Nobody wanted this game to go to penalties less than Colombia. After 120 scoreless minutes of chances created and chances blown, Los Cafeteros had the ball in dangerous spots late and just couldn't finish it. Fans watching the closing stretch could feel it slipping the way these things always do — the longer a 0-0 sits there, the more it feels like the team that's been more dangerous is about to get burned.
How do you miss that Colombia?!?! #KingsCup
That miss-it energy carried straight into the shootout. Colombia had two penalties go wrong from the spot, while Switzerland leaned on a clutch save from Gregor Kobel at the biggest moment to seal it 4-3. The wildest part of Switzerland's side of the story: Ruben Vargas, who wasn't even fit enough to start the match, came off the bench and calmly buried the walk-off penalty. That's the kind of subplot that gets buried under the scoreline unless you go looking for it.
Some fans reacted to the tension the only way the internet knows how — with a completely unrelated reaction clip standing in for pure anxiety.
A reaction clip capturing the collective sweat of Colombia fans trying to will their team over the line.
Once the dust settled, Barstool's own coverage made the moment feel exactly as big as it was.
The shootout itself — Switzerland's penalty conversions and the celebration once the final kick went in.
Now comes the part that actually matters going forward: Argentina. Messi and company just survived their own scare, clawing back from 2 goals down to beat Egypt, with Messi missing a penalty of his own along the way before still walking off with Man of the Match honors. He's up to 8 goals this tournament and sitting on 21 for his career across 6 World Cups, numbers that put him in the driver's seat for the Golden Boot race. A shootout survivor facing the best player alive in win-or-go-home soccer is about as good as the bracket gets.
Switzerland has made a habit of being the team nobody wants to face in these spots — unspectacular, hard to break down, and dangerous exactly when it matters in a shootout. Against Argentina they'll be the clear underdog on paper, but they just proved once again that they don't need to be pretty to survive. Whether Kobel's heroics and Vargas's ice-cold legs can carry over into a match against Messi is the whole next chapter of this thing.