Sunday’s World Cup qualifying playoff between Switzerland and Northern Ireland was an ugly match on a muddy pitch, with neither team able to find the back of the net. That suited the Swiss just fine after their 1-0 win on Thursday in Belfast, and a 0-0 draw was enough to see Switzerland punch their ticket to Russia 2018.
Switzerland qualifies for 2018 World Cup
Ricardo Rodriguez made a heroic clearance to save the day at the end of a game played in a mud pit.
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Before the match, there was a question about whether or not it should be played at all. Heavy rains in Basel left the pitch waterlogged, and it took a ton of work to get it into a semi-playable state.
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
But the referee was able to roll a ball without it stopping in standing water just before kickoff, so he ruled that the game should go on. Players were covered in mud in less than five minutes and couldn’t do much of anything with the ball on the ground.
Northern Ireland had very few chances to score, with both of their decent ones coming at either end of the match. Chris Brunt forced Yann Sommer into an excellent save with a powerful long-range strike in the 3rd minute, and Jonny Evans had his team’s best chance in stoppage time. He nearly forced extra time with a header, but Ricardo Rodriguez came up with a heroic clearance to seal Switzerland’s place in the World Cup.
This is Switzerland’s fourth consecutive World Cup, and they’ve made the knockout stage in two of the last three. They also made the knockout stage of Euro 2016.
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