The final round of matches for Group E began with bang as Switzerland faced off against Honduras in an attempt to qualify into the Round of 16. Switzerland comes with a loss against France while Honduras comes with two losses against Ecuador and France.
Switzerland began strong putting pressure against the Hondura’s defense. It only took the Swiss 6 minutes into the match to gain the lead as Xherdan Shaqiri netted in a power shot from outside the 18-yard box into the top corner of the goal. As if one goal wasn’t enough, Shaqiri steps up to score a second goal for Switzerland on the 31st minute. The performance of the Swiss in the first half showed their determination on qualifying into the next round. The first substitution came on right before halftime as Jerry Palacios replaced Carlos Costly due to a slight injury. This left Honduras without one of their man forces in their attack for the rest of the match. The score at half time ended with a 2-0 lead for Switzerland from Shaqiri’s brace. The Swiss showed domination during the first half with Honduras scrambling to gain control of the match.
Second began with Switzerland applying just as much pressure as the first half. The second substitution for Honduras had Marvin Chavez replacing Roger Espinoza in the midfield on the 46th minute. The first yellow card of the match went to Honduras’ midfielder, Jerry Palacios on the 66th minute. Just when you thought the 2014 FIFA World Cup couldn’t get any better, Xherdan Shaquiri scores the third goal of the match on the 71st to make him the first player to score a hat trick in this tournament. Haris Seferovic replaced Josip Drmic on the 73rd minute for Switzerland’s first substitution. Granit Xhaka then came off for Michael Lang on the 76th minute to put some fresh legs in so the Swiss can maintain their shut out lead over Honduras.
The final substitution for the Honduras side had Andy Najar replace Boniek Garcia on the 77th minute. The final substitution for the Swiss had Xherdan Shaquiri came off to make room for Blerim Dzemaili on the 87th minute. The match ended 3-0 with the Swiss having qualified into the Round of 16 due to this victory over Honduras. Switzerland dominated the whole game and has had a good world cup run while Honduras hasn’t had the same luck as the other CONCACAF teams. Honduras is the only team from the CONCACAF to lose all of their games and is also the only team to not have qualified to the Round of 16. Switzerland will face Argentina in the Round of 16 while France will face Nigeria. Who will make it past the Round of 16?
