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Argentina secured their place in the FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-finals after defeating Switzerland 3-1 following extra time in an exciting quarter-final encounter. Alexis Mac Allister opened the scoring with a historic early strike before Switzerland fought back through Dan Ndoye to force extra time. However, Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez struck late to send the reigning world champions into the last four. 

Argentina made the perfect start, taking the lead in just the 10th minute through Alexis Mac Allister. Lionel Messi’s dangerous corner found Mac Allister inside the box, and the midfielder powered a header into the back of the net to register his first FIFA World Cup 2026 goal. The strike also marked Argentina’s fastest goal of the tournament, handing Lionel Scaloni’s side an early advantage. 

Switzerland gradually settled into the contest and continued to search for an equaliser, but Argentina’s defence stood firm to preserve their narrow lead heading into halftime. 

The Swiss eventually found the breakthrough in the 67th minute. Ricardo Rodríguez delivered a precise cross into the penalty area, where Dan Ndoye scored a header, levelling the score at 1-1. 

Switzerland’s hopes suffered a major setback just five minutes later when Breel Embolo was shown a straight red card in the 72nd minute, forcing them to play the remainder of the contest with 10 men. Despite their numerical disadvantage, Switzerland defended resolutely to take the match into extra time. 

Argentina finally found the decisive breakthrough in the 112th minute. José López picked out Julián Álvarez on the edge of the area, and the forward produced a sublime curling finesse effort that flew into the top-right corner, restoring Argentina’s lead at 2-1. 

With Switzerland committing bodies forward in search of another equaliser, Argentina sealed the victory in the final minute of extra time. Lautaro Martínez found the back of the net in the 120th minute to make it 3-1, putting the result beyond doubt and confirming Argentina’s place in the FIFA World Cup semi-finals. 

Mac Allister’s first goal of the FIFA World Cup 2026, followed by late strikes from Álvarez and Martínez, proved decisive as Argentina once again demonstrated their resilience to keep their title defence alive. 

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