ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Sweden beat Switzerland, 1-0, on the strength of an Emil Forsberg goal in the 66th minute. Sweden advances to a World Cup quarterfinal for the first time since 1994.
Switzerland was the more attacking side for most of the game, dominating possession. But Sweden’s well-placed defense seemed always to be on hand to block a shot or clear a ball.
It was Sweden that finally broke through in the 66th minute. After some passes around the outskirts of the box, Forsberg cranked a shot from the half moon. It took a little deflection off defender Manuel Akanji, enough to wrong-foot keeper Yann Sommer.
Switzerland pressed for an equalizer, with Xherdan Shaqiri particularly active down the right wing. But it struggled to turn its vast 64-36 percent possession advantage into good opportunities. Switzerland wound up with 18 shots, but only four were on target. Five missed the net, and a whopping nine were blocked by the Swedish defense.
In the dying minutes, Sweden was awarded a penalty that was overturned on video replay, as it was ruled to be outside the box. Michael Lang did get a red card for the shove. But it mattered little, as time had run out on Switzerland.
