The Swiss team took a big step towards their direct qualification for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. The "Crusaders" beat Sweden 4:1 and continued to lead by three points ahead of the second Kosovo round before the end.
The Kosovars also did their job and defeated Slovenia 2:0, thus guaranteeing at least second place.
Sweden, for their part, remained at the bottom with only one draw and four losses, which only confirmed the inevitable and the Scandinavians lost even their theoretical chances of qualifying for second place in Group "B" of the "UEFA" zone qualifiers.
The first half was equal and before the break the rivals exchanged one goal each. For the hosts from Switzerland, the score was opened by Briel Embolo in the 12th minute, and in the 33rd Benjamin Nygren restored parity.
A quarter of an hour after the break, the Swiss equalized and put their opponent in a very difficult situation. To a large extent, the Scandinavians themselves were to blame for this situation, after they took a penalty, which was converted by Granit Xhaka in the 60th minute. In the 75th minute, Dan Ndoy became jealous of his yellow card from the end of the first half and scored a third goal in favor of the hosts, which finally decided the outcome of the match. However, the players from Western Europe did not spare their opponent and continued the penalty shootout with another goal, which fell in the 94th minute and was converted by midfielder Johan Manzambi.
To a large extent, this result was also decisive for the battle at the top. With one round to go, Switzerland has three points more than Kosovo, with the two teams set to meet on the Balkan Peninsula early next week on Tuesday, November 18th at 9:45 p.m. Bulgarian time. The "Crusaders", however, have a crushing advantage in terms of goal difference, and even if they lose and their opponents equalize their points total, the Kosovars must win by so many goals that it borders on a miracle.