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The tournament's most joyful team meets the one nobody wants to draw

Some teams are fun; Colombia are more than that. They play loose, creative, slightly chaotic football, and right now it runs through two very different men. James Rodríguez is 34, won the Golden Boot as the World Cup's top scorer back in 2014, and is chasing one more great act in a fading career. Luis Díaz is the winger Liverpool sold to Bayern Munich, and he's been Colombia's live wire. They won Group K, then beat Ghana 1-0 to reach the last 16.

Switzerland are the opposite kind of team — the one bigger nations quietly dread drawing. They don't overwhelm you, they frustrate you: organized, patient, ready to punish a mistake. They've done it to giants before. At Euro 2020 they knocked out the reigning world champions France on penalties, with Kylian Mbappé missing the decisive kick. A 2-0 win over Algeria carried them through here.

The two have a little history. They've met four times and Colombia leads the series — including a group-stage win at the 1994 World Cup, against a Switzerland side then coached by a young Roy Hodgson, who would later manage England. They haven't played each other since 2007.

Golden Boot

James Rodríguez won the 2014 Golden Boot as the World Cup's top scorer; a decade on, Luis Díaz has been Colombia's spark in attack.

Form

• Colombia won Group K — Muñoz, Díaz and Campaz saw off Uzbekistan 3-1 in the opener — then edged Ghana 1-0 in the Round of 32.
• Switzerland ground their way through, routing Bosnia and Herzegovina 4-1 in the group stage before a 2-0 win over Algeria in the last 32.

Club mix

• Luis Díaz is the winger Liverpool sold to Bayern Munich — Colombia's most dangerous attacker.
• Right back Daniel Muñoz won the FA Cup with Crystal Palace; James Rodríguez, the 2014 Golden Boot winner, now plays in MLS for Minnesota United.
• Switzerland's captain Granit Xhaka spent seven years as an Arsenal midfielder and now plays for Sunderland.

Head to head

• Four meetings all-time, with Colombia ahead 2-1-1.
• Their only World Cup meeting came in the 1994 group stage — Colombia won, against a Switzerland team coached by future England manager Roy Hodgson.
• They last met in a 2007 friendly, which Colombia won 3-1.