Lionel Messi / Wikipedia

Lionel Messi did not score in the quarterfinals, but defending champion Argentina still roared past Switzerland in extra time to book its berth in the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup 2026.

Two goals in extra time helped Argentina register a 3-1 win. Argentina will now play England in the semifinals.

Incidentally, Argentina is the only non-European team to make the last four. And the win becomes all the more credible as it comes without a goal from Lionel Messi, the tournament's leading goal scorer and a strong contender for the Golden Boot with eight goals to his credit.

After Embolo got his second yellow card, meaning a red card, Switzerland was reduced to 10 players. Even minus Embolo, the Swiss fought tooth and nail. And when Embolo got his second yellow card for back-stepping his Argentine opponent, he virtually bowed his head with tears in his eyes.

The win was masterminded by Julian Alvarez, who scored a sensational goal that finally opened up another hard-fought contest, focused on a similar quality: knowing how to dig deep. "These are do-or-die matches, where everyone leaves everything out on the pitch," the Atletico Madrid forward said. "We know there's room for improvement, but the team keeps giving everything until the bitter end."

It was another taxing night for the defending champions, a side that has endured one agonizing challenge after another as they chase a successful title defense. The celebrations spilled into the dressing room, with cumbia beats and football chants sung by the players themselves.

The scenes followed a 3-1 extra-time victory over Switzerland, La Albiceleste's second knockout win over their opponents after also triumphing at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

"Today you could say we weren't at our best," Lionel Scaloni said during his post-match news conference after being questioned by an Argentine journalist. "I want to watch this match back. We need to go over it and analyze it. We came up against an opponent who really pushed us to our limits, a side that was physically very strong.

"It was tough out there, but we're always capable of finding that extra gear. And in the end, we got the job done. In Qatar, even when we were performing better than we did today, we still had to dig deep."

The post-match setting brought back memories of Italia 1990.

Back then, too, La Albiceleste came into the tournament as world champions and soon discovered that retaining their title would not be straightforward. Carlos Bilardo's side lost their opening game to Cameroon, scraped through the group stage and built their campaign on grit: They got the better of Brazil despite being outplayed, edged past Yugoslavia and Italy on penalties, and made it all the way to the final.

After struggling through their ties against Cabo Verde and Egypt, Argentina once again found themselves in an awkward contest. Switzerland bounced back after Alexis Mac Allister's early header and managed to tie the world champions in knots.

"We struggled to win the duels and even to string five or six passes together," admitted Scaloni. "We came up against an opponent who really pushed us to our limits, a side that was physically very strong. We always seem to find that extra gear, and in the end we got the job done."

"We've got that winning mentality," Tagliafico said. "We might not be firing on all cylinders at the moment, or playing the way we believe we're capable of, but we just keep plugging away and we keep achieving our objectives, which is to get through each round. Perhaps we're not where we should be right now, but hard work has a habit of paying off and we keep finding a way to get through."

Scaloni praised the work his coaching staff had put into set pieces, with former center back Walter Samuel the driving force behind it. "We're a side that opponents need to be wary of. Perhaps that wasn't the case before. We're in a good place in that regard," Scaloni said.

This Argentina team always seems to find a collective response when it gets bogged down, and Jose Manuel Lopez, who entered the fray with Argentina seeking a winner against 10-man Switzerland following Breel Embolo's red card, spoke of "that extra edge" that decides matches.

"We give it our all for our teammates and, when technique, tactics and physicality fall short, we seem to find that extra edge that runs through our veins," Lopez said. "We're a really tight-knit group."

La Albiceleste were celebrating again. "Argentina play like the champions they are," said Switzerland coach Murat Yakin. Meanwhile, thousands of Argentine supporters were singing in a city that had become a home away from home for the world champions. Behind closed doors, the players celebrated reaching another milestone in a moment Tagliafico will never forget.

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