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- 2nd Half
- SeferovicAjeti90'
- MeunierOrigi90'
- ZuberBenito87'
- Seferovic87'
- Seferovic84'
- Mbabu79'
- FreulerZakaria79'
- ChadliBatshuayi65'
- Elvedi62'
- 1st Half
- Seferovic44'
- Xhaka38'
- Seferovic31'
- Rodríguez (P)26'
- Hazard17'
- Hazard2'
avant-match
LIVE
Switzerland - Belgium
UEFA Nations League - 18 November 2018
UEFA Nations League – Follow the Football match between Switzerland and Belgium live with Eurosport. The match starts at 20:45 on 18 November 2018. Our live coverage lets you follow all the key moments as they happen.
Who will come out on top in the battle of the managers Vladimir Petkovic or Roberto Martínez? Find out by following our live matchcast.
Have your say by voting on who will win between Switzerland and Belgium? Enjoy some pre-match reading with related articles about these two Enjoy some pre-match reading with related articles about these two Football teams.
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Highlights
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FULL-TIME
IT'S OVER! Having been trailing by two goals at one stage, Switzerland have come from behind to thrash Belgium and subsequently seal their place in the UEFA Nations League semi-final, ending the hopes of Roberto Martinez's side in the process. What an extraordinary night of football.
SWITZERLAND SUB: A standing ovation for hat-trick hero Seferovic who is replaced by Albian Ajeti.
There will be three minutes added time.
BELGIUM SUB: Divock Origi. an emergency call-up, replaces Meunier.
CROSSBAR! Sommer does well to tip Hazard's shot onto the woodwork!
YELLOW CARD: Seferovic goes into the book to cap a lively night for the Swiss striker.
GOAL! Switzerland 5-2 Belgium
Seferovic scores his hat-trick and Switzerland are going top of the group!
Shaqiri is involved once more, flicking the ball onto Mbabu. The full-back stands up a cross for Seferovic who finishes with a cracking header.
Shaqiri's crossing has been dynamite this evening. He picks out Seferovic, searching for his hat-trick, but he can't generate enough power in his header to test Courtois.
YELLOW CARD! Mbabu goes through the back of Witsel and receives a caution.
SWITZERLAND SUB: Denis Zakaria replaces Freuler.
Everyone is back for Switzerland as they try to protect this lead. And the hosts are preparing their first change of the evening.
A number of Belgian players have let themselves down this evening, but none more so than Meunier.
Mertens shoots straight at Sommer, but Switzerland are surrendering the ball too easily at the moment.
Switzerland are living dangerously as they continue to play deeper. They concede another corner, it's swung in but Kompany can't keep his header down.
SAVE! Belgium need to get Eden Hazard on the ball more often. He draws a good save for Sommer who spills his shot at the first attempt but gathers himself quickly to pounce on the loose ball.
A Belgium goal would change the complexion of this contest again, but Xhaka does well to clear Mertens' corner just now. It's going to be a tense 20-plus minutes at the Swissporarena.
BELGIUM SUB: Michy Batshuayi replaces Chadli, who has had a nightmare.
Two players - Elvedi and someone else in red - were in acres of space as Shaqiri delivered that devilish cross. Belgium's shambolic defending underlined for the fourth time this evening.
Shaqiri is running the show.
GOAL! Switzerland 4-2 Belgium
That's one way to make amends for his earlier mistake! Elvedi wriggles free of his marker to meet Shaqiri's inch-perfect cross with a fine glancing header, leaving Courtois with no chance. As it stands Switzerland are progressing to the semi-finals!
It feels like Belgium are set up to defend and not to concede another goal. It's a dangerous game.
OFFSIDE! A ball over the top releases Shaqiri but he timed his run slightly too early, as Switzerland continue to pile the pressure on the visitors.
CLOSE! Having won the free-kick, Shaqiri wins the argument to take it. It's up and over the wall but there's not enough dip in the effort. Over.
Shaqiri sees his shot blocked but soon regains possession and after some twisting and turning he is pulled down, winning a free-kick on the edge of the Belgian penalty area. This is dangerous.
