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Xherdan Shaqiri joins Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in elite club as Switzerland star scores at another World Cup to see them into last-16

Xherdan Shaqiri always turns up for Switzerland in major tournaments.

The former Liverpool winger scored another goal for his country at a World Cup, this time in their final group game with Serbia.

Shaqiri has been dependable for Switzerland at major tournaments
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Shaqiri has been dependable for Switzerland at major tournamentsCredit: Getty

It was the third consecutive World Cup that Shaqiri has now scored at, and the first Swiss man to do so.

The only other players who have scored at each of the last three World Cups are Shaqiri, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

He has also scored at five major tournaments for Switzerland, including the previous two European Championships. Ronaldo is the only other player to also have that record.

Shaqiri put his fingers to his lips towards the Serbia fans after scoring and they have a long history.

He has Albanian-Kosovan roots and celebrated his goal against Serbia at the 2018 World Cup by mimicking the eagle of the Albanian flag. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but they do not recognise their independence.

Shaqiri shushed the Serbia fans after scoring for Switzerland
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Shaqiri shushed the Serbia fans after scoring for SwitzerlandCredit: Getty

Despite putting his team ahead in their Group G tie, Serbia came back to be leading 2-1, before the topsy turvy game saw the Swiss team go back level.

Serbia strikers Aleksandr Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic both got on the scoresheet before Breel Embolo found the net.

Freuler got the winner for Switzerland and took them to the last-16
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Freuler got the winner for Switzerland and took them to the last-16

In the topsy-turvy clash, Switzerland took the lead three minutes after half-time through Remo Freuler.

That was enough to book their place in the knockout stages, finishing just behind Brazil.

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