The only previous World Cup meeting between these two sides came back in 1966, when Argentina defeated Switzerland 2-0.
After failing to score in seven successive World Cup appearances, Lionel Messi has netted four goals in his three appearances at the 2014 finals.
Argentina have won their last three World Cup second round ties; winning on penalties versus England in 1998 and beating Mexico in both 2006 and 2010.
Argentina have been knocked out only once in their six previous appearances at this stage (versus Romania in 1994).
Argentina have won only 3 of their last 10 World Cup matches against a European team (D4, L3).
Switzerland have been knocked out in the second round in their two previous appearances at this stage (versus Spain in 1994 and versus Ukraine in 2006).
The Swiss have kept a clean sheet in seven of their last 10 World Cup finals matches.
Switzerland have won just one of their previous six World Cup matches against South American nations (W1 D1 L4), but this victory came earlier in this tournament v Ecuador.
Xherdan Shaqiri scored a hat-trick in Switzerland’s final group game against Honduras – the 50th hat-trick in World Cup history.
Argentina have had an average possession figure of 65% so far at this tournament – the highest in this finals and their highest average at a World Cup finals since 1966.
Four of Argentina’s last seven World Cup goals have come from outside the box, including half of their six goals (3) at this tournament.
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