Argentina v Switzerland World Cup 2026: How to Watch in UK and USA, Kickoff Time, Livestream, Lineups, Referee

Argentina have made it through to this point with a 100% win record, but that has not been without its scares along the way. The group stage was a relative breeze for the reigning World Cup champions, scoring 8 goals and only conceding one across the three group games. However, they were taken to extra time against 67th-ranked Cape Verde in the Round of 32. 

Argentina took the lead twice in this game before being pegged back twice by the underdogs, but then up stepped Lionel Messi, putting a ball into the box, and, unfortunately for Cape Verde, it went off one of their defenders and into the back of the net, sending Argentina through.

Then, in the round of 16, trailing 2-0 to Egypt going into the last 10 minutes, it looked for all the world that Argentina were going home and that Egypt were going to pull off one of the biggest upsets in modern footballing history, but again Argentina found a way. Goals from Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi brought Argentina back level, then in the 92nd minute Enzo Fernandez found himself free in the box and scored, sending them through into the next round.

As for Switzerland and Gregor Kobel, they had their fair share of tough games to reach this quarter-final stage. Drawing their opening game of the group stages against Qatar started them off on the back foot in Group B, but they would soon put any fears of an early exit to rest with wins over Bosnia and Canada and end up topping their group. Then came Algeria in the round of 32, which proved to be a relatively straightforward task for the Swiss, securing a 2-0 win. 

However, their round of 16 fixture was far from straightforward as they took on South American side Colombia. It was a tight and cagey affair with Borussia Dortmund’s Gregor Kobel making some key saves in order to keep the game level. Following 120 minutes, the game was still scoreless, so penalties it was, and up stepped Gregor Kobel. Dortmund’s number one would go on to make a crucial save in the shootout, allowing Switzerland to go on and win the penalty shootout 4-3, sending them through to the quarter-finals, with Gregor Kobel getting Man of the Match.

So both teams have had their scares during their run to this point in the competition, but both have shown resilience, and the same resilience will be needed in this game, especially for Gregor Kobel’s Switzerland, who not only go into this game as the underdogs but are also likely to be faced with a crowd largely against them in Kansas City.

The current holders of the World Cup go into this game with no high-profile issues or injuries; therefore, I would expect a very similar team to the one that battled their way past Egypt in the previous round

Predicted Lineup: E. Martínez (GK), Tagliafico, L.Martínez, Romero, Molina, Paredes, De Paul, Mac Allister, Fernández, Álvarez, Messi

As for Switzerland, they go into this fixture with a few selection headaches for their manager Murat Yakin to solve. Johan Manzambi is currently nursing a knee injury, missed their round of 16 win and is out of this game along with midfielder Michel Aebischer and defender Luca Jaquez. So again, Switzerland’s starting XI is likely to be one very similar to the one that beat Colombia on penalties, with Borussia Dortmund’s Gregor Kobel one of the first names on the teamsheet.

Predicted Lineup: Kobel(GK), Rodriguez, Akanji, Elvedi, Zakaria, Xhaka, Jashari, Freuler, Rieder, Ndoye, Embolo

READ MORE: Norway v England World Cup 2026: How to Watch in the UK and USA, Kickoff Time, Livestream, Lineups, Referee

The man in the middle for this game will be Portuguese Referee Joao Pinheiro

In the UK, you can watch this match live for free at 2 am on Sunday on ITV1 and ITVX

In the US, this match will take place at 9 pm in Kansas City on Saturday night, and you can watch live on Fox

READ MORE: Barcelona Have Improved Karim Adeyemi Bid Accepted By Borussia Dortmund