After Switzerland surprisingly was able to gain one point against Brazil they were also capable of beating Serbia in their second game. Against Costa Rica, they wanted to advance to the next round. Due to the loss of Serbia against Brazil, the draw against Costa Rica was enough for Switzerland. In the next round, the team of Vladimir Petkovic will take on Sweden in the Round of 16 at this FIFA World Cup. However, Switzerland struggled in the game against the compact defensive organisation of Costa Rica and their quick counter-attacks. They dominated the game but especially in the first half Costa Rica was the team with more chances. Due to a fantastic performance by Yann Sommer in the first place, Switzerland could hold their unbeaten streak at this FIFA World Cup.
The line-ups
Vladimir Petkovic selected the classic 4-2-3-1 against the 5-4-1 of Costa Rica.
As I mentioned above Yann Sommer was crucial in goal for Switzerland. The centre-backs Akanji and Schär who are both capable of playing line-breaking passes constantly played well and were able to find the offensive players Shaqiri, Dzemaili and Embolo between the lines. Besides the centre-backs, Granit Xhaka was the fixpoint during the build-up of Switzerland. The central midfielder from Arsenal controlled the game and tried to find a way through Costa Rica´s narrow shape. However, he had a hard time dealing with all sorts of pressure from Costa Rica.
Costa Rica´s main focus while defending higher up the pitch was to close down Xhaka and give him no opportunity to face the game with the ball at his feet. Therefore, Guzman usually moved a bit higher or Campbell closed the passing line to Xhaka.
![Arsenal Vs Crystal Palace [1–1] (8 vs 7 P) – EFL Cup 2025/2026: Failure Of Attacking Transitions – Tactical Analysis](https://totalfootballanalysis.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Arsenal-Vs-Crystal-Palace-tactical-analysis--350x250.png "Arsenal Vs Crystal Palace [1–1 (8-7)] – EFL Cup Quarter-Final 2025/2026 – Tactical Analysis 6")
