Our Fantasy FIFA World Cup 2026 team previews continue with a look at Switzerland.
This is their sixth successive World Cup and, having reached the round of 16 in the latest three, they’ll be expecting similar this time. Favourites to win Group B, finishing ahead of Qatar, Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-hosts Canada would mean facing a third-placed team in the first knockout round.
Murat Yakin’s squad has an impressive starting XI of experience, plus some exciting youth talents to sprinkle in. That helps explain why they are 14th in the bookies’ odds.
In these country-by-country guides, we’ll be looking at the best players from each nation, reviewing the road to the World Cup and more.
THE SWITZERLAND SQUAD
Four of the 26 were part of the recent Premier League campaign: Granit Xhaka ($6.2m), Dan Ndoye ($6.8m), Noah Okafor ($5.9m) and Zeki Amdouni ($4.9m). Although the latter has only just returned from a long-term knee injury, making four consecutive Burnley cameos.
Other familiar names include Manuel Akanji ($5.0m), Remo Freuler ($5.9m) and brief Chelsea loanee Denis Zakaria ($6.1m).
- READ MORE: Confirmed World Cup 2026 squads so far
Meanwhile, the trio of Xherdan Shaqiri, Fabian Schar and Yann Sommer announced their international retirement after Euro 2024. They had a combined 305 caps.
THE ROAD TO QUALIFICATION
Qualifying was quick and straightforward for the Swiss. Unbeaten, they conceded only twice and did the double over out-of-sorts Sweden.
Before that, a poor UEFA Nations League in late 2024 saw them relegated after a winless half-dozen, which saw them concede 14 times.
Yakin subsequently returned to a back-four system, and this has worked. In fact, eight players were in the starting XI for all six of these qualifiers: Xhaka, Akanji, Gregor Kobel ($4.7m), Ricardo Rodriguez ($4.5m), Silvan Widmer ($4.2m), Nico Elvedi ($4.3m), Ruben Vargas ($6.8m) and Breel Embolo ($7.5m).
BIGGEST GOAL THREATS IN QUALIFICATION
*note: the xG in the above table is non-penalty
Speaking of Embolo, the 29-year-old was his nation’s top scorer with four goals. He also racked up the best non-penalty expected goals (2.33) by far.
The next-most shots belonged to Ndoye who – like young Freiburg attacker Johan Manzambi ($5.6m) – netted twice.
Captain Xhaka converted both spot kicks.
MOST CREATIVE PLAYERS
Assists were shared fairly evenly between Vargas, Ndoye, Freuler and Fabian Rieder ($6.2m).
Despite just 299 minutes, Rieder led the way for expected assists (1.46).
SINCE QUALIFICATION
| Date | Opposition | Result | Goalscorers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 March 2026 | v Germany (h) | 3-4 | Ndoye, Embolo, Monteiro |
| 31 March 2026 | v Norway (a) | 0-0 |
Since then, the early spring brought a couple of European opponents in friendlies, though neither ended in victory.
Switzerland twice took the lead against Germany, when Ndoye fired in at the near post, and Embolo’s diving header met Widmer’s cross. An effort from Rieder hit the crossbar.
But, in the second half, they were undone by Florian Wirtz ($7.5m). That said, a delightful equaliser from just outside the box by Joel Monteiro took place in the 79th minute, not that it was enough to get him into Yakin’s final squad.
TOP FANTASY PICKS
From above, we see that Breel Embolo, Dan Ndoye and Ruben Vargas are Switzerland’s main attacking threats. The latter is listed as a midfielder.
Granit Xhaka is of interest, combining penalties with regular tackles (one Fantasy point for every three) would make him a good all-round midfielder.
The Swiss have never gone beyond a quarter-final in a major tournament, but their settled goalkeeper and back four – where Silvan Widmer and Nico Elvedi are cheap – should get clean sheets in this group.
Above: A Statsbomb graph comparing players’ ages to minutes played in qualifiers
However, putting an older-than-average team in such heat could prove problematic. The exciting Johan Manzambi might therefore be needed for his energy. Since making his international debut in June 2025, he’s scored three goals in 10 caps.