Don't forget that Switzerland need to win by two clear goals to win the group and take their place in next year's semi-finals in Portugal. They have made a confident start to the second-half.
Belgium's defending this evening has been nothing short of shambolic.
THAT COULD HAVE BEEN THE MOMENT! Elvedi slips a lovely through-pass to Seferovic, who dinks it over the onrushing Courtois. Everyone in the stadium thinks he has scored but the ball drifts wide of the target.
OFFSIDE! Mertens plays through Eden Hazard and he draws a fine save from Sommer. It wouldn't have counted, though, as the Chelsea star is adjudged to have been offside. Replays show it was a very close call.
The second-half begins. More of the same, please!
HALF-TIME
There will be no stoppage time and we can all catch our breath - what an opening 45 minutes of football!
Switzerland need to win by two clear goals to win the group, but considering the way Belgium are defending you couldn't count them out.
GOAL! Switzerland 3-2 Belgium
From two-nil down, to three-two up! My goodness, what a turnaround. Switzerland break from a Belgian corner. Seferovic leads the attack and spreads the ball wide to Fernandes. He continues his run to meet the return pass and oh my, what a goal. He curls a first-time peach past Courtois from the edge of the box.
SAVE! Rodriguez stands up a cross and Elvedi towers above his marker to head it at goal, but it's no problem for Courtois. That Belgian defensive line is dropping deeper and deeper, though.
SHOT! Are Switzerland not going to learn their lesson? They back off Tielemans and he shoots from a similar situation to Thorgan Hazard's second. It's straight down the middle for Sommer but he spills it before smothering the loose ball.
YELLOW CARD! Xhaka races back and pulls back Eden Hazard, earning himself a booking in the process. That is one way to stop the Chelsea star.
Eden Hazard is making his 98th appearance for the Red Devils.
CHANCE! Eden Hazard makes a late run into the box to meet Meunier's low cross, but he can only spoon it over the bar from close range. Had that been Thorgan on the end of it, well, it may have been a different story.
Credit to Shaqiri for his assist: it was a tremendously selfless contribution.
Well. Well. Well. Who saw this coming? A draw would still be enough for Belgium to top the group but they certainly have their work cut out now.
GOAL! Switzerland 2-2 Belgium
What a turnaround! A lovely cross is played behind the Belgium defence for Shaqiri whose cushion header leaves Seferovic with a simple tap-in and he does the rest! Kompany in no man's land...
At 2-0 up, it looked like it was going to be a comfortable night's work for Belgium. But how a goal can change a game. Dare I say it, they look rather nervous now.
Well, now Switzerland have their tails up. They force another corner, which Rodriguez delivers. It's dangerous but Boyata climbs highest to head clear.
GOAL! Switzerland 1-2 Belgium
Rodriguez, who scored his nation's deciding play-off penalty in the World Cup, confidently steps up and sends Courtois the wrong way. The Swiss are right back in this contest.
PENALTY TO SWITZERLAND!
Fernandes' cross causes chaos inside the visitors' box. There is a goalmouth scramble, and then Mbabu appears to be caught by Chadli. The referee points to the spot!
Shaqiri forces Switzerland's first corner of the game.
Champagne football from the Belgians. They work a short corner, and several one-touch passes later it ends up with Meunier inside the box, but he can't get a shot away.
Switzerland now have to score at least FOUR times to top the group.
The Belgium supporters are in party mood. Every pass prompts an 'olay' cheer. The visitors are beginning to shift through the gears once more.
Questionable defending, but you can't question Thorgan Hazard's quality. Upstaging his brother Eden at the moment.
GOAL! Switzerland 0-2 Belgium
It's the Thorgan Hazard show! The Gladbach playmaker finds space in midfield and drives forward. The defenders retreat and retreat, inviting him to shoot from 20 yards. He gratefully accepts the opportunity, striking a really clean effort across the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner.
OVER! Shaqiri's curler from distance smacks of desperation. It flies over.
