Argentina needed another moment of Lionel Messi magic to advance to the World Cup quarter-finals after the Barcelona superstar created Angel di Maria's winner to down Switzerland in the second-half of extra time.
The South Americans had been frustrated by a Switzerland defence vastly improved from the unit that lost 5-2 to France in Group E and found keeper Diego Benaglio in particularly good form.
However, Argentina broke Swiss hearts with 118 minutes on the clock as di Maria swept past Benaglio via Messi, who netted an injury-time goal to beat Iran in the group stages.
And in further drama, substitute Blerim Dzemaili missed a golden opportunity to equalise in the final moments.
Ezequiel Lavezzi was the notable addition to Argentina's starting XI after the Manchester City striker was ruled out for the rest of the tournament with a hamstring injury.
He took his place in a triumvirate including Gonzalo Higuain and the irrepressible Messi, who had so far responded to a goal-less 2010 World Cup with four strikes in the group stages.
Switzerland however had a talisman of their own in Xherdan Shaqiri – after netting a hat-trick in the nation's final group game against Honduras – yet neither player truly lit up the first half in a tentative start from both sides.
Instead di Maria looked the most menacing early on, marauding down the left wing and drawing fouls from Stephan Lichtsteiner and Granit Xhaka in quick succession.
But the game's first real chance arrived on the half-hour mark, Shaqiri outfoxing Fernando Gago on the right before delivering a cutback into the path of Xhaka. However, Sergio Romero pounced to his right to bat away the midfielder's shot.
Argentina continued to probe with Messi and Lavezzi both buzzing around and the Swiss were in danger of losing their discipline – Xhaka hacking down the latter to receive a yellow card.
Yet the best of the opportunities were still falling the way of the Europeans, with Josip Drmic making a hash of his attempted chip while one-on-one with Romero five minutes before half time.
The match was played in much the same vein after the break but the Swiss were lucky that Xhaka escaped a second yellow card after tripping up a jinking Messi.
However, Argentina's pressure was beginning to pay dividends as full-back Marcos Rojo tested Benaglio from a narrow angle.
Then di Maria drew the ire of his teammates with an ill-judged rabona in a promising position, before Benaglio reacted quickly to tip over a powerful header from Higuain.
Switzerland were clearly suffering in the Sao Paulo heat with 25 minutes still to play and Messi was the next to pepper the Swiss goal, belting a long-range effort just over the bar.
The Barcelona star was involved again in the 75th minute with a clever little dink into the danger zone but Higuain's connection was poor.
The 27-year-old popped up once more only for Benaglio to deny his low effort and his frustration on a thus-far fruitless afternoon bubbled over when he pushed Valon Behrami to the ground.
With both sides still deadlocked it boiled down to extra time – and with the stakes raised even higher, chances remained at a premium.
In the second half however di Maria, who had been particularly wasteful with the ball, nearly clinched it with a rasping drive that Benaglio did well to palm over.
With time ticking down a moment of inspiration would surely come from Messi and so it did, surging from midfield to play in di Maria, who coolly slotted home.
Dzemaili then found the post with a point-blank header from a corner but Argentina clung on.
Argentina 1
Di Maria 118
Switzerland 0
Referee: Jonas Eriksson
Attendance: 63,255
Argentina: (4-2-3-1): Romero, Fernandez, Zabaleta, Garay, Rojo (Basanta, 105), Gago (Biglia, 106), Mascherano, di Maria, Higuain, Messi, Lavezzi (Palacio, 74)
Subs not used: Orion, Campagnaro, Perez, Rodriguez, Fernandez, Demichelis, Alvarez, Aguero, Andujar
Switzerland: (4-3-3): Benaglio, Lichtsteiner, Schar, Djourou, Rodriguez, Inler, Behrami, Xhaka (Fernandes, 66), Shaqiri, Mehmedi, (Dzemaili, 113), Drmic (Seferovic, 82)
Subs not used: Sommer, Ziegler, Senderos, von Bergen, Lang, Barnetta, Stocker, Gavranovic, Burki
