Argentina beat Switzerland

Argentina came into the game with a perfect World Cup record, but hadn't played the sort of football expected of one of the tournament favorites. Switzerland were bidding to become the first second-placed team from the group stage to qualify for the quarter-finals.

As expected, the Gauchos had more of possession, but Switzerland generated the only two chances of a dull first half. In the 27th minute, Granit Xhaka drew a leg save from Argentina keeper Sergio Romero after a corner. And Josip Drmic's tame lob ended a promising one-on-one situation with Romero shortly before the break.

In the second half, Argentina turned up the intensity and began getting the ball to superstar Lionel Messi in promising positions. His best chance came in minute 78, when he tied Switzerland's right-hand side into a pretzel, but Swiss keeper Diego Benaglio got down to keep the ball out.

The Nati looked winded but managed to hang on to send the match into extra time. And Bengalio was in action straight away, plucking the ball off Ezequiel Garay's head from point-blank range. Angel Di Maria also tested the Swiss keeper with a high screamer in minute 108, but the man between the sticks got a hand to it.

Twelfth time's a charm

But just as it looked like the two sides were heading to a penalty shootout, Messi nabbed the ball in midfield, sprinted toward goal and found the waiting di Maria, who rifled home a precise low shot. It was di Maria's 12th attempt at goal in the marathon match, with only two minutes remaining in extra time.

Amazingly, the Swiss had a chance to level things in injury time, but Blerim Dzemaili hit the post from three meters out. Xherdan Shaqiri also smashed a last-second free kick from 17 meters out into the wall, allowing Argentina to survive with a 1-0 victory.

They will face either the US or Belgium, who square off in the later game on Tuesday, in the next round.