World Cup 2026: How Granit Xhaka will make or break Switzerland's tournament hopes

This summer's tournament will be Switzerland's sixth consecutive World Cup, and their 13th overall. They have managed to make the quarter-finals on three occasions, and will look to progress even further in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

A household name thanks to his exploits in the Premier League , Sunderland skipper Granit Xhaka will be the man to watch, given his impressive performances for club and country. The 33-year-old has 12 appearances to his name at the tournament over the last three World Cups, as well as 143 caps overall for his country, arguably the most tactically intelligent player his country has ever produced.

However, as Swiss football expert Craig King - aka FootballSwissEN - explains, there's plenty of reason for football fans to follow Switzerland in the coming months...

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On the face of things, Murat Yakin's short tenure with Switzerland has been incredibly sweet - taking the reins from Vladimir Petkovia in 2021 and guiding the nation through 2022 World Cup qualifying with ease, before registering a round of 16 finish at the tournament.

However, King explains that it hasn't always been plain sailing for the manager - who may not have even been Switzerland's first choice to succeed Petkovia. He explained: "Murat Yakin came in, who at the time was managing in the second-tier of Swiss football - not a team that was necessarily challenging for promotion.

"He'd had jobs at Basel and things beforehand but he wasn't in a great moment in his career, so he was an odd choice - not everybody's first choice. But he came in and he kind of steadied the team a bit in that campaign.

"They were really hard to beat defensively, they finished above Italy, and at that point he kind of had a lot of support. But then qualifying for the last Euros, it was probably Switzerland's easiest group they've had. They had teams like Andorra in there, Belarus, and it was the weirdest thing because they just kept conceding goals.

"Just really consistently there was a mental block where they would just concede late goals all the time. Then after that, there was discussion about his job, 'He shouldn't manage the team for that Euros campaign,' but they stuck by him.

"Again, it was weird because the team went on and carried on like they had been at major tournaments, and at the Euros they played really, really well. They beat Germany in the group stage and of course they got to the quarter-final again and took England all the way.

"The team surprises in the best ways and the worst ways sometimes and I think his decisions as a manager has been sometimes head-scratching, but I can't really argue with what he's been able to do with the team in these major tournaments. And to be honest, over the last year or so, they've probably improved again because they're looking much more dangerous in attack.

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"And their qualifying campaign for this World Cup was probably the hardest that they've had in a long time and they paced through it, which again, doesn't really make any sense because they make such hard work of other groups they've been in sometimes.

"But I think he's in a good moment now, he's got support there. But it's one of those ones where if he makes one bad decision everyone will be on his back again."

At the 2026 World Cup in North America, Switzerland have been drawn into Group B alongside host nation Canada, Qatar and Bosnia and Herzegovina. And while the group looks easy thus far on paper, King acknowledges that anything could happen.

King said: "Overall. it's probably one of the easier groups they've had at a major tournament. The last two World Cups they've had to contend with Brazil and Serbia, the only difference was Cameroon last time out - that was a tricky game as well.

"But they've found a way to get through that. Again, it makes me a little nervous that it is so easy because this team... sometimes they can take their foot off the gas and think they don't really need to do much to get the job done. But there really should be no excuses with this group.

"I'd be very surprised if they don't get out of the group, it would be a massive failure. And honestly, they should probably be topping the group. If they get out in second or third, you take it, but this is a group that they can definitely finish at the top of."

Key dates for Switzerland:

While Switzerland head into this summer's competition with a wealth of talent, from Gregor Kobel and Manuel Akanji to Granit Xhaka and Ricardo Rodriguez, they will also be forced to operate without a number of key stars who helped the nation thrive at both 2022's instalment of the coveted tournament and the 2024 Euros.

King explained: "There was a period after the Euros where there was a kind of worry about how the team would progress, because after the Euros, Shaqiri retired, Sommer retired, Fabian Schar...Shaqiri especially, I think at the time of his retirement he'd scored or assisted like 25 per cent of Switzerland's goals, and that was just a crazy stat.

"And there was an over reliance on Shaqiri for a long, long time, so it felt like when he goes it's going to be a real struggle because whenever Switzerland needed magic, he was the one providing it. But it seems like the team's kind of emerged from that. There's a lot of new faces either coming in or old faces that have stepped up.

"That defensive back four has been set up for a while. I would maybe say Ricardo Rodriguez is maybe the weak point of that defence, but there's not really any depth there. He's played in that position for forever, he's not had any competition ever in that position.

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"In goal is Gregor Kobel, who in any other nation he would probably have more than eight caps or something like that, and most of them came recently because Sommer retired. Any other nation he's a number one goal goalkeeper but Switzerland have always been blessed in that regard.

"Attack wise you've got players like Dan Ndoye who at Basel was incredibly inconsistent, but he's stepped up massively, especially in the last year or so.

"I think that people might know Johan Manzambi who plays in the Bundesliga and is only 20 years old. He came in recently in the last year. He plays for Freiburg and he's made a great start. I think it's like three assists and a couple of goals in his first eight caps, so he's a player as well who is really exciting and he's came from nowhere.

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"He wasn't even on my radar before and all of a sudden he's a major part of the team. And of course you've got the more experienced players there like Remo Freuler in midfield who is capable of a goal every now and again, and of course, Granit Xhaka.

"I spoke about Shaqiri and how there was an over reliance on him, but I think that, especially in the last two years of Shaqiri's international career, that kind of fear and worry about what will you do when Shaqiri goes is getting transferred onto Xhaka.

"I think that will be the main point of this Switzerland team when Xhaka does retire, how do you replace that?"

Not only the captain of the national side but also Sunderland 's skipper, Xhaka has enjoyed an incredible first season back in the English top flight in 2025/26, instrumental in not only keeping Sunderland above water, but also helping them comfortably soar up the league standings.

With 12 World Cup appearances to his name - a national record he holds alongside Rodriguez - Switzerland's tournament this summer could be made or broken dependent on Xhaka's performances.

King said: "He made his debut in 2011 and he's been a main part of the team pretty much ever since. In 2018 I want to say he was made captain. He was always seen as a leader and a huge part of that midfield but since Stephan Lichtsteiner retired the captaincy came to Xhaka and he stepped up even more so.

"He's driving the team forward, he's the heartbeat of the team and just his attitude generally. He raises the standards for everyone. It's a cliché thing to say but he really does. If you take him out that team then it's a major worry.

"And I think one of the best things I can say about him, or one of the best ways to show the kind of character and player he is, at the last Euros against England he was injured in that game. He said afterward he couldn't strike the ball, he couldn't really hit the ball long but he was magnificent, he was probably Switzerland's best player and he was half-fit.

"And he surprised me still as well because he went from Arsenal - he really improved at Arsenal at the end, again a testament to his character that he turned that around like he did. And then obviously on to Leverkusen, outstanding again.

"Honestly, it kind of shows my ignorance more than anything but he went to Sunderland and it wasn't the move I was expecting; a team coming up to the Premier League . I didn't expect Sunderland to do so well, I was expecting them to be fighting relegation and that really wasn't the position I wanted him to be in.

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"But the fact that he had the belief in himself to go there and improve the team, and he has done it - he's been magnificent there as well. He's part of the reason, at least in my opinion, are where they are in the league, and everything about him is just everything you would want in a player.

"He still does have hot headed moments, but believe it or not, he has calmed down over the last five years or so. But he's just a magnificent player and a great person to lead the team. A great person to drive the standards forward, and again even in the last game of the season for FC Basel when his brother was retiring, he announced over the microphone that he'd be back one day sooner or later and it was probably the biggest cheer of the night when another fan favourite player was retiring.

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