Switzerland vs Qatar. International Match.
Comunale di CornaredoAttendance4,170.
Thursday 15 November 2018 08:03, UK
Qatar's Akram Afif scored a late winner as they stunned Switzerland, ranked 88 places above them, with a 1-0 win in Lugano.
The Villarreal striker, on loan at Al Sadd, scored the winner with four minutes left as the 96th-ranked team in the world beat the eight-placed Swiss for one of the biggest results in their history.
Afif latched onto Karim Boudiaf's pass following a break to round goalkeeper Yvon Mvogo and tap into an unguarded net.
Switzerland, who reached the last 16 in this year's World Cup in Russia and had kept nine clean sheets in its last 10 home matches, had wasted a number of chances to put the game away earlier and hit the post twice.
The Swiss came into the game as massive favourites after putting six goals past Panama and Iceland this year, as well as scoring five against Hungary in 2017.
The last time Qatar played a European team they lost 2-1 at home against Liechtenstein last December. The tiny desert nation was awarded the 2022 World Cup in a disputed FIFA vote in 2010 despite never having qualified for the tournament before.
Afif also drew a save from Mvogo in the 23rd minute, while Switzerland went closest in the 36th when Micahel Lang headed a corner off the inside of the right post.
The Qatar striker then thought he had scored the opener at the end of the first half but he was flagged offside.
Switzerland made wholesale changes at half-time, but even the introduction of Liverpool midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri did not help - although his pass set up Christian Fassnacht for a shot which hit the crossbar.
