Alvarez golazo and Lautaro dagger send Argentina to a sixth straight semi-final

Holders Argentina survived a stern test from ten-man Switzerland to win 3-1 after extra time at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City and reach a sixth consecutive semi-final. Alexis Mac Allister's early goal was cancelled out by Dan Ndoye, and with the Swiss digging in it took a Julian Alvarez thunderbolt in extra time — one of the goals of the tournament — and a late Lautaro Martinez strike to finally break them. Level at 1-1 after 90 minutes, Argentina needed extra time and a moment of magic to see off opponents reduced to ten men.

Match summary: Mac Allister strikes early, Ndoye levels, Alvarez lights it up

Argentina made the perfect start, Mac Allister firing them ahead inside the opening ten minutes. Switzerland, disciplined and organised under pressure, weathered the storm and drew level on 67 minutes through Ndoye. A red card left the Swiss a man down and chasing the game late on, but they held firm to force extra time. There, Argentina's quality told: Alvarez, goalless in the tournament until this moment, unleashed a stunning strike from outside the box that flew past Gregor Kobel and in off the far post on 112 minutes — a contender for goal of the tournament. Lautaro Martinez then applied the dagger deep in stoppage time of extra time, pouncing on a rebound to make it 3-1.

A golazo to remember and the end of a Swiss revival

Alvarez's moment was the highlight of the night: scoreless for the tournament, he chose the grandest stage to produce something special, a thunderbolt that settled a taut tie and finally put his name on the scoresheet. For Argentina it is a sixth straight semi-final, a staggering run of consistency for the reigning champions. Switzerland, reduced to ten men and unable to keep pace in extra time, bow out having reached their first quarter-final in 70 years — a landmark campaign under Murat Yakin that ends with pride intact despite the manner of defeat.

What's next: Argentina meet England and 1986 history

Argentina advance to a semi-final against England on July 15 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, a fixture forever framed by Diego Maradona's “Hand of God” and his second goal in 1986. Two of our four AI models landed: with the tie level after 90 minutes, the DeepSeek double chance on Argentina and the Switzerland under 1.5 call came in, while the outright win and Argentina over 1.5 missed as the champions needed extra time. Switzerland go home to acclaim after a historic run.