Chadli tries to thread the eye of a needle pass to Eden Hazard but puts too much zip on the ball and Sommer can collect. Mertens was the better option.
A 2-1 win would still be enough for Switzerland to top the group, but Belgium have kept a clean-sheet in five of their last nine away matches.
SAVE! Xhaka, wearing the captain's armband for the Swiss tonight, tries a rather ambitious shot from 25 yards but it's straight down the middle for Courtois who smothers it comfortably.
CHANCE! An early cross finds the unmarked Mertens at the near post but he can't adjust his feet and scuffs his shot wide. A decent opportunity to double the advantage is wasted.
It has been a decent year for Swizterland, what with qualifying for the last 16 of the World Cup, but they have been in poor form recently, losing four of their last six matches.
It has been a decent response from the Swiss, though. They force a corner, Rodriguez fizzes in towards the near post but the visitors clear.
It was always going to be a difficult task for the Swiss to produce a positive result, but even more so now. They will need Shaqiri on top form if they are to come back from this.
Switzerland's gameplan has gone right out of the window thanks to 22-year-old Elvedi's dreadful mistake. It was a nothing ball from Mertens, and instead of clearing his lines, Elvedi tried to play it back to his goalkeeper. Bad choice.
GOAL! Switzerland 0-1 Belgium
A gift for the visitors! A dreadful back-pass from Elvedi is pounced on by Thorgan Hazard who nips in between defender and goalkeeper to slot home for this second international goal. He won't score an easier one.
KICK-OFF!
Belgium get us underway on a cold night in Lucerne.
It's time for the national anthems.
SHAQIRI WATCH
With two goals in his last three appearances for Liverpool, the Swiss will be looking to their star player to light up the Swissporarena in Lucerne tonight.
Roberto Martinez, Belgium manager: "Just like us, Switzerland like to have ball possession. We saw the combinations between Xhaka and Shaqiri. Shaqiri gets all the freedom and that suits the team well.
"It is going to be a real final, with only this aspect: if we draw we will win that final. We will have to be at our best."
NO LUKAKU FOR BELGIUM
The match-winner when the sides met back in October, but Lukaku is not fit enough to play tonight.
Batshuayi scored twice against Iceland on Thursday, but Dries Mertens leads the line tonight. He will be supported by the Hazard brothers in attack.
Petkovic, Swizerland manager, who takes charge of his 50th game tonight: "We need to focus on ourselves and deliver the type of performance we are capable of."
Switzerland come into this game on the back of a shock 1-0 defeat to 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar on Thursday. But the experienced heads are back in for the Swiss tonight, Xherdan Shaqiri included, and they will be confident of putting on a show for the home supporters.
BELGIUM TEAM NEWS
Starting XI: Courtois, Alderweireld, Kompany, Boyata, Meunier, Tielemans, Witsel, Chadli, T Hazard, Mertens, E Hazard.
Subs: Januzaj, Origi, Mignolet, Casteels, Batshuayi, Denayer, Mechele, Kabasele, Dendoncker, Castagne, Vanaken, Praet.
SWITZERLAND TEAM NEWS
Starting XI: Sommer, Klose, Rodriguez, Mbabu, Elvedi, Zuber, Xhaka, Freuler, Fernandes, Seferovic, Shaqiri.
Subs: Lang, Ajeti, Sow, Moubandje, Gavranovic, Lacroix, Benito, Oberlin, Omlin, Mvogo, Zakaria, Fassnacht.
Let's have some team news...
Hello and welcome to Eurosport's LIVE text commentary of the Nations League Group A2 clash between Switzerland and Belgium.
Roberto Martinez's side know if they can avoid defeat this evening they will qualify for the semi-finals. The Red Devils have won their two previous matches and could become the first team in the top tier of the Nations League to claim maximum points.
Switzerland will be hoping to spoil the visitors' party, however. A 1-0 or 2-1 win, or if they can claim victory by two or more clear goals, will be enough for Vladimir Petkovic's side to top the pool.