Argentina national team forward Julián Álvarez said scoring his first 2026 World Cup goal felt like a release, recording the pivotal strike that earned La Albiceleste the lead to eliminate Switzerland 3-1 in the quarterfinal.
Alvarez broke the draw in the 112th minute of the match with a with a stunning long-range strike into the corner of the goal, marking his first goal of the 2026 World Cup.
“It was a huge release of emotion. I’m very happy; we kept pushing until the end, even though we had the man advantage. We knew the goal would come. We’re overjoyed,” Álvarez said after the game.
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“The important thing is that we won. As a forward, one always wants to help by scoring goals but we always have to defend, run and do it all together. While the team wins, we are all happy. In the World Cup, I feel I’ve gone from less to more. Let’s hope that in this final stretch, I am even better.”
Saturday’s game marked the second time Argentina has won a 2026 World Cup knockout match in extra time, beating Cape Verde first before eliminating Switzerland. Overall, Argentina becomes the team with the most extra time matches at the World Cup with 13, overtaking Germany at 12.
“We are seeing that all World Cup games are tough like this. It happens to us, it happens to our rival as well,” Álvarez said.
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“It’s a lot of extra time, it’s happening this way but we know we are fighting until the end. We are giving it our all, we are scoring in the end so as long as we win it’s all positive.”
Goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Lautaro Martínez also propelled Argentina to qualify for the next round. Switzerland, however, managed to break Lionel Messi‘s goal streak by holding the Albiceleste captain to one assist.
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Argentina will now face England in the 2026 World Cup semifinal in Atlanta, Georgia.
“We are very proud to be among the top four teams in the world. England, we know, has impressive players. They are a great team that’s been doing things well [this World Cup] but we need to recuperate and prepare our game,” Álvarez added.
