2026 WORLD CUP GROUP B PREVIEW: Switzerland
Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, Alexandre Gangue-Ruzic is previewing all of the teams in Group B. Here's a look at Switzerland.
The lowdown:
FIFA Ranking: #19
Elo Ranking: #17
Head coach: Murat Yakin
Number of World Cups: 13 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1994, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026)
Best World Cup result: Quarter-Finals (1934, 1938, 1954)
Switzerland have become a familiar face for World Cup fans, as they’ve now qualified for their sixth straight World Cup after playing in just one tournament between 1970 and 2002.
Plus, they rarely disappoint in these tournaments, either, as they’ve reached the knockout stage in four of their last five World Cups, doing well to show why they’re a popular dark-horse pick for many.
Now, though, they’re ready to ascend to a new level. For all of the success they’ve had at the World Cup, they haven’t gotten past the Round of 16 since the 1950s and haven’t won a knockout game since the 1938 tournament.
With an expanded World Cup format, they want to change that and make a deep run, which will be their big mission in North America, having spent the last cycle with a sour taste in their mouth after their elimination from the 2022 tournament, which saw them lose 6-1 to Portugal in the Round of 16 in Qatar.
How they got here:
World Cup qualification proved to be rather comfortable for Switzerland, who cruised through their group in UEFA World Cup qualifying.
Drawn with Kosovo, Slovenia and Sweden in a balanced group, Switzerland did well to avoid any potential pitfalls, as they won four and drew two of their games to top the group and qualify automatically.
In particular, it stands out that they were able to win four of their first five games to start qualifying - while they still had to wait until the last day to book their spot in North America due to Kosovo’s strong performances, they headed into that last game against Kosovo knowing that they would qualify as long as they didn’t lose by a lot of goals (they drew 0-0 in Pristina that day).
Yet, that was the story of qualifiers for Switzerland, who were quite ruthless at both ends of the pitch, conceding just two goals in six games, while scoring 14 goals at the other end, as they were pragmatic and efficient under pressure.
How they’ll play:
Preferred formation: 4-3-3
Interestingly, Switzerland have been quite flexible tactically under manager Murat Yakin, a former Swiss international with 49 caps to his name who has managed this team since 2021.
After mostly playing with a back four throughout World Cup qualifying, Switzerland has experimented with a back three as of late, so it remains to be seen how they’ll line up when the World Cup starts.
What we do know is that they’ll be comfortable on the ball, as they averaged over 60% of possession during World Cup qualifying, showing the technical quality they have within their group.
Despite that, they weren’t a huge volume chance-generation team, as they generated just over 10 shots, although a ‘quality over quantity’ approach meant that they were still able to generate 1.47 xG per game.
Interestingly, as is a theme for this entire Group B at large, they’re quite good on set-pieces, turning over 42% of their corners into shots, although they’re much better on corners than on free-kicks (they turned just 14.5% of their free kicks into shots).
While they’re a solid offensive team, their defence is their bread and butter: they conceded just 7 shots and 0.66 xG per game in World Cup qualifying, which explains why they conceded only 2 goals in group play. They’ve slipped a bit since qualifying, conceding 9.2 shots and 1.09 xG in their last five friendlies, which is worth noting, even if those are still very strong numbers - although a large chunk of that came from a 4-3 loss to Germany (they didn’t concede more than 1.01 xG in the other four friendlies).
What that all shows is why they’re set up to do well at this World Cup, as strong defensive teams always have the potential to make a deep run, especially when they’ve shown a bit of offensive thrust like Switzerland have. Of course, they’d love to be a bit more dangerous offensively, at least to be considered in the same bracket as other strong World Cup teams, but the bet that they’re making is that the work they do defensively more than makes up for any perceived shortcomings they have offensively (relative to other top teams, that is).
Perhaps that they are favoured to win Group B means that they can use their first few games of the tournament to score some goals and build some confidence, for what it’s worth.
Players to watch:
Switzerland are a mature and experienced group, as seven of their players are 30 or older, and 10 other players are between the ages of 27 and 29. They’ve got some youth in their ranks, to be fair, as five of their players are 23 or younger, but given that they’ve got a combined 31 caps between them, those youngsters are still only support pieces on this team at this stage.
Not only are they an experienced side internationally, however, but this is also a team filled with players who have played at the highest level, as 23 of their players were contracted to clubs who were in the top five leagues last year - and the three who didn’t come from the Swiss Super League and 2. Bundesliga, which are solid leagues.
In goal, Gregor Kobel is looking to shine at his first major tournament following the international retirement of Yann Sommer, as the Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper started all of Switzerland’s 2026 World Cup qualifying matches. While he has just 21 caps for his country, he’ll look to use his experience from over 200 games for Dortmund to his advantage in these high-stake matches.
At the back, meanwhile, Manuel Akanji is a key leader, as the Inter Milan defender is fifth on this team in caps with 81 and played every minute at both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups (even scoring in that ill-fated loss to Portugal in 2022). A key part of that 2023 Manchester City treble-winning team, he’s a quality defender who will look to use that winning experience to help power Switzerland to new heights.
In midfield, Granit Xhaka is the big name to watch, as the Switzerland captain leads this team with an impressive 146 caps, which is the record for the program. A fiery personality who loves a tackle, he proved to be an excellent fit for 25/26 Premier League darling Sunderland, but as he proved on Bayer Leverkusen’s 2024 invincible side, he can shine on elite sides - which is what Switzerland wants to be this summer. And, as a bonus, he can strike a ball pretty well - the 17 goals he’s scored for Switzerland are second among players in this squad.
The player who leads the way goalscoring-wise, however? Striker Breel Embolo, who has 24 goals in 86 caps for his country. While that record might not stand out, he has scored two goals at the World Cup and three goals at the European Championships, so he likes to find the net in these bigger games for his country. Having scored nine goals in his last 12 international games, he’s really become a key piece for Switzerland up front as of late, so don’t take too much stock in his quieter club season with Stade Rennais (where he still scored a respectable 10 goals in 34 games across all competitions) when it comes to setting expectations for him this summer. 
Tournament expectations:
Given their reputation as a team that always comes and shakes up the group stage of this tournament before falling short in the knockout stage, the goal for Switzerland feels like quarter-finals or bust.
On paper, they’re expected to cruise their way towards topping this group, which will set them up nicely to achieve their goals in the knockout stage, especially if they have a comfortable Round of 32 matchup - that’d be a great way for them to break their long-standing knockout-round slump in this competition.
From there, they’ll fancy themselves against any side in the world in the Round of 16 and onwards - you have to imagine that they’ll be hoping for a potential rematch with Portugal in the Round of 16, for example, which would happen if both sides won their group and then Round of 32 games.
One big question:
Where will the goals come from?
This team has the defensive chops to make a deep run, but the one thing that they lack relative to the other elite teams in the world is attacking thrust - can Embolo’s recent form, along with Yakin’s tactical experiments, help them change that? They’ll need it if they’re to achieve their lofty objectives this summer.
