Xherdan Shaqiri of Switzerland joined the elite group of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as he grew to become solely the third footballer to attain in every of the final three World Cups.
The 31-year-old Shaqiri opened the scoring for the Swiss facet in a 3-2 win over Serbia to seal their place within the spherical of 16.
Shaqiri put Switzerland forward within the twentieth minute when his low shot deflected off Strahinja Pavlovic.
Born in Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, Shaqiri went straight to the opposing followers to have a good time – placing a finger to his lips after being first taunted by that part of the group.
Shaqiri scored the opening aim after which performed a key function within the victory. He slotted a via ball into the penalty field for Rubén Vargas, who back-heeled Freiler for the aim.
Despite these objectives, Shaqiri was not joyful about being substituted within the 69th minute. Before taking his seat on the bench, he struck the facet of the dugout along with his elbow.
The international locations met within the group stage on the final World Cup in 2018, which resulted in a Swiss victory, however Shaqiri and Xhaka had been fined for celebrating with hand gestures representing Albania’s nationwide eagle image.
Xhaka and Shaqiri have Albanian heritage linked to Kosovo.
Serbia was additionally fined and warned by FIFA relating to the “display of discriminatory banners and messages” by supporters.
During Friday’s match an announcement was made at Stadium 974 that seemed to be in relation to the chanting of Serbian followers. FIFA wouldn’t say what was introduced after the match.
Up towards Portugal, the Swiss are searching for to achieve the quarter-finals for the primary time since internet hosting the competitors in 1954.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
