Switzerland made the most of Algeria‘s mistakes during their 2-0 win that sent them to the round of 16 of the World Cup.
The Swiss had little trouble beating Les Fennecs in the round of 32. Breel Embolo opened the scoring 10 minutes in, while Dan Ndoye sealed the deal in the first minute of the second half.
Former Switzerland manager Vladimir Petkovic experimented with the Algeria squad. He went with no strikers and leaned on talented and agile midfielders up front. They even had a decent first few minutes with slick passing moves and lots of rotations, but found a ceiling precisely in the form of the lack of finishing touch.
Two early goals that set the tone for the rest of the game. Which is actually a good place to start the analysis.
How did Switzerland beat Algeria?
No mercy for Algeria
Algeria’s changed lineup gave them control of possession over Switzerland since the start, not just because of the early goal they conceded.
Petkovic’s squad selection favoured a more dominant approach, with the team trying to establish themselves in the attacking half. Unluckily for them, however, No.10 Fares Chaibi misplaced an easy pass – credit to Remo Freuler who read the play well – and it kick-started a Swiss fast break.
Of course, a lot happened between Chaibi giving away the ball and Embolo tapping it into an empty net. Johan Manzambi, who transformed this Switzerland side halfway through the group stage, did most of the work.
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He pushed the pace by creating a passing lane for Ruben Vargas and accelerated with the ball, getting the best out of Aissa Mandi one-on-one and finding the striker.
It was the first of two costly mistakes on which Switzerland capitalised. The second, however, was much more serious.
Bensebaini of all players misplaced an easy pass of his own – inside the box. Denis Zakaria intercepted it easily, crossed it and Rafik Belghali only managed to clear it as far as Ndoye, who immediately took the shot and scored.
There was no margin for error for Algeria and they made two, and Switzerland made it count both times.
New-look Switzerland?
Speaking of capitalising on opponent’s mistakes, it’s mainly how Switzerland played against Algeria. They had just 30% even before scoring, meaning they felt comfortable sitting deeper and hitting them on the counter.
In fact, the Swiss had more statistically official fast-breaks tonight (2) than in their entire group stage campaign (1, against Canada).
It was also, by far, their lowest possession tally in a single game in the World Cup.
| Switzerland Opponent | Possession percentage |
|---|---|
| Qatar | 68% |
| Bosnia-Herzegovina | 62% |
| Canada | 55% |
| Algeria | 44% |
Despite all this, Switzerland felt comfortable for around 90% of the match. Algeria’s new look meant there were a lot of players moving around and dropping deep, which favoured passing sequences but brought no attacking edge up front.
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Murat Yakin’s zonal 4-4-2 in a mid-to-low block went very much untested for most of the game. Naturally it did allow a few Algerians to position themselves between opponents, but there weren’t clear passing lanes for the ball to actually find them in dangerous positions. And Les Fennecs didn’t ask enough questions or make the Swiss react or counter enough movements for anything to matter.
There was also a new aspect to Switzerland’s game early on. It didn’t actually work, but they heavily favoured the right-hand side in build-ups before Embolo’s opener, that saw the whole play developing on the left wing.
It’s a much different dynamic compared to their preferences from the first three games, focusing much more on the left.
They showed struggles to get out of their own half while trying to play through Nico Elvedi, Zakaria and Remo Freuler. Things slowed down and became easier when they started focusing on getting the ball to Manuel Akanji, Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka who were all more to the left.
Switzerland seem to have learned from their mistakes especially against Qatar and have since been more ruthless. Three straight wins after the 1-1 draw in the opener and either Colombia or Ghana up next in the round of 16.
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