies just over the bar.
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That’s it for the first half. A decent showing for both sides, but the Swiss are generally on top.
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Confusion reigned during ITV’s coverage of Switzerland’s match against Qatar at the World Cup, as the Swiss were awarded a penalty despite replays suggesting an offside in the build-up.
Switzerland striker Breel Embolo gave his team a first-half lead from the penalty spot after Remo Freuler had been taken down by Qatar goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada.
Initial replays suggested that Freuler was clearly offside before he was fouled inside the box. Lee Dixon, the former England and Arsenal defender on co-commentary duty for ITV, said with complete certainty: “There’s no doubt about the penalty but he’s offside. This won’t count.”
To Dixon’s surprise, though, the penalty was allowed to stand.
This World Cup features an updated version of semi-automated offside technology, which will alert officials if a player is more than 10cm offside. Previous versions of the technology only alerted officials if a player was more than 50cm offside.
It is possible that the camera angle used by broadcasters was deceptive for viewers. Many television viewers expressed surprise on social media that the offside flag had not gone up.
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Kobel saves a great chance from Edmilson Junior, who latches on to a through-ball. Qatar are pushing for a leveller.
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Abunada beats a cross behind for a corner. Nothing comes of it for now. Zakaria is booked for a cynical challenge.
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Embolo back-heels towards Ndoye, but he squeezes off a shot that goes well wide. The Swiss are on top.
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A lull in the game for both sides as they look to recalibrate what they want from the match.
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There’s question of an offside decision here in the build-up to the goal. What do you think?
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The Swiss forward fires past the keeper to put the European side ahead with a professional strike.
Huge confidence from the striker.
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The keeper rushes out and cleans out a Swiss player. A VAR review awaits.
Abunada took out Remo Freuler, who seemed to be offside.
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Yet another chance for Ndoye, but he fails to trouble the keeper. The warnnig signs are there.
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Another chance for Ndoye after good work from Rodriguez, but the Switzerland man can’t get his chance on target. The Swiss have had the best of the early exchanges so far.
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Ndoye fires to the bottom left but the keeper saves smartly to his right.
Moments before, Emilson Junior fails to make the goalkeeper works after stealing in.
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Julen Lopetegui says:“For sure excited, butterflies. Try to be ready and balanced for the big challenge in front of us.
“I think the spirit is good, it’s up, knowing for sure the difficulties we will find. We are talking about the World Cup and the best teams in the world and Switzerland are one of them. But we have to understand how to work.”
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For both sides it was the chance to put three points on the board.
Bosnia-Herzegovina drew to with Canada last night, meaning a win for either side would put them in charge of the group.
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Qatar: Abunada, Al Oui, Ro Ro, Khouki, Ahmed, Gaber, Madibo, Laye, Junior, Abdurisag, Afif.
Subs: Zakaria, Barsham, Lucas Mendes, Hatem, Alaaeldin, Muntari, Al Haydos, Boudiaf, Al Ganehi, Al Brake, Ali, Fatehi, Jamshid, Al Hussain, Al Manai.
Switzerland: Kobel, Zakaria, Akanji, Elvedi, Aebischer, Freuler, Xhaka, Rodriguez, Ndoye, Vargas, Embolo.
Subs: Mvogo, Keller, Muheim, Widmer, Manzambi, Jashari, Sow, Fassnacht, Comert, Okafor, Rieder, Amdouni, Amenda, Jaquez, Itten.
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Hello and welcome to coverage of Qatar vs Switzerland at the World Cup. This is the first of a four-fixture day at the tournament.
The Swiss are raring to get their campaign started and believe they can deliver their best World Cup ever. Playing in his fourth World Cup, midfielder Granit Xhaka said the Swiss were confident and “yearning for it like never before”, and will go all out for victory against the back-to-back Asian champions in Santa Clara.
“In football we always talk about tactical things, but you also have to enjoy the moment and I think this is one of the most important things in football, that you go on the pitch, that you feel free,” Xhaka told a press conference.
“We just want to bring our ‘A’ game tomorrow. We will want to perform for Switzerland, for our families. Tomorrow we will take the first big step. This is going to be the best World Cup.
“We are now impatient,” he added. “We are primed and ready. We are physically ready, we are mentally ready.”
A win for either side against would put them top of Group B ahead of Bosnia and co-hosts Canada, who drew 1-1 on Friday.
Four years ago, Qatar lost all three matches in 2022 and scored a solitary goal in an unprecedented low for a tournament host but there is optimism they can be much better this time.
“When we arrived here one year ago more or less, our goal was [qualification]. Our dream was that. Inshallah, we achieved it. With the help of this group. They made history,” manager Julen Lopetegui told reporters.
“Now we don’t want to stop. We know the kind of opponents we face. We know that we are at the World Cup but we want to follow our dream.
“In the same way, [we’re] thinking that no one gives us presents here. Now we want to be able to be as competitive as possible, starting with the first match tomorrow.”
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