On a turbulent night at Stadium 974, Switzerland playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri once again proved to be Serbia’s arch-enemy by aiding in the elimination of Dragan Stojkovic’s team from the World Cup.
At the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Shaqiri scored a last-second goal to defeat Serbia, and he celebrated by forming the shape of an eagle with his hands to show his support for Kosovo, his native nation and a former Serbian province that gained independence in 2008. Serbia does not recognize that independence.
What happened in the game?
The Chicago Fire player received constant jeers and boos, and at least one Serbia fan was kicked out for chanting anti-Kosovo slogans.
Shaqiri scored the game’s first goal as Switzerland, who entered the match knowing a draw would probably be sufficient, advanced from Group G with a thrilling 3-2 victory, joining Brazil despite their unexpected 1-0 loss to Cameroon.
Granit Xhaka‘s partially blocked shot that fell beautifully for Breel Embolo in the opening seconds of the game almost gave Switzerland the lead, but Serbian goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic made a good stop before parrying Xhaka’s follow-up.
Serbia’s Andrija Zivkovic responded by hitting the post from 20 yards out, but Murat Yakin’s team had earned the lead by that point.
Ricardo Rodriguez’s left-wing cross was recovered by Djibril Sow, who pushed it into the path of Xherdan Shaqiri. Shaqiri scored after a deflection off Strahinja Pavlovic and ran off to celebrate by putting his finger to his lips in front of the crowd.
Six minutes later, Aleksandar Mitrovic brilliantly guided Dusan Tadic’s left-wing cross past Gregor Kobel to give Serbia an excellent response.
Following a clear-cut chance for Shaqiri to score, Tadic once again showed his talent by finding Vlahovic, who turned deftly and beat Kobel despite Remo Freuler almost stripping the Juventus striker of the ball.
Embolo converted Silvan Widmer’s cross at the far post to make it the first time both teams had scored at least twice in a World Cup game before halftime since England v. Argentina in 1998. It was Switzerland’s turn to dig deep, and they did so admirably.
Within the first three minutes of the second half, Switzerland finished the turnaround. Shaqiri chipped the ball into the path of Ruben Vargas, who expertly flicked it for Freuler to finish.
As Serbia realized their time in Qatar was coming to an end, tempers flared. Predrag Rajkovic, the substitute goalkeeper, received a booking for encroaching onto the field to confront the referee. Meanwhile, a public address announcement urged Serbian supporters to stop using racial chants and gestures.
Deep into stoppage time, a final altercation between Nikola Milenkovic and Granit Xhaka and several players looking to get involved occurred. Both Milenkovic and Xhaka, a second man with Albanian ancestry connected to Kosovo, were booked.
