Switzerland through to last 16 to meet Sweden

Switzerland made sure of a place in the last 16 of the World Cup but had to survive some anxious moments in Wednesday's 2-2 draw with Costa Rica before finishing second behind Brazil in Group E.

The Swiss will meet Sweden in St Petersburg on Tuesday after Blerim Dzemaili opened the scoring with a close-in blast in the 31st minute but only after Costa Rica had twice struck the woodwork in the opening 10 minutes.

Already eliminated, Costa Rica finally got their first goal of the tournament when centre back Kendall Waston headed home a 56th minute corner.


But the Swiss went back in front through Josip Drmic two minutes from time, only to give away a stoppage time penalty from which Bryan Ruiz hit the crossbar before the ball struck the back of goalkeeper Yann Sommer for an equaliser.

Blerim Dzemaili has given Switzerland a 1-0 lead with a goal in the 31st minute against Costa Rica in their World Cup group game. Switzerland needs only a draw to reach the knockout stage from Group E. Costa Rica has lost it first two matches and had four or five chance to score until the Swiss broke through.

Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic has made two changes to his lineup for the World Cup Group E game against Costa Rica. He starts Breel Embolo and Mario Gavranovic up front in place of Steven Zuber and Haris Seferovic.

Switzerland needs to avoid defeat to secure a spot in the knockout stage, with Brazil and Serbia playing the other group match in Moscow.

Costa Rica coach Oscar Ramirez makes three changes, bringing in defender Kedall Watson, forward Joel Campbell, and Daniel Colindres at midfield. The Costa Ricans are already out of contention.

Lineups:

Switzerland: Yann Sommer, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Manuel Akanji, Breel Embolo, Granit Xhaka, Valon Behrami, Ricardo Rodriguez, Blerim Dzemaili, Mario Gavranovic, Fabian Schaer, Xherdan Shaqiri.

Costa Rica: Keylor Navas, Johnny Acosta, Giancarlo Gonzalez, Celso Borges, Bryan Oviedo, Daniel Colindres, Bryan Ruiz, Joel Campbell, Cristian Gamboa, Kendall Waston, David Guzman.