NIZHNY NOVGOROD — Switzerland qualified for the last 16 of the World Cup on Wednesday night after a 2-2 draw against Costa Rica in an entertaining game with a frantic last 5 minutes.

Costa Rica claimed a dramatic draw in the 93rd minute when Bryan Ruiz’s penalty bounded off the bar and into the goal off the back of Swiss keeper Yann Sommer, who produced an excellent performance.

There were only five minutes on the clock when Sommer became the Swiss hero twice in quick succession, pushing away a goal-bound shot from Joel Campbell before palming Celso Borges’ header onto the post as Costa Rica came out like an express train, with Cristian Gamboa also calling the Swiss keeper into action.

The Costa Rican assault continued and Daniel Colindres hit the Swiss crossbar with a curling shot in the 10th minute and then drew another low save as the central Americans dominated.

However, it was the Swiss who took the lead in the 31st minute when Blerim Dzemaili smashed home from 8 meters after a good nod down from Breel Embolo and he nearly doubled the lead a minute later with a shot which was deflected out for a corner.

Costa Rica had a great chance to draw level three minutes into the second half only for Campbell to slice horribly wide, before Ricardo Rodriguez drove just over the Costa Rica bar.

Kendall Waston hammered home a powerful header from a corner in the 56th minute to give Costa Rica a goal their efforts fully deserved.

Costa Rica continued to look for a win to sign off from Russia, although Josip Drmic hit the bar for the Swiss with a header in the 77th minute, moments before Campbell’s run set up Borges to again test the impressive Sommer.

With Brazil beating Serbia 2-0 in Moscow, the Swiss knew in the closing minutes that even with a defeat they would go into the last 16 but Drmic restored their lead on the break in the 88th minute.

Costa Rica thought they had a penalty moments afterwards, but after consulting with the VAR the referee ruled it out for offside, only to award one in injury time when Campbelll went down on the edge of the Swiss area and although Ruiz’s spotkick hit the crossbar Sommer had the bad luck for it to end up in the back of the net off his back. — XINHUA