Switzerland’s win over Algeria at BC Place kept the Swiss team in Vancouver for the city’s final World Cup match, while Algerian supporters left after seeing their team eliminated.
The match drew a sold-out crowd of 52,497, with Algerian fans setting the early tone before the 8 p.m. kickoff. The stadium screen showed Algeria’s supporters reaching 133 decibels, ahead of the 124 decibels recorded for Swiss fans.
As Switzerland scored twice, the North African support became quieter. Adlane Benoudina, an Algerian native attending his first World Cup match, called the experience strong but the result painful.
“It’s a very good experience, but we got eliminated, so we are going back home sad,” Benoudina said. “Let’s hope they win.”
B.C. native Hans Schranz has attended every Switzerland match in the tournament so far. With parents who immigrated from Switzerland, he said seeing the Swiss play twice in his home province was especially meaningful.
Schranz called the victory “unreal” and said he hopes to attend the next match, even as he has mixed feelings about Vancouver’s World Cup run ending. He said he was proud of how the city handled its games.
Switzerland previously beat Canada 2-1 in Vancouver on June 24. Had Canada won or drawn that match to win the group, it would have stayed at BC Place for the round-of-32 game; instead, Canada went to Los Angeles and defeated South Africa.
Vancouverite Tim Tewsley, whose wife is Swiss, supported Switzerland but said Canada remained his first choice. Ivan Tsang, a Vancouver local backing Algeria, said he had hoped to see Canada but was happy simply to attend a World Cup match in the city.
Switzerland will face the winner of Colombia and Ghana in the round of 16 at BC Place next week.