Granit Xhaka is set to captain Switzerland at the World Cup in Qatar after he was included in their 26-man squad for the tournament.
As expected, the national team skipper has been selected for his third World Cup, and joins his clubmates Takehiro Tomiyasu, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli heading out to the Middle East for world football’s global showpiece.
In fact, it could mean that we get to see three of our players in the same match, with the Swiss drawn in the same group as Brazil, as well as Cameroon and Serbia.
After a friendly against Ghana - which could feature Thomas Partey - on Thursday, November 17, Granit could make his ninth appearance at a World Cup against Cameroon a week later, before the match against Jesus and Martinelli four days later.
Then on Friday, December 2 our midfielder may line up against Serbia as the Swiss aim to reach the knockout stages for the fourth time in the last five World Cups, with this being their 12th appearance.
With 106 caps and 12 goals to his name for his country since making his debut in 2011, Granit is one of the most experienced players in the squad, and played in all their games at the 2014 and 2018 tournaments, scoring a single goal in each edition including one against the Serbians in Russia four years ago.
This will be his first tournament as captain, having taken over from veteran defender Stephan Lichtsteiner who retired from football two years ago.
Confirmed Switzerland squad
Goalkeepers: Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund), Philipp Kohn (RB Salzburg), Jonas Omlin (Montpellier), Yann Sommer (Borussia Monchengladbach)
Defenders: Manuel Akanji (Manchester City), Eray Comert (Valencia), Nico Elvedi (Borussia Monchengladbach), Ricardo Rodriguez (Torino), Fabian Schar (Newcastle United), Silvan Widmer (Mainz)
Midfielders: Granit Xhaka (Arsenal), Edimilson Fernandes (Mainz), Fabian Frei (Basel), Remo Freuler (Nottingham Forest), Ardon Jashari (Luzern), Fabian Rieder (Young Boys), Xherdan Shaqiri (Chicago Fire), Djibril Sow (Eintracht Frankfurt), Renato Steffen (Lugano), Denis Zakaria (Chelsea), Michel Aebischer (Bologna)
Forwards: Breel Embolo (Monaco), Christian Fassnacht (Young Boys), Noah Okafor (RB Salzburg), Haris Seferovic (Galatasaray), Ruben Vargas (Augsburg)
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