Switzerland edges Algeria 1-0 at halftime in World Cup knockout clash

On a Thursday night in Vancouver, two nations met at the threshold of World Cup advancement — one carrying the momentum of a young prodigy still discovering his own ceiling, the other carrying the weight of history and a goalkeeper bearing one of football's most storied surnames. Switzerland's 1-0 victory over Algeria was less a statement of dominance than a quiet act of survival: a single early goal, a defense that held, and a 20-year-old named Manzambi who continues to rewrite what is possible at his age. Algeria competed with grace and purpose, but in knockout football, the margin between b