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Argentina enters as the favorite to advance past Switzerland and keep its World Cup title defense on track in the semifinals, but center backs Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martínez acknowledge that a third straight shaky defensive outing could spell the end for La Albiceleste on Saturday night.
After conceding just once throughout a flawless group stage, the knockout rounds have begun to expose Argentina's defensive vulnerabilities. Cabo Verde and Egypt combined for four goals against the defending champions across the last two matches, forcing Argentina to mount dramatic comebacks to keep its title bid alive.
With the quality of opposition increasing, Argentina must recapture its defensive stability, or Switzerland could pull off an upset in their quarterfinal encounter.
"We're performing well, though there are definitely areas we need to address," Romero said on the eve of the match. "We've let in four goals in our recent outings. Conceding bothers us. Beyond that, we are always available for the team, ready to give everything for the squad and follow the coach's instructions."
Romero's words echoed those of fellow center back Martínez after the 3–2 victory over Egypt. "We don't enjoy conceding goals, and we certainly need to be a bit more switched on," Martínez said. "I believe that with greater concentration, we can prevent those goals.
"It's part of the game, it's better that it happens now, so that we're more focused, with our feet on the ground, and we can cut out those scoring chances."
Argentina Using 'Favoritism' Allegations as Motivation
In truth, Argentina conceded three goals against Egypt, but one was controversially ruled out—sparking enormous outrage from Egypt's manager and federation. Argentina's narrow survival, aided by a refereeing call, only fueled the already widespread narrative—or conspiracy, some would say—that FIFA is going out of its way to favor La Albiceleste and Lionel Messi.
Manager Lionel Scaloni offered his perspective on the controversy ahead of the Switzerland clash.
"Since 1986 people have said we are favored," Scaloni said. "It's nothing new. For as long as I can remember, because Argentina is always among the tournament's top contenders. In a way, we use it to show the players that there are people who don't want Argentina to win.
"It's normal, as it can happen with any other team. The thing is there are probably far more people who don't want us to win, perhaps because we won the last one. Yes, the players are aware of this and we use it as a kind of fuel—they channel it to play even better.
"Nowadays with VAR, it's very difficult [for referees] to help any team. There's no room for double interpretation with VAR; they made it very clear in the briefing given to us before the World Cup began." Scaloni went on to provide a detailed explanation of why Egypt's goal was correctly disallowed.
"Then of course, on social media everything gets amplified and the debate takes off from there," Scaloni added. "But there's no favoritism—on the contrary, it's extremely difficult nowadays to favor any team, very difficult."
Argentina Aware That Switzerland Represents Big Threat
Beyond the controversy, Argentina has been pushed to its limits by two opponents it was widely expected to handle comfortably. Switzerland may not be a global powerhouse, but it is by far the most formidable challenge La Albiceleste has encountered this summer.
"No opponent is the same or easy," Scaloni said. "To me, Switzerland is a tremendous team. They compete with the best national sides and always press forward. They have World Cup pedigree and experienced players, and physically they are extremely strong. It will be a tough opponent and we respect them like any other. There's a reason they've made it this far and knocked out Colombia."
Likewise, Romero praised Switzerland's quality and acknowledged that Argentina will need to produce its finest performance to book a semifinal spot.
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"Every match has been challenging for us and tomorrow will be no different," Romero admitted ahead of the game. "Switzerland made life very hard for Colombia. In my opinion, Switzerland controlled that entire match. It's going to be a great game. They have excellent players, and we are ready."
Argentina has historically dominated its head-to-head record against Switzerland and will be hoping that trend continues in the quarterfinal in Kansas City. The winner will advance to face the victor of England vs. Norway in the semifinals.