Roundup: Switzerland stuns Serbia with 90th-minute goal

Switzerland scored a pair of goals in the second half, including the winner in the 90th minute, to stun Serbia 2-1 and move into a tie atop the World Cup Group E standings Friday at Kaliningrad, Russia.

Serbia, a 1-0 winner against Costa Rica in its opener, could have booked a spot into the knockout round with a win Friday, and quickly looked like it would do just that. Aleksandar Mitrovic scored to give the Serbs the lead in just the fifth minute. And for nearly 50 minutes, that tally looked like it would be enough.

But the Swiss ramped up the pressure after intermission and seven minutes into the half, evened it up on a Granit Xhaka goal. Then in the final minute before stoppage time, a streaking Xherdan Shaqiri — who nearly scored the go-ahead goal minutes earlier on what would have been a brilliant no-look strike — beat Dusko Tosic to the ball, then beat goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic for the winner.

Switzerland now sits tied atop the group with Brazil, each with four points at 1-1-0. The two sides tied in their opener, 1-1. The Swiss will conclude group play against last-place Costa Rica, needing only a point to advance. Serbia will need at least one point against Brazil to have a shot at advancing.

Brazil 2, Costa Rica 0

Philippe Coutinho scored in the first minute of stoppage time as Brazil defeated Costa Rica in Saint Petersburg.

Neymar added an insurance goal in the closing minute of the Group E match.

Brazil dominated possession, limiting Costa Rica to four shots while firing off 23 of its own, but struggled to find the net.

Just one point against Serbia in the final group play match will be enough to advance the Brazilians into the knockout round.

Nigeria 2, Iceland 0

Ahmed Musa scored twice in the second half, Iceland failed to convert a penalty kick in the final 10 minutes and Argentina’s chances at the knockout round now have a little more life.

Musa opened the scoring at Volgograd in the 49th minute then added another in the 75th as Nigeria picked up its first three points of this World Cup. The loss kept Iceland at one point (thanks to its tie against Argentina in the opener) and kept Argentina well in the mix for the second knockout-round berth out of Group D.

A win over Nigeria next Tuesday would at worst put Argentina in a tie for second, and if Iceland fails to beat group winner Croatia on Tuesday, Argentina would advance with a win.

The missed penalty kick by Gylfi Sigurdsson could haunt Iceland should it tie for the second spot in the group and goal differential comes into play.

–Field Level Media