Julián Álvarez’s extra-time stunner sinks 10-man Switzerland to send Argentina into semi-finals

Did anyone think they would do it the easy way? If Argentina are to win this World Cup they will only get there via rollercoaster. A seemingly straightforward night’s work against Switzerland became their tournament in microcosm, threatening to squander it all before finding salvation through a moment of unfettered genius.

Just this once it did not come from the left boot of Lionel Messi. In fact, with his side labouring towards penalties midway through the second period of extra time, Messi had just been denied by Gregor Kobel when the decisive thunderbolt was unleashed. Switzerland were unable to clear their lines and the recently introduced José López, taking possession on the left, passed backwards to a hitherto anonymous Julián Álvarez.

What followed was, for its majesty and sheer timing, surely the summer’s best goal. Álvarez was 22 yards out, halfway between the “D” and the corner of the penalty area, when he whipped a vicious, swerving finish around a grasping Kobel and plum into the top corner. It was a stunning intervention even before considering its ramifications. Argentina will play England in the semi-finals on Wednesday; 40 years since the Hand of God sent shockwaves that have never quite abated, Messi will finally contest a fixture all the more enthralling for its rarity.

Perhaps Álvarez had been replaying the goal by Cape Verde’s Sidny Lopes Cabral, which ran Argentina close to an ignominious last-32 elimination, in his sleep. There were certainly similarities between the two but Álvarez, further out and seizing the moment when Argentina were toiling, shades any contest. It constituted a fitting tribute, too, on the day their legendary ex-captain Antonio Rattin died aged 89. Lautaro Martínez banished any doubts just before the end, converting a rebound after Thiago Almada’s effort on the break was saved. Messi’s attacking companions, neither of whom had shone in the previous month, had found the answers.

Switzerland’s devastation was clear. This match had ground to walking pace after Alexis Mac Allister’s early header beat Kobel but, midway through the second half, it appeared their circumspect approach had paid off. Dan Ndoye’s equaliser had been coming, a reward for slipping through the gears against dozy opponents, and they looked perfectly ready to upset the narrative. Argentina, who have struggled to regain control of games once relinquished, were visibly scrambling.

Then Breel Embolo was overcome by a moment of idiocy that he will surely regret for ever. He had been booked in the first half for a crude foul on Leandro Paredes, one of the few moments that raised the temperature after Mac Allister had scored. When Embolo went down near the left touchline under a challenge from the same opponent, who was shown a yellow card of his own, the referee João Pinheiro had presumably seen an open and shut case of revenge.

Switzerland players plead their case with referee Joao Pinheiro after attacker Breel Embolo was shown a second yellow card against Argentina. Photograph: Ed Zurga/AP

It turned out VAR thought differently. Slow motion pictures showed Embolo had bought the foul, his leg inviting the tangle with Paredes, and the decision was reversed under the recently introduced “mistaken identity” rule. Paredes’s caution was scrubbed; Embolo received another of his own for simulation and, once the complaints had died down, departed the scene in floods of tears. Embolo and Switzerland must have sensed they had squandered an opportunity that may never come again.

Nonetheless it was a stout rearguard action from Murat Yakin’s side, who took 50 minutes to break down when added time is accounted for. They were under a siege of varying intensity from that moment. It seemed fair to assume Messi, whose 10th-minute corner had been looped in at the near post by the diminutive and unmarked Mac Allister, would step up his largely peripheral involvement. But he was thwarted by Kobel from close in, the effort probably valid despite an offside flag, and curled wide with his right foot as the minutes ticked down. When the Switzerland keeper saved brilliantly from Lautaro Martínez it consigned Argentina to an additional half hour of their own making.

They had cruised since going ahead, the remainder of the first half a non-event save for a smother by Emiliano Martínez at a raiding Embolo’s feet. When Switzerland increased the tempo upon re-emerging they could not cope, Martínez saving from Ndoye and Granit Xhaka in a period of intense pressure. The ever-dangerous Ndoye later swapped passes with Ricardo Rodriguez and finished coolly. Now Argentina were demanded to speed things up themselves but the lottery of spot kicks grew ever more likely, a number of rash challenges and hasty decisions pockmarking their work in extra time.

Lionel Scaloni’s players looked tired, frustrated and petulant. Almada shot into the side netting, many of an overwhelmingly biased crowd thinking it had gone in, and Messi directed a free-kick limply into the wall when another of those appointments with destiny seemed nailed on. Instead it was Álvarez who wrote his own name in the history books. Argentina may need to be much better than this against England; then again, when they reliably turn up such bravura moments of high drama and emotion, perhaps pure inspiration will be enough.