Noah Okafor was the final Leeds United man left standing at the World Cup.
Leeds United star Noah Okafor has suffered double disappointment on exiting the World Cup with his Switzerland side.
Okafor was the last Leeds player remaining at this summer’s tournament and his Switzerland side faced Argentina in the early hours of Sunday morning for a place in the competition’s semi-finals.
Okafor, though, approached the contest having played just 19 minutes over the course of his side’s five games en route to the quarter-finals via one outing from the bench in the round of 32 victory against Algeria.
As with all three Group stage games, Okafor then remained an unused substitute for the round of 16 victory against Colombia on penalties and the Leeds star was again named on the bench for Sunday’s semi-final against Argentina.
The game went all the way to extra-time after a 1-1 draw but Okafor was again snubbed for any minutes as part of a double disappointment that saw Switzerland knocked out through a 3-1 defeat after extra-time.
Alexis Mac Allister had fired Argentina ahead with just ten minutes on the clock but Nottingham Forest’s Dan Ndoye drew the Swiss level seven minutes after the hour mark.
Switzerland were then dealt a big blow as Breel Embolo was sent off in the 72nd minute but the contest stayed level at one apiece and headed for extra-time.
With Okafor still looking on, Julian Alvarez out Argentina back in front in the 112th minute and Lautaro Martinez then made absolutely sure of an Argentina victory as he netted a third for his side in the first minute of stoppage time.
Argentina will now play England on Wednesday night for a place in the World Cup final following England’s 2-1 victory after extra-time against Norway in Saturday night’s third quarter-final.
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