Switzerland secured a place at a sixth straight World Cup after finishing top of their qualifying group with four wins and two draws, a run that sent Murat Yakin’s side back to the global stage with little drama and plenty of confidence. The final step came after a draw with Kosovo, which was enough to bring mathematical confirmation that Switzerland FC would be heading to North America.
That is why Granit Xhaka is back in focus now. At 33, Switzerland’s all-time record appearance-maker is preparing for what could be his fourth World Cup, another chance for a player who has already become the team’s defining figure across more than a decade. He arrives with fresh momentum too, after a debut season at Sunderland in which he helped the club finish seventh in the Premier League and qualify for the Europa League.
The qualifying campaign offered a neat summary of why Switzerland are viewed as more than a routine entrant. They opened with wins over Kosovo, Slovenia and Sweden, held Slovenia to a goalless draw, then beat Sweden 4-1 in Stockholm before closing the group with that draw against Kosovo. It was not just efficient; it was controlled, and it carried them into a sixth World Cup since 1994, a period in which they have reached the round of 16 five times.
Yakin has been the driver of that consistency since August 2021. He took Switzerland into the knockout stage at the 2022 World Cup and later guided them to the quarter-finals at Euro 2024, where they were beaten on penalties by England. Those results have strengthened the sense that this squad travels with a standard that is now higher than simple qualification.
But that is also where the pressure lives. Switzerland are spoken of as a potential dark horse, yet the minimum target inside the camp is still only to get beyond the group stage, because the quarter-finals have been a wall they have hit three times before. They have repeatedly turned solid campaigns into near misses, and that history sits quietly behind every discussion about what they might do next.
For Xhaka and Yakin, the next step is not another qualifying table but the tournament itself. Switzerland will go to North America with a proven coach, an established captain figure and a record that says they can reach the knockout rounds. What they have not yet done is turn that consistency into a deeper run, and that is the question waiting for them when the World Cup begins.
