The Honduras vs Switzerland (Suiza) match will be played this Wednesday, June 25th (1:00 PM Pacific), at the Arena Amazonia in Manaus.
Switzerland has won three points in the matches against France and Ecuador, and Honduras is pointless after the matches against the same opponents.
Both teams have the chance to go through, since Ecuador has three points too. All these teams have the chance to accompany France, which already qualified for the knockout phase, and they are the only team which doesn’t depend on the outcome of this round to pass – given that they won’t lose to Ecuador by a five or six goals margin, which would be the surprise of the year.
Honduras has the least chances to go through – they must beat Switzerland by a three goal margin, and France must defeat Ecuador.
If both Switzerland and Ecuador manage to get a win in the last round, Ecuador will go through, since they have 0 points from the goal difference, and Switzerland has -2, so the Swiss must compensate for that with a more persuasive win.
It is interesting that these teams played in group stage four years ago, in South Africa. At the time, they needed a win to go through, but the match ended a goalless draw, and both teams were eliminated.
Switzerland conceded five goals to high flying France in the last match – it could have even been six, but the referee blew his whistle before Benzema ended an attack with his goal.
It could affect the Swiss’ confidence, since they are very firm at the back, and they rarely concede more than one goal. However, they are led by the experienced Ottmar Hitzfeld, who shouldn’t allow for any drops in his team’s morale.
Honduras scored a goal against Ecuador, which broke their 32-year-long goalless curse on the World Cup, and they are motivated to try the impossible, and with a comfortable victory, qualify for the second phase.
Switzerland will probably play defensively, hoping that Honduras will make some uncanny and careless attack while striving for scoring as many goals as possible, after which they could counter attack them and resolve the outcome of this group competition.
Steve von Bergen won’t feature in this match, after suffering a broken nose in the match against France, an injury dealt to him by Giroud’s careless tackle.
Honduras will have all the players at their disposal.
Honduras vs Switzerland Prediction
Honduras’ coach made his team vow to try to earn a victory against the Swiss, and announced that his team will be relentless on the attack. That would suit the defense-minded Swiss team. Hitzfeld will rely on the speedy wingers and attackers in his team, so it is expected that Honduras will have a bigger ball possession and take more shots in this game. Considering all the facts, it is expected that Switzerland will win this game by 1:0.
Honduras vs Switzerland Television
The match will be televised on ESPN 2, Unimas and ESPN 3 on Wednesday at 1:00 PM.
