A sparse crowd of 6,000 people attended the “Countdown to 26” pre-World Cup friendly match between Switzerland and Australia, which ended in a 1-1 draw on June 6.
The noon kickoff for the first of two international friendly matches at Snapdragon Stadium brought little energy or atmosphere to the match. On the field, Switzerland and Australia prepared for their final practice match before the World Cup officially begins on June 11.
Switzerland got the scoring started in the 13th minute courtesy of Dan Ndoye. Prior to finding the net, he had missed two goal opportunities, coming off perfectly placed leading passes that the Australian defense shut down, preventing him from scoring.
Switzerland closed the first half on top 1-0.
After the half-time break, Australia scored in the 56th minute when Tete Yengi received a cross from Connor Metcalfe to even the match up at 1-1.
Australia’s captain Harry Souttar played for the Socceroos in the 2022 World Cup and was a crucial part of the team’s appearance in the round of 16. Souttar tore his Achilles tendon in December 2024, but is now healthy and back on the field, hoping to help Australia have a successful World Cup run.
“I know how hard I’ve worked to get back here,” Souttar said post-match to the media. “I wish I were fit for longer, but I knew going into the injury what I had to do to get back to this level.”
There was no further scoring from either side after the Australian goal. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
The Socceroos have qualified for seven World Cups dating back to 1974. Australia has only advanced past the group stage to the round of 16 twice in its history, with the most recent coming at the 2022 World Cup.
The Socceroos will be in Group D, where they will take on the United States, Paraguay and Turkiye, with their first match against Turkiye this Saturday in Vancouver.
“The positives from today are that in the second half we played against a really good team and caused them a lot of problems, and we looked dangerous,” Souttar said.
Souttar said that success for the Socceroos would be to win games, but he wouldn’t say exactly how far the team had to reach or to what round for that to be a success.
Switzerland had gone unbeaten throughout the qualifying stage and in their first friendly match-up until the draw against Australia. Switzerland has qualified for 13 World Cups, reaching the quarter-finals three times.
“We feel ready, today, not everything was perfect, but we are ready to fight and win games,” said Switzerland’s Silvan Widmer.
In the past three World Cups, however, Switzerland has not made it past the round of 16. This year, Switzerland will be in Group B along with Qatar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Canada.
Switzerland will play its first group stage match this Saturday against Qatar at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.
The official FIFA Men’s World rankings list Switzerland as the No. 19 team in the world, while Australia is ranked No. 27, with both countries viewed as long shots to win the World Cup.
