The atmosphere between Serbs and Swiss was tense after the qualification of the Swiss for the round of 16 (3-2).
The players sometimes seemed on the verge of coming to blows.
Granit Xhaka, captain of Switzerland, was filmed as he seemed to be inveighing against the Serbian bench and making a vulgar gesture.
In 2018, Switzerland had already beaten the Serbs 2-1 in a tense atmosphere when Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri celebrated their goals by miming the eagle of the Albanian flag with both hands, provoking the ire of Serbia.
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The families of Xhaka and Shaqiri are from Kosovo, a former province of Serbia, independent since 2008. This independence is not recognized by Serbia which still considers Kosovo as an integral part of its territory.
In their dressing room during the match against Brazil, the Serbian players had displayed a flag of Serbia including Kosovo, in turn arousing great anger in this small Balkan country and leading Fifa to open a first disciplinary procedure.
