The Swiss national team attacks the refereeing after being eliminated by Argentina in the World Cup.
The Swiss national team expressed strong anger over the refereeing decisions following their 3-1 loss to Argentina after extra time on Saturday in the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup, considering that the red card shown to striker Breel Embolo was the turning point that decided the match in favor of the defending champions.
The controversial incident occurred in the second half when the referee initially showed a yellow card to Argentine player Leandro Paredes for committing a foul against Embolo, before reversing his decision after reviewing the footage via the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology, and giving the Swiss striker a yellow card for simulation, which was his second in the match, leading to his expulsion.
Midfielder Fabian Rieder described the decision as "catastrophic," telling reporters after the match: "I don't know what this referee was doing here, and I don't understand why he was called to review such a situation."
Rieder added that the VAR intervention changed the course of the match, stating that the referee should have been allowed to make his decision on the field, saying: "I don't understand how a VAR can change a match in such a situation; the referee should simply be allowed to do his job."
For his part, Swiss coach Murat Yakin expressed his astonishment at the events, saying he found no justification for initially showing the yellow card to Paredes and then overturning the decision and expelling Embolo, adding: "I don't understand how this decision was made, and in the end, we found ourselves losing one of our players."
Yakin refused to hold Embolo responsible for the elimination, emphasizing that the player is in a state of frustration because he could not help his teammates until the end of the match, saying: "It's absurd to hold him responsible; he is completely shattered."
The Swiss coach pointed out that his Argentine counterpart Lionel Scaloni seemed relaxed after the expulsion, considering that this reflects the difficulty the Swiss team imposed on the defending champions.