World Cup Highlights

Switzerland and Argentina are tied 0-0 at the end of regulation time and will play two extra periods to decide which advances to the quarterfinals of soccer's World Cup in Brazil.

The winner of the round-of-16 match in Sao Paulo advance to meet either Belgium or the U.S., who play the last match in the round of 16 later today in Salvador. Switzerland and Argentina will play two 15-minute periods and would go to a penalty shootout if the match remains tied.

The Swiss had the first chances, with Xherdan Shaqiri cutting back a pass for Granit Xhaka, who shot right at Sergio Romero in the 29th minute. The Argentine goalkeeper made the save and then kept out Stephan Lichtsteiner's attempt as well.

At the other end, Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio allowed Angel di Maria's corner to pass through a crowd in his penalty area.

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With five minutes to play in the first half, Josip Drmic went one-on-one with the Romero but his lob attempt landed in the goalkeeper's hands.

In the second half, Romero nearly gifted the Swiss a goal, making a stop but letting the ball slip from his hands and scrambling to recover as it nearly went out of his area with Admir Mehmedi just behind him.

Benaglio could only paw away a shot from Marcos Rojo and moments later Gonzalo Higuain headed over as the Argentines started to keep possession.

The Swiss goalkeeper went down to keep out Lionel Messi's shot and then defenders were able to clear the ball for a corner.

Second Half

The Europeans, who gave up five goals against France in an earlier group-stage match, struggled to get the ball out of their half as they become more compact in defense. But the Argentines couldn't score.

With 2 minutes remaining in regulation time, Swiss defender Fabian Schaer headed over from a free kick.

In already settled matchups, Germany and France will meet in the World Cup for the first time in 28 years after each advanced to the quarterfinals.

Already Qualified

France defeated Nigeria 2-0 on a pair of late goals yesterday before Germany beat Algeria 2-1 after extra time. Brazil, Colombia, the Netherlands and Costa Rica have already advanced from the round of 16.

France lost a penalty shootout 5-4 to West Germany after a 3-3 tie in the semifinals at the 1982 World Cup. The game is notorious for a tackle by German goalkeeper Harald Schumacher that went unpunished by the match referee even though it broke the jaw of French player Patrick Battiston and left him unconscious on the field. Four years later, West Germany beat France 2-0 to reach the World Cup final.

'France-Germany has always been a classic,' Germany coach Joachim Loew told reporters yesterday. 'They are always highly dramatic matches. France has done marvellously well. They are a fighting team, a strong team.'

Rio Showdown

Brazil will take on Colombia in Fortaleza on July 4 after Germany, which won the last of its three World Cups in 1990, and 1998 champion France revive their rivalry the same day in Rio de Janeiro. In eight games since the 1986 semifinal, France has five wins and Germany has two, with one draw, according to Soccerbase.com.

Yesterday, German substitute Andre Schuerrle flicked Thomas Mueller 's pass into the goal two minutes into the first extra period in Porto Alegre to finally beat Algeria goalkeeper Rais Mbolhi, who was named the man of the match. Mesut Ozil added another goal near the end of the second period of extra time and Algeria got a goal back almost immediately from substitute Abdelmoumene Djabou to set up a hectic finish.

France advanced on two goals in the final 11 minutes in Brasilia. Paul Pogba got the breakthrough on 79 minutes with a headed goal and Nigeria's Joseph Yobo turned the ball into his own goal in the 90th minute to make it 2-0.

There was 'a lot of intensity, a lot of physicality, so we had to be ready for the struggle,' France coach Didier Deschamps told reporters.

'We ended very well,' Deschamps said. 'It's very difficult when you control every aspect from the first to the last minute. We had a really strong last half an hour, with all dynamism, all speed.'

No Goal

Algeria's Medhi Lacen put the ball in Germany's net with a diving header after about 15 minutes, though the effort was ruled offside.

Both teams had opportunities to score in the second half, with the Germans frustrated by Mbolhi even though they dominated possession. Algeria packed its defense and relied on counterattacks to try to catch the Germans undermanned at the back, with goalkeeper Manuel Neuer racing out several times to clear long balls.

'We had a major problems in the first half in organizing the way we played,' Loew said. 'We lost the ball, we made simple mistakes that invited the opponent to launch counters. In the second half we showed a better build up. I don't think we played badly -- we had six to eight chances -- it was a victory of willpower. We should have decided the match earlier.'

Pogba Scores

Pogba scored when Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama tried to punch a corner kick clear and instead flipped the ball toward the Frenchman, who headed it into the unoccupied goal. In injury time, Yobo turned the ball into his own goal with his knee as he, Enyeama and French substitute Antoine Griezmann came together in the penalty area.

'Any loss is painful, it can be in the first round, even a friendly, when you see your team play good football, do what you ask them to do and then you turn around and lose the game,' Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi said. 'I don't think we deserve to lose the game in this way but this is football.'

To contact the reporters on this story: Christopher Elser in Porto Alegre at celser@bloomberg.net; Tariq Panja in Sao Paulo at tpanja@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Elser at celser@bloomberg.net Dex McLuskey, Jay Beberman