Xhaka’s Switzerland knocked out of World Cup

Granit Xhaka’s Switzerland were knocked out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup by Portugal in a 6-1 dubbing on Tuesday night.

THE LOWDOWN: KNOCKED OUT

Xhaka’s Switzerland started their world cup campaign on a high when they defeated Cameroon 1-0. A narrow defeat to Brazil then followed before they had to stage a comeback in the decider against Serbia to reach the round of 16.

Xhaka, who is the captain of the Swiss side, played in every single game and was quite important to their progression.

In the round of 16, they came up against Portugal with the hopes of reaching the quarterfinals. However, those hopes were dashed as the European powerhouse hammered them 6-1 to bundle them out of the tournament in stunning fashion.

THE LATEST: HOW IT HAPPENED

Granit Xhaka’s Switzerland started the game poorly and were duly punished by the Portuguese side who left Ronaldo on the bench.

His replacement, Goncalo Ramos, opened the scoring before the ageless Pepe made it 2-0 to Fernando Santos’ side.

After the break, a goal from Raphael Guerreiro and Ramos’ second saw them race to a 4-0 lead before Manuel Akanji managed to pull one back for the disappointing Swiss side.

However, there was still time for Ramos to complete his hat-trick, while substitute Rafael Leao rounded up the scoring in stoppage time with an emphatic finish.

Meanwhile, Xhaka came close to scoring in the game but his header went slightly over the bar. And that puts an end to their tournament, as Portugal march on to face Morocco in the quarterfinals.

THE VERDICT: DISAPPOINTING END

Xhaka and the rest of the team will not be happy with the manner they were knocked out of the competition.

Having won two games at the group stages, some sort of strong contest was expected on Tuesday night but it never happened, as Portugal blew them away.

Having impressed in club colours for Arsenal this season, Xhaka will now be looking to join his teammates at the training camp in Dubai.