Petkovic faces his former Switzerland side as Algeria target first World Cup knockout win

Vladimir Petkovic will go head-to-head with the national team he built when Algeria face Switzerland in the World Cup round of 32 in Vancouver on Thursday, setting up one of the tournament’s most intriguing coaching storylines.

Petkovic managed Switzerland from July 2014 to 2021, a tenure that included a round-of-16 appearance at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and a historic quarterfinal run at Euro 2020 — the deepest the Swiss had ever gone in the European Championship. He is now in charge of Algeria, who are back at the World Cup for the first time since 2014.

Swiss forward Breel Embolo, who received his first senior international call-up under Petkovic in 2015 and was named to the 2018 World Cup squad by him, acknowledged the unusual dynamic but insisted it would not alter his approach.

“He’s a coach that knows me very well,” Embolo said. “I’m not the only one — I think he knows a lot of players. But personally speaking, nothing’s going to change on my front. I’m going to play the football I’m used to playing, taking into consideration not only the qualities of the Algerian squad, but also their weak spots. We’re going to work together as a group, and we’re going to try and get in there 100% because we believe that if we play to our strengths, we’ve got what it takes to get through to the next round. And then obviously I’ll go and say hi to him after the match.”

Petkovic was similarly measured about facing his former players. “The world of football has become universal. Everyone knows each other. There are no real secrets left in the game,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a huge advantage to know someone or someone else, just as I know the players, the players know me. It’ll be lovely to meet and greet them, but after that, the players will go out there on the pitch, and I’m certainly expecting a tough game.”

Algeria arrive in the knockout round on the back of a dramatic 3-3 draw with Austria in Kansas City, in which they took the lead in stoppage time only for Austria to equalise on the final play of the match. The result was enough to send both sides through and eliminate Iran. Algeria’s only previous knockout-round appearance at a World Cup ended in a round-of-16 defeat to eventual champions Germany at Brazil 2014.

Switzerland, meanwhile, won Group B with a 2-1 victory over Canada in Vancouver, goals from Ruben Vargas and Johan Manzambi proving decisive. The Swiss have reached the round of 16 at each of the past three World Cups, though this expanded 48-team tournament means the path to the latter stages is longer than before. The squad spent the intervening week at their training base in San Diego before returning to Vancouver for Thursday’s match.