The FIFA World Cup 2026 has delivered its first big upset result. In a thrilling Group B encounter at Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco, Qatar scored deep into stoppage time to pull off a stunning 1–1 draw against a heavily favored Switzerland team, who are tipped to top their group. This is a massive result for the Asian Champions, Qatar. After losing all three of their matches as the host nation in 2022, Qatar has officially earned its very first point on football’s biggest stage.
From the opening whistle, Switzerland took complete control of the match. They pushed forward constantly, putting the Qatari defense under a lot of pressure. The breakthrough came early when Qatari goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada clumsily crashed into Swiss midfielder Remo Freuler inside the penalty box.
The referee pointed directly to the spot, and striker Breel Embolo stepped up to take the penalty. With confidence in his stride, the Swiss striker, sent the goalkeeper in the wrong way, as he drilled the ball into the bottom corner. Thus, in the 17th minute, the Swiss side took a 1–0 lead and looked fully prepared to run away with the game.
Despite completely dominating possession and creating one attack after another, Switzerland simply could not find a second goal to kill the game off. Throughout the match, the Swiss offense fired over two dozen shots at the Qatari net. Goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada, desperate to make up for his early mistake, made several vital saves to keep his team alive.
Because the Swiss failed to put the game completely out of reach, Qatar slowly began to grow in belief. Even though they spent the vast majority of the match defending deep in their own half, the narrow scoreline gave the Qatari players hope as the clock ticked closer to the final whistle.
A Stoppage-Time Miracle
With six minutes of added time announced, Qatar threw all caution to the wind and sent players forward. In the 94th minute, they finally got the perfect chance. Homam El Amin pushed down the wing and floated a beautiful, looping cross towards the back post.
Captain Boualem Khoukhi rose higher than the Swiss defenders and powered a brilliant header past goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
This late goal helped Qatar achieve history. In fact, this draw also opened Group B of the FIFA World Cup 2026 wide open, with all four sides on 1 point each.
