Qatar didn’t read the script on Saturday, scoring a last-gasp equaliser to spoil the clean sheets of a Switzerland side well-backed by Fantasy managers.
In doing so, the 2022 hosts secured their first-ever World Cup point.
The late leveller also left all four teams in Group B with the following record:
- Played: 1
- Drawn: 1
- Points: 1
- Goals for: 1
- Goals against: 1
Here are our Scout Notes from the game, featuring match stats from our World Cup Toolkit page.
QATAR 1-1 SWITZERLAND
- Goals: Muheim own-goal | Embolo (pen)
- Assists: El Amin
- Penalty won: Freuler
- Shot on target bonus: Edmilson | Ndoye
- Tackle bonus: Zakaria
- Top points scorers: Embolo (9), Rodriguez (9), El Amin (7), Freuler (7)
TEAM STATS
PLAYER STATS
SCOUT NOTES
- A strange match in many ways, with Switzerland utterly dominant on the surface (68% possession, 26-7 up on shots, 3.41-0.76 ahead on xG) but not particularly impressing or playing with much urgency. The sweltering conditions in New Jersey may have been a factor, of course. Qatar, jubilant after their late leveller, were rivalling South Africa as the worst team we’ve seen at the finals so far up until their stoppage-time goal.
- One of the big Fantasy talking points from the game was Breel Embolo ($7.5m) stepping up from the spot to take Switzerland’s penalty. Both the forward and Granit Xhaka ($6.2m) had taken spot-kicks in May’s friendly against Jordan, each with the other on the pitch. Xhaka, however, had taken the previous two penalties, despite Embolo being present. This was a boon for Embolo owners, then, and resulted in him bagging a nine-pointer, thanks to the addition of Scouting Bonus.
- Many Swiss players racked up eye-catching numbers. Embolo himself had three other shots and created five chances, while Dan Ndoye‘s ($6.8m) total of six shots is a tally that only one player has beaten at the 2026 World Cup so far. Ndoye in particular missed some great chances, while opposite winger Ruben Vargas ($6.8m) and midfielder Michel Aebischer ($5.9m) spurned gilt-edged opportunities. Encouraging underlying numbers, then, but this was Switzerland’s easiest-on-paper fixture, so will we see those types of figures again in the remaining two rounds? Bosnia-Herzegovina did concede a fair few openings to Canada, at least.
- Owners of Maxime Crepeau ($4.0m) and co won’t have been too daunted by Qatar’s display, even though they ruined the clean sheets of Nico Elvedi ($4.3m) et al. They only had three notable attempts, all neatly spread out: Edmilson’s ($4.9m) one-on-one chance in the first minute, the same player’s saved close-range shot as half-time neared, and substitute Miro Muheim‘s ($4.0m) unfortunate injury-time own-goal. Canada’s attackers will have been encouraged by Qatar conceding the highest xG of the tournament so far.
- In terms of team selection, the one notable omission was that of Switzerland right-back Silvan Widmer ($4.2m). Denis Zakaria ($6.1m) instead took up that role, getting forward plenty and nearly scoring himself.
- Ricardo Rodriguez ($4.5m) was the sole success story from the Swiss backline – he was taken off minutes before Qatar equalised. Not only banking a clean sheet, he was eligible for Scouting Bonus, too.
- One last word on the controversy surrounding Switzerland’s penalty award, with many watchers crying foul over FIFA’s inability/unwillingness to show the VAR check on a possible offside. FIFA did pipe up eventually, producing this graphic:
During the Qatar vs. Switzerland match in the San Francisco Bay Area, a brief technical outage prevented the onside animation graphic from being generated ahead of the penalty awarded to Switzerland in the 14th minute. The issue was quickly resolved.
The workflow of the VAR was… pic.twitter.com/ONpWxXDPE6
— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) June 13, 2026
