OK, so Switzerland lost to Argentina on 12 July 2026 in the football World Cup. The outcome of that quarter-final might – might – have been different if forward Breel Embolo had not taken a dive.
Prior to this defeat, a young Geneva player wowed football fans: Johan Manzambi, instantly nicknamed Manzambig despite not being particularly tall (5’ 11.5”). In the match against Bosnia-Herzegovina, we saw the 20-year-old athlete burst out of the gates like a rocket and score a thrilling goal after only two minutes of play, before scoring a second time in the first half-hour. The match paved Switzerland’s way to the round of 32. Manzambi was not in the starting lineup, but his ability to read the game and his audacity made a big impression. The young player with jumbo locs enthralled fans with his “coolness”, as he nonchalantly made some daring and unpredictable plays.
Johan Manzambi’s family comes from Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, but he grew up in Geneva. During his match against Bosnia, the young man walked up to a camera and dedicated his goals to his native city at the end of Lake Geneva. He also triggered a whirlwind of excitement among the young people in his childhood neighbourhood, Servette, which is also the name of the club where he began his career. “The combination of discipline and creativity makes him the perfect modern forward,” Giorgio Contini, former assistant to Swiss national coach Murat Yakin, wrote in “Le Temps”. Following an injury during training, Manzambig was unable to go any further in the tournament, and thus escaped the crushing defeat against Argentina. However, his efforts won him the admiration of football fans all over the world.
Comments