‘It didn’t feel like home’: Switzerland prevails amid hostile Colombia-friendly crowd

VANCOUVER — Manuel Akanji knew the crowd inside BC Place would be anything but welcoming.

The Swiss defender and his teammates had seen and heard the fans who’d travelled thousands of kilometres to Vancouver to watch their nation face Colombia in the FIFA World Cup round of 16.

Switzerland also knew the Colombian fans would be more numerous — and animated.

“When you look at the stadium, it didn’t feel like home,” Akanji said of BC Place, the stadium where the Swiss played their third straight game on Tuesday. “Already at the anthem there was the whole stadium chanting in Spanish the Colombia national anthem.”

There were scores of boisterous, yellow-clad fans in the announced crowd of 52,479 who started out with wild cheers for the Colombians, and booing every time the Swiss touched the ball. The same fans ended the game comforting one another in defeat.

Switzerland topped the South American nation 4-3 on penalties after neither side found the back of the net over 120 minutes of play.

“We played here before, we know how the pitch is. It might have helped us a little bit,” Akanji said. “But, in the end, it’s another game wherever we play and we have to try to do our best. And luckily we won today.”

The Swiss came into the tournament sitting No. 19 in FIFA’s latest official rankings while Colombia was No. 13.

Now the Europeans are headed to the tournament’s quarterfinals for the first time in 72 years.

“It’s just an incredible feeling, an incredible win for us to be here, to be in the quarterfinals at the World Cup on this stage. As small a country as we are, it’s amazing,” said Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.

The victory marked the latest upset in a World Cup rife with surprising results.

Top nations — including South Korea — missed the knockout round, while other favourites fell in the knockout stage.

No. 41 Paraguay edged No. 10 Germany on penalties in the round of 32, while No. 31 Norway downed No. 6 Brazil 2-1 in the round of 16.

Switzerland knew the standings — and the crowd’s preference — heading into the game, said striker Dan Ndoye, but they didn’t care.

“I think since the beginning we had confidence in us,” he said. “And the tough thing is to demonstrate it on the pitch. At one point we needed to just defend well and maybe (get to) the penalties. And I think we did what we needed to do to go until the penalty and stay calm to be the winner at the end.”

The Swiss got an added dose of adversity when standout Johan Manzambi was ruled out of Tuesday’s contest.

What, exactly, injury he’s dealing with is unclear, said head coach Murat Yakin, and the team doesn’t know if he’ll be available for Saturday’s quarterfinal matchup against Argentina in Kansas City.

The Swiss will head into the game as underdogs once again.

Argentina is the reigning World Cup champions and the top team in FIFA’s rankings coming into the tournament.

“This is a very unique opportunity for us,” Yakin said. “However, one was able to see that Argentina is not indomitable. I think that we’ve worked very hard and now we have this opportunity. This is going to be a very interesting match.”

Argentina has wobbled in the competition, but came from behind and beat Egypt 3-2 to advance.

Yakin said his team will be ready for the challenge.

“We have made history but we will continue this journey,” he said. “Now we have the opportunity to encounter another strong opponent. Argentina awaits.

“This was a dream and we have the qualities on the pitch. And I think one was able to witness that today … I think we can achieve many great things with this team.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2026.