Borussia Dortmund star Gregor Kobel and his Switzerland team gear up for a tough test against Lionel Messi-led Argentina at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The sides are set to face-off in a promising quarter-final tie at the Kansas City Stadium on Saturday in what will be the last game of the round.
Kobel faces Messi
Our boy Kobel will come up against the most in-form player at the World Cup right now, and it's none other than Lionel Messi. The former Barcelona ace has bagged eight goals in the tournament so far, level with France's Kylian Mbappe on the top of the goalscoring charts.
No goalkeeper has managed to keep him out yet, with Messi netting in every single game for Argentina so far. Kobel can expect himself to have a busy outing here against him, his goalkeeping nous likely to be put through the litmus test.
After conceding in all three of their group matches, the Borussia Dortmund shotstopper has kept two clean sheets in two knockout matches against Ghana and Colombia. In that second one, he also saved one penalty in the shootout which proved vital to Switzerland's fortunes and won him the Man of the Match award for a heroic display across 120 minutes too.
But Lionel Messi is unlike anyone else. The 39-year-old is breathing fire at the moment but has indeed missed two penalties, both of which were saved: Austria's Alexander Schlager and Egypt's Mostafa Shobeir guessed the right way to deny him, making the former Barcelona ace the first player in World Cup history to miss multiple penalties in a single edition.
A clean sheet against him and his swashbuckling team of world champions would be a real coup.
Switzerland have never beaten Argentina
As much as Gregor Kobel and co. would aim to cause a major upset, history is not on their side. Switzerland have never beaten Argentina before in any of their previous seven clashes, losing five and drawing twice.
It includes two games at the FIFA World Cup too, in 1966 when the Albiceleste pulled off a 2-0 victory in the group stages before a narrow 1-0 extra-time win in the Round of 16 of the 2014 edition.
As for Lionel Messi, the Argentina skipper scored a sensational hat-trick against La Nati in a friendly game back in February 2012.
Argentina vs Switzerland kicks off at the Kansas City Stadium in Kansas City at 1AM GMT and 3AM CET.
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