Switzerland vs Argentina: A Red Card No One Had Seen Before Decided the Game

Switzerland had clawed their way level. Down 1-0 since Alexis Mac Allister's early strike, Dan Ndoye equalized in the 67th minute, slipped through by Ricardo Rodriguez and finishing under Emiliano Martínez. For a few minutes, Switzerland believed they could beat the defending champions. NBC Sports

Then, in the 72nd minute, everything turned. Leandro Paredes appeared to catch Embolo's heel, and referee João Pedro Silva Pinheiro initially booked Paredes for the challenge. VAR intervened under football's new "mistaken identity" protocol, which allows officials to review whether the wrong player was carded for an offence. On review, the referee decided there had been no contact at all, that Embolo had simulated the foul, and reversed the card, booking Embolo instead. Because Embolo had already been booked in the first half, it was a second yellow, and Switzerland were down to ten men. It was the first time a player had been sent off this way at a World Cup. FOX Sports + 3

Switzerland defender Nico Elvedi didn't hide his frustration afterward: "I just don't understand how VAR can make that kind of decision," he told reporters after the match, per ESPN. Coach Murat Yakin went further, arguing there was no case for a card against Argentina in the first place and that the rule "destroyed" his team's game.

The numbers back up how much that moment mattered. Switzerland finished the match with an expected-goals figure of just 0.53, with only 0.03 of that coming in extra time, a team that had been competitive suddenly starved of any way to create chances. Playing a man light for nearly 50 minutes plus extra time against a squad with Messi, Álvarez, and Lautaro Martínez was never going to end well. Julián Álvarez broke the deadlock with a strike from distance in the 112th minute, and Martínez added a third before full time, sealing a 3-1 win. ESPNESPN

Switzerland didn't collapse. They organized, they defended, they made Argentina work for 120 minutes with ten men. But no amount of resilience erases a numbers disadvantage that long against that opponent. The red card wasn't the only reason Switzerland lost, but it's the reason the game stopped being a contest. Swiss fans are right to feel VAR took the result out of their team's hands.