- The Swiss U20 national team lost to hosts Sweden 2-3 after extra time and was eliminated from the World Cup in the quarter-finals.
- Switzerland made up for a 2-0 deficit in front of 11,521 fans and tasted the sensation.
- In the 6th minute of overtime, Axel Sandin Pellikka gave Sweden the advantage to win.
The Swiss U20 national team started the World Cup quarter-finals against Sweden as blatant outsiders. While Switzerland made it into the knockout phase with a mandatory win over Norway in fourth place and a goal difference of 11:20, the hosts secured first place in the other group.
Switzerland shows a strong reaction to being behind
The little miracle from a Swiss perspective almost happened. After a 0-2 deficit, coach Marcel Jenni’s team fought back impressively. Jan Hornecker scored the goal in the 38th minute. In the 50th minute it was Nick Meile who equalized with a remarkable wrist shot into the corner.
From this point onwards at the latest, victory was a possibility for Switzerland, who were now playing on equal terms. Since there were no more goals in regular time, the game went into a maximum of 10 minutes of extra time with 3 against 3 field players.
Devastating penalty in overtime
Both the Swedes and the Swiss initially had the winning goal there. In the 65th minute, Rodwin Dionicio earned a two-minute penalty – it was supposed to pave the way for Sweden to win. 54 seconds later, Axel Sandin Pellikka scored the hosts’ much-celebrated victory.
Early backlog
The game had started very badly for Switzerland. After just 94 seconds it was 0:1, two minutes before the end of the middle third the Jenni team was 0:2 behind. What was a small thing almost had to become a big miracle. And with a little more luck in competition, this would have come true.
While Sweden can now continue to dream of a home triumph and their first World Cup title since 2012, Switzerland has been waiting for a place in a World Cup semi-final since 2019.