Switzerland Takes Down Bosnia in the Second Half

By Daniel Feuerstein | Inglewood, CA | June 18th, 2026

Group B’s second match day sees the two teams facing each other, coming from Europe, as Switzerland takes on Bosnia & Herzegovina. All four sides have a goal each, and a draw each, and are looking for some daylight to break free and earn the full three points for the chance to get to the top of the Group. While it looked like another draw was on the cards for these two teams, the Swiss started the goal avalanche late in the second half and took the full three points with the final score of four goals to one.

The breakthrough came from close range

Swiss keeper Gregor Kobel took the ball and distributed it down the pitch to his teammates on the near side. Ruben Vargas got hold of the ball and made an attacking run towards the Bosnian area. He tried to make a cross, but was blocked, somehow got the ball back, and made another run toward the endline and made a second attempt at a cross. The ball was headed away from a Bosnian defender, but what he didn’t see was that Johan Manzambi was inside the 18-yard box, whipped his right leg in the air, and hit a beautiful shot for the opening goal in the 74th minute

Vargas scores instead of providing

Switzerland, with a lot of confidence, was moving the ball around very well. They played it down the far side of the pitch, and as they got closer to the Bosnian area, they continued that confidence, passing the ball around from the far side to the middle of the park, until Breel Embolo made the final pass to Vargas along the near side. He quickly took the shot one-time and went for the far post and scored it just inside for the two-goal lead in the 84th minute.

A second for Manzambi

Once again, Switzerland was attacking down the near side. They felt beating Bosnia down the near side was very successful, and they were proven right once again. Another solid pass to Vargas just outside the area allowed him to get to the ball, and he made the move to his right, and he saw Manzambi once again to take advantage inside the 18-yard box. Another quick strike from Manzambi, and he scored his second of the match in the 90th minute for the three-goal lead.

A penalty to end the match

With six minutes of second half stoppage time added, Switzerland was looking to end this match on a flourish. They continued to attack the Bosnian area and held possession on the back end until a nasty challenge from Amar Memic brought down Djibril Sow, and the referee quickly blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot. It was the Swiss veteran Granit Xhaka who took the spot kick and buried it inside the far post in the seventh minute of second half stoppage time.

Bosnia lost a man, but scored a goal

Give credit to Bosnia and Herzegovina for battling the Swiss, but once they got scored on, it was all over. After the first goal was conceded, the Swiss were attacking with the ball. Tarik Muharemovic tackled his man down from behind just outside the area. While it wasn’t a penalty, it was a straight red card to send him off and put his side down to ten men. Inside second half stoppage time, Ermin Mahmic scored an excellent goal, attempting to keep them alive for that third-place position to get into the round of 32.

Switzerland takes down Bosnia late in the match to grab the first win of Group B.

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