Switzerland head to World Cup 2026 in one of the more favourable groups with Qatar and Bosnia & Herzegovina making only their second appearances at the tournament while co-hosts Canada have their sights set on progressing through the group stage.
Indeed, the Swiss are the only team of the four who have ever reached the knockout rounds of a World Cup with their best finish coming in the quarter-finals of the 1934, 1938 and 1954 editions. Under manager Murat Yakin, Switzerland have a fine team and will be confident of easing into the tournament against the relative minnows of their group before further challenges await in the knockout rounds.
For Canada, Qatar, and Bosnia & Herzegovina the challenge is the same: make it out of the group.
With an expanded World Cup of 48 teams, eight of the 12 third place finishers will move into the next round so there is plenty of scope, and hope, of qualifying for the knockout rounds.
Group B fixtures
(all times BST)
12 June, 8pm: Canada v Bosnia & Herzegovina – Toronto Stadium, Ontario, Canada
13 June, 8pm: Qatar v Switzerland – San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, California, USA
18 June, 8pm: Switzerland v Bosnia & Herzegovina – Los Angeles Stadium, California, USA
18 June, 11pm: Canada v Qatar – BC Place Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada
24 June, 8pm: Switzerland v Canada – BC Place Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada
24 June, 8pm: Bosnia & Herzegovina v Qatar – Seattle Stadium, Washington, USA
Canada
Canada are co-hosts of the 2-26 World Cup alongside Mexico and the United States and return to the tournament for the third time having also appeared in the 1986 and 2022 editions.
Manager Jesse Marsch has described his 26-man squad as the best ‘ever assembled’ and there are highs hopes that the Canadians can make it out of the group stages and into the round of 32 for the very first time.
Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies is, arguably, the most well known player in the squad but he faces a race to be fit in time for the first match, against Bosnia & Herzegovina, on 12 June after picking up a hamstring injury during a Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain.
Canada, of course, qualified for the tournament as co-hosts and will want to vastly improve on their 2022 showing where they lost all three group games and exited without recording a point.
Squad
Goalkeepers – Dayne St Clair (Inter Miami), Maxime Crepeau (Orlando City), Owen Goodman (Crystal Palace).
Defenders – Alistair Johnston (Celtic), Derek Cornelius (Marseille), Richie Laryea (Toronto), Niko Sigur (Hajduk Split), Joel Waterman (Chicago Fire), Luc de Fougerolles (Fulham), Moise Bombito (Nice), Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich), Alfie Jones (Middlesbrough).
Midfielders – Stephen Eustaquio (Porto), Ismael Kone (Sassuolo), Tajon Buchanan (Villarreal), Mathieu Choiniere (Los Angeles FC), Ali Ahmed (Norwich City), Nathan Saliba (Anderlecht), Liam Millar (Hull City), Marcelo Flores (Tigres UANL), Jacob Shaffelburg (Toronto), Jonathan Osorio (Toronto).
Forwards – Jonathan David (Juventus), Cyle Larin (Southampton), Tani Oluwaseyi (Villarreal), Promise David (Union SG).
Coach: Jesse Marsch
Star player: Alphonso Davies – This pick is the obvious one and caveated providing he is fit to play. The 25-year-old left-back is clear as Canada’s best player and is experience playing in big games with Bayern could prove crucial in their quest to get past the group stage.
Breakout talent: Niko Sigur – Can play at both right-back and defensive midfield and is intelligent and competitive. Made the switch from Croatia to Canada and is favoured by Marsch so expect him to feature in all three group games.
Fifa ranking: 30.
Odds to win the World Cup: 350/1, via oddschecker.
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bosnia & Herzegovina ended a 12-year wait to return to the World Cup when they came through the European qualifying play-offs to secure their place in the competition.
Eden Dzeko is the eye-opening inclusion in the squad and will head to the World Cup for a second time at the age of 40. Dzeko featured in Bosnia’s only other appearance - back in 2014 - with defender Sead Kolasinac the only other member of the squad to also play in that tournament.
He will feature too having scored a crucial 86th minute equaliser against Wales in the play-off round before setting up Haris Tabakovic’s goal against Italy in the play-off final. Both of those games were won on penalties which could prove useful experience should the European side reach the knockout rounds.
Squad
Goalkeepers – Nikola Vasilj (St Pauli), Martin Zlomislic (Rijeka), Osman Hadzikic (Slaven Belupo)
Defenders – Sead Kolasinac (Atalanta), Amar Dedic (Benfica), Nihad Mujakic (Gaziantep), Nikola Katic (Schalke), Tarik Muharemovic (Sassuolo), Stjepan Radeljic (Rijeka), Dennis Hadzikadunic (Sampdoria), Nidal Celik (Lens)
Midfielders – Amir Hadziahmetovic (Hull City), Ivan Sunjic (Pafos), Ivan Basic (Astana), Dzenis Burnic (Karlsruher), Ermin Mahmic (Slovan Liberec), Benjamin Tahirovic (Brondby), Amar Memic (Viktoria Plzen), Armin Gigovic (Young Boys), Kerim Alajbegovic (RB Salzburg), Esmir Bajraktarevic (PSV Eindhoven)
Forwards – Ermedin Demirovic (VfB Stuttgart), Jovo Lukic (Universitatea Cluj), Samed Bazdar (Jagiellonia Bialystok), Haris Tabakovic (Borussia Monchengladbach), Edin Dzeko (Schalke)
Coach: Sergej Barbarez
Star player: Edin Dzeko – The old man of the group he may be but he has proven his ability to perform, in big games and under pressure, even at the latter stage of his career.
Breakout talent: Kerim Alajbegovic – At the opposite end of the spectrum, 18-year-old Alabegovic has had a breakthrough year at Red Bull Salzburg with 17 goal contributions (goals and assists) from 44 appearances as well as scoring the decisive penalties in each of Bosnia’s play off shootouts.
Fifa ranking: 65.
Odds to win the World Cup: 500/1
Qatar
Having made their first appearance at the World Cup as the host nation in 2022, Qatar return to the tournament after successfully making it through qualifying for the very first time. Four years ago they lost all three of their group stage matches having been placed in a tricky group alongside the Netherlands, Senegal and Ecuador.
During the four-year cycle since their own World Cup, Qatar have improved and finished fourth in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) third round of qualifying following home and away matches against Iran, Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyzstan and North Korea. They then topped the fourth round table after a goalless draw with Oman and a 2-1 victory over the UAE to earn a place at this summer’s tournament.
Qatar also have the benefit of a top manager in Julen Lopetegui who is flexible enough deviate from a preferred 4-4-2 formation when faced with an appropriate opponent. That said, Qatar’s preparation has been far from ideal with friendlies against Serbia and Argentina both cancelled due to the Iran-US conflict. Worryingly, Qatar have only won one of their last 12 matches and enter the group stage in terrible form.
The goal will be to reach the knockout rounds but their opportunity to do so may lie in fixtures against Canada and Bosnia & Herzegovina where they will need to win at least one match.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Salah Zakaria (Al Duhail), Mahmoud Abunada (Al Rayyan), Meshaal Barsham (Al Sadd)
Defenders: Hashmi Hussein (Al Arabi), Ayoub Alawi (Al Gharafa), Boualem Khoukhi (Al Sadd), Pedro Miguel (Al Sadd), Issa Laaye (Al Arabi), Lucas Mendes (Al Wakrah), Sultan Al-Brake (Al Duhail), Homam Al-Amin (Cultural Leonesa)
Midfielders: Mohammed Al-Manai (Al Shamal), Jassem Jaber (Al Arabi), Karim Boudiaf (Al Duhail), Ahmed Fathi (Al Arabi), Abdulaziz Hatem (Al Rayyan), Assim Madibo (Al Wakrah)
Forwards: Tahseen Mohammed (Al Duhail), Edmilson Junior (Al Duhail), Almoez Ali (Al Duhail), Akram Afif (Al Sadd), Mohammed Muntari (Al Gharafa), Youssef Abdulrazzaq (Al Wakrah), Ahmed Alaa (Al Rayyan), Hassan Al-Haydos (Al Sadd), Ahmed Al-Janahi (Al Gharafa)
Coach: Julen Lopetegui
Star player(s): Akram Afif – The most decorated play in Qatar’s squad with two AFC Player of the Year awards, multiple league titles with Al-Sadd and the Golden Ball award from the 2023 Asian Cup having scored a hat-trick in the final.
Almoez Ali – Qatar’s all-time leading goalscorer and golden boot winner in the 2019 Asian Cup, Ali has been a central player in Qatar’s run through qualification and he will need to step up on the big stage to ensure the Middle East side get out of the group.
Breakout talent: Mohamed Mannai – Only 22-years-old and a physical midfielder. Versatile in both defence and attack with the ability to score goals from midfield. The Tunisian-born star has plenty of potential and has the backing of his coach so should be a key role in this campaign.
Fifa ranking: 55.
Odds to win the World Cup: 1000/1
Switzerland
Swizterland’s Word Cup pedigree and experience gives them a colossal advantage over the other three teams in this group. This year’s tournament will be the nation’s 13th appearance, and sixth in a row, almost double that of Canada, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Qatar combined.
Four years ago, the Swiss finished second in Group G just behind Brazil on goal difference before suffering an infamous 6-1 hammering at the hands of Portugal in the round of 16. Despite that ignominious exit, Switzerland recovered to cruise through World Cup qualification topping European qualifying Group B ahead of Kosovo, Slovenia and Sweden. They went unbeaten through their six matches and recored four wins with a positive goal difference of 12 having only conceded twice throughout qualification.
Head coach Murat Yakin has set a high bar of playing “the best World Cup seen from a Swiss team” but they should have no trouble getting through the group stage against their less expereienced opponents. Yakin prefers a 4-2-3-1 system and has selected a squad of experienced and youthful players that can also adapt to the 3-4-3 that saw Switzerland reach the last eigh at Euro 2024.
Squad
Goalkeepers – Marvin Keller (Young Boys), Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund), Yvon Mvogo (Lorient).
Defenders – Manuel Akanji (Inter Milan), Aurele Amenda (Eintracht Frankfurt), Eray Comert (Valencia), Nico Elvedi (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Luca Jaquez (VfB Stuttgart), Miro Muheim (Hamburg), Ricardo Rodriguez (Real Betis), Silvan Widmer (Mainz).
Midfielders – Michel Aebischer (Pisa), Christian Fassnacht (Young Boys), Remo Freuler (Bologna), Ardon Jashari (AC Milan), Johan Manzambi (Freiburg), Fabian Rieder (Augsburg), Djibril Sow (Sevilla), Ruben Vargas (Sevilla), Granit Xhaka (Sunderland), Denis Zakaria (Monaco).
Forwards – Zeki Amdouni (Burnley), Breel Embolo (Stade Rennais), Cedric Itten (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Dan Ndoye (Nottingham Forest), Noah Okafor (Leeds).
Coach: Murat Yakin
Star player: Remo Freuler – The easy option here is to select Granit Xhaka who will no doubt be a fine leader and the linchpin in midfield. However, I’m going for the more underrated Freuler who, after a less than stellar period in the Premier League with Nottingham Forest, is back in form at Bologna. He’s a workhorse that excels in defensive situations and provides the counterbalance to Xhaka’s playmaking abilities.
Breakout talent: Dan Ndoye – Hardly a breakout star as a 25-year-old Premier League player but Ndoye’s first season at Nottingham Forest wasn’t great. He contributed just two goals and two assists in 37 games having made the switch from Bologna where he recored 15 goal contributions in 41 appearances the previous season. But, for Switzerