Granit Xhaka vs Serbia is one of the all-time great World Cup match-ups, with the Switzerland captain always box office when he faces them.
Four years ago in Russia, the Arsenal midfielder scored against the Serbians and celebrated with an eagle-handed gesture in reference to his Albanian ancestry. He was fined 10,000 francs for the action.
This time, he's stopped short of repeating the act: but he has done this…
With talk of political tension between the two sides dominating the build-up to this one, the first-half didn’t disappoint, with the score 2-2 heading into the break. Former Liverpool and Stoke City star Xherdan Shaqiri opened the scoring and chose not to celebrate with an eagle-handed gesture again – an act that got him fined by FIFA in 2018 – instead holding a finger to his lips to silence the opposing fans whistling and booing him.
Things quickly turned, however, with Serbia looking like they could pip Switzerland out of the group at one point. Fulham marksman Aleksandar Mitrovic – another goalscorer in this clash four years ago – scored a wonderful glancing header into the far corner of Kobel’s net after an excellent cross from Dusan Tadic and just 10 minutes later, Dusan Vlahovic capitalised on a defensive error from the Swiss to put his side 2-1 up. The Juventus starlet put a finger to his lips in celebration, too.
The Serbian glory didn’t last long, though – and the Swiss managed to draw level before half-time via a Breel Embolo tap-in before Nottingham Forest’s Remo Freuler capped off a breathtaking team move to make it 3-2. While Vargas’ backheeled assist will live long in the memory for Swiss fans, Forest fans will be pleased to see one of their players score at a World Cup for the first time in 24 years – the last being Pierre van Hooijdonk for the Netherlands in 1998.
Switzerland will face Portugal in the last-16.
