Switzerland routs North Macedonia 3-0 to complete perfect Nations League run

The final score read 3-0 for Switzerland, but the match was effectively settled before halftime: Fabian Rieder broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute with a left-footed strike from point-blank range inside the box, enough to let the Thermoplan Arena breathe easy heading into the break. In the second half, Switzerland finished the job with two more goals in the span of just eight minutes.

North Macedonia barely showed up going forward. Their clearest chance came in the 19th minute, when Andrej Stojchevski headed an Eljif Elmas cross off the crossbar, but that was about all they managed in the entire match. Switzerland, on the other hand, kept pressing: already in the first half they had warned with shots from Dan Ndoye, Vincent Sierro and Rieder himself, who hit the post before finally finding the net.

The second half began with Switzerland even more in control. Johan Manzambi, who had come on at halftime for the injured Djibril Sow, extended the lead in the 72nd minute with a right-footed shot from outside the box that found the middle of the goal, assisted by Ndoye. Eight minutes later came the goal of the night: Ndoye himself finished with his right foot from the center of the box, into the top corner, to seal the final 3-0 in the 80th minute.

A rout that was written in the stars

Beforehand, our projection gave Switzerland a 93% chance of winning, just 6% for a draw and 1% for an away upset, with expected goals of 3.37 for the hosts against 0.22 for the visitors. What happened on the field was, broadly speaking, exactly that: a comfortable, no-drama win, with the hosts in control from start to finish.

The match stats back up that dominance. Switzerland finished with 20 shots to just 3 for North Macedonia, with 57% possession and 482 completed passes against 363. The post-match xG calculated from the shots taken in the game (an in-house estimate, not an official figure) had Switzerland at 2.47 against 0.45 for North Macedonia, a gap that confirms the dominance wasn't just about the scoreline but also about chance creation.

What it means for the group

The result came in Group B1 of the UEFA Nations League, and it confirms the contrasting moments each side is living through in that table. Switzerland moved to 12 points from 4 matches played, with a perfect record of 4 wins, no losses and a goal difference of plus 10. North Macedonia, at the other end, remain pointless after 4 matches, with a goal difference of minus 10. The gap between the two sides now stands at 12 points in the standings, the same total Switzerland has accumulated overall.

For North Macedonia, the night at the Thermoplan Arena was one more confirmation of the struggles they've been dragging through the group stage. For Switzerland, meanwhile, it was another showcase that backed up what was already expected before kickoff: a team that controls the ball, piles up shots and finds the net when it needs to, with names like Rieder, Manzambi and Ndoye stepping up in the key moments.