Switzerland

After being undefeated during their qualification campaign, Switzerland finished first in their group and two points ahead of second-place Italy to qualify for their sixth consecutive World Cup.

At Euro 2020, Switzerland shocked the reigning world champions, France, with a talented and experienced team. Switzerland’s goal now is to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 1954 and maybe even go farther in the tournament.

Vladimir Petkovic stepped down as head coach of Switzerland following the Euro 2020 tournament, but Murat Yakin was able to take over the team without a hitch. Under Yakin’s direction, Switzerland allowed only one goal in six qualifying matches.

The fact that a significant proportion of Swiss players are of ethnic Albanian descent makes their final group encounter politically charged. This match will be played against Serbia. Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri both scored for Switzerland when they beat Serbia in the last World Cup. They celebrated the win by making a hand gesture that looked like the Albanian flag’s eagle.

TACTICS

Yakin has abandoned the three-man defense that his predecessor used and instead favors the 4-2-3-1 formation, although he does occasionally move to the 4-4-2 formation. Yann Sommer, defenders Manuel Akanji and Ricardo Rodriguez, and midfielders Granit Xhaka, Remo Freuler, and Xherdan Shaqiri are among the team’s most important players.

When Murat Yakin was a coach at Basel, he did a good job. After that, he worked for Spartak Moscow, Grasshoppers, and Schaffhausen before being hired after Euro 2020.

READY TO SHINE

Xherdan Shaqiri

Even if his club career has been filled with a lot of disappointment, he is still the most important player in the squad. It will be Shaqiri’s fourth time participating in the World Cup.