Xherdan Shaqiri joins Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in elite World Cup club after scoring in Swiss win over Serbia
XHERDAN SHAQIRI joined an exclusive club last night by scoring against Serbia.
The former Liverpool ace was on target as his country won 3-2 to secure a place in the round of 16.
Shaqiri, 31, became just the third player to score at the last three World Cup finals.
The only other two players to have matched that feat are Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Shaqiri, now of Chicago Fire in MLS, was part of Switzerland’s squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa aged 18.
He failed to score that time around, receiving only 12 minutes of action – but he has put that right since.
The attacker bagged a memorable hat-trick against Honduras in Brazil in 2014.
While he also scored against Serbia four years later in Brazil.
On both occasions Switzerland made it through the group stage, only to be eliminated in the round of 16.
Shaqiri and Co will hope to put that right this time around, when they take on Ronaldo’s Portugal on Tuesday night.
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The 37-year-old made history earlier in the tournament by becoming the first player to score at the last FIVE World Cups in a row.
He netted his first World Cup goal all the way back in 2006, bagging against Iran on his side’s way to the semi-finals.
In 2010 he added another to his tally, scoring against North Korea in the group stage before his side were knocked out in the round of 16.
Four years later his side failed to make it out of Group G, although Ronaldo did score against Ghana.
While in 2018 he produced his most memorable World Cup performance, scoring a hat-trick in a 3-3 draw with Spain, before also netting the winner against Morocco.
Messi, 35, has scored twice so far in Qatar – a penalty against Saudi Arabia and a brilliant strike from range in the 2-0 victory over Mexico.
Like Ronaldo, the Argentine also got off the mark on the world stage in 2006 – scoring from the bench against Serbia as an 18-year-old.
He failed to score at the 2010 finals, however, with his side bowing out to Germany in the quarter-finals.
In Brazil he scored four times on the way to the final – grabbing strikes against Bosnia and Iran before a double vs Nigeria.
Four years later he again scored against the Super Eagles, although his side were beaten 4-3 by eventual winners France in the round of 16.
