“When Switzerland qualified, I received a lot of messages from my friends in Argentina. They asked me how we were going to experience the match on Sunday and if we were going to divorce,” jokes Rocio. With her husband Joël, they will experience a unique meeting between Argentina and Switzerland in the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup. “It will be a bit like a Federer-Wawrinka,” summarizes Joël. There will be joy for the winner and sadness for the loser, but at least we will have a team in the semi-finals.
The people of Valais have always been very attached to Argentina. He, like several members of his family, did humanitarian volunteering in the South American country. In 2018, he worked for a few months in Santa Fe prisons, where he learned Spanish. “The Argentinian,” his wife corrects him, laughing. Then Joël returned to Argentina in 2021, to Buenos Aires, where he worked for the Swiss embassy. It was during this period that the meeting with Rocio, a native of the capital and a lawyer, took place.
“The Valaisans are warm like the Argentinians”
After meeting, the couple lived a long-distance relationship for a short time, until Rocio received a scholarship to continue his studies at the University of Fribourg. She has not left Switzerland since. On Instagram, she also shares videos about her adopted country and her good tips for her Argentine compatriots.
“In Argentina, we see Switzerland as a perfect country, calm, well organized and where everything works. Since I have lived there, I have noticed that there are not a lot of differences. Far from the preconceived ideas that we have in Argentina, people here come together and the Valaisans are friendly and warm. It reminds me of my country, which was a very nice surprise,” Rocio explains to us in perfect French tinged with a Latin accent. “Joël’s Spanish is excellent, he knows all the expressions, so we communicate in this language,” adds the woman who also knows German.
If the couple, who got married in a civil ceremony in Switzerland in 2024 and 2025 in Argentina, have plans to live in the country of Rocio in the future, it is above all this World Cup duel between the Nati and the Albiceleste which animates them in the short term. “We don’t yet know where we are going to watch this match,” they specify. One thing is certain, they will not wear the same jersey.
Predictions bring bad luck
“Usually, we look at Switzerland with the colors of the Nati and the same for Argentina,” says Joël. This time, we will try to find a bar with a table for the Swiss and another for the Argentinians, that way everyone will have their own.”
It was impossible to leave them without asking who was going to win. “I’m very bad at predictions,” laughs the Valaisan. I’m going to say that it’s going to go into overtime.” “In Argentina, it’s bad luck to predict,” his wife replies. I will simply say that we are not going to lose and that there will only be winners.”
The two laugh then Joël has the last word: “We’ll see if she still thinks the same thing on Sunday at 5 a.m.”
