Having not tasted defeat across their opening six Group I matches heading into the meeting, Murat Yakin’s side knew three points would put them within touching distance of next summer’s finals in Germany.
The hosts looked like they would gain the victory needed to do so when Xherdan Shaqiri opened the scoring in the first half, but three second-half goals from the visitors flipped the tie on its head at the AFG Arena.
Akanji scored his third senior international goal to reduce the deficit on the cusp of full-time and Zeki Amodouni’s last-gasp strike earned the hosts a dramatic point.
The opening exchanges saw Switzerland enjoy a large percentage of possession, but they struggled to break down a stubborn Belarus side by registering only two shots – none of which were on target inside 20 minutes.
But the deadlock was finally broken 15 minutes from the interval when the Shaqiri produced a trademark, curling effort into the top corner from the edge of the box.
However, shortly after the break, the visitors equalised when Max Ebong ghosted into the box and planted a header into the bottom corner from close range.
Buoyed by their leveller, Belarus pushed for a second and found it when Denis Polyakov met an in-swinging corner and directed the ball past Yan Sommer with a delightful header of his own.
And things worsened for the City defender and his Swiss colleagues on 84 minutes when Carlos Alós’ side extended their lead through Dmitri Antilevski.
However, Akanji impressively slid to tap home an inviting cross to give his side a lifeline five minutes later.
Moments later, Switzerland snatched a point from the jaws of defeat when Amdouni pounced on a rebound that struck the crossbar to fire home.
The hosts pushed for a winner in stoppage time, but the goal they craved evaded them as they maintained their unbeaten record in EURO 2024 qualifying so far.
The draw means Akanji’s nation still sit top of Group I on 15 points – three more than second-place Romania and four more than third-place Israel having played a game more.
