Published on December 13, 2024 at 1:03 p.m. / Modified on December 13, 2024 at 1:36 p.m.
2 mins. reading
To qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup, the Swiss men’s football team will have to get out of a qualifying group which will include Sweden, Slovenia and Kosovo. A group where nothing will be offered to Murat Yakin’s players, who will have to return to their level of Euro 2024, in Germany, where they reached the quarter-finals after very convincing matches against Germany, Italy and Italy. England, to hope to finish first. Indeed, a second place would expose them to a risky passage through a four-team play-off in March 2026.
Narrowly placed in pot 1 despite a disastrous campaign in the League of Nations (relegation to League B), Switzerland had managed to maintain its top seed status, which ensured it would avoid falling against the aforementioned teams but also Spain, France, the Netherlands and even Portugal. A tough opponent from the second hat was still to be expected: it will be Sweden, which has not participated in a final phase since Euro 2020 but which is close behind Switzerland in the FIFA ranking (27th team in the world, Switzerland is currently 20th), and which above all has never succeeded historically. The last victory dates back to 1994. In renewed form, the Scandinavians rely on the striker who is currently emerging in Europe, Viktor Gyökeres (Sporting Portugal).
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