The final 26 players have been announced for the Swiss national football team, which features several veteran footballers, including Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri.
Midfielder Michel Aebischer, Fabian Frei, Ardon Jashari, Philipp Köhn, Noah Okafor, Renato Steffen, and Fabian Rieder will all debut in their first World Cup for the swiss.
Coach Murat Yakin has selected four goalkeepers on the roster, including first-choice goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who sustained an ankle injury playing for Borussia Monchengladbach on Tuesday.
Kevin Mbabu, Steven Zuber, and rising star Cedric Itten are absent from the squad.
The Swiss are touted as underdogs in this year’s tournament, having qualified for the World Cup on 11 occasions.
The team’s best performance was in 1934, 1938, and 1958, in which they made the quarter-finals after losing 7–5, which still stands today as the highest-scoring World Cup match ever.
Switzerland will face football giants Brazil, Serbia, and Cameroon in less than two weeks.
Squad list
- Goalkeepers: Yann Sommer (Borussia Monchengladbach), Jonas Omlin (Montpellier), Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund), Philipp Köhn (RB Salzburg)
- Defenders: Ricardo Rodriguez (Torino), Fabian Schar (Newcastle), Manuel Akanji (Manchester City), Nico Elvedi (Borussia Monchengladbach), Silvan Widmer (Mainz), Eray Comert (Valencia)
- Midfielders: Xherdan Shaqiri (Chicago Fire), Granit Xhaka (Arsenal), Remo Freuler (Nottingham Forest), Denis Zakaria (Chelsea), Djibril Sow (Eintracht Frankfurt), Renato Steffen (Lugano), Fabian Frei (Basel), Michel Aebischer (Bologna), Ardon Jashari (Luzern), Edimilson Fernandes (Mainz), Fabian Rieder (Young Boys)
- Forwards: Haris Seferovic (Galatasaray), Breel Embolo (Monaco), Ruben Vargas (Augsburg), Noah Okafor (RB Salzburg), Christian Fassnacht (Young Boys)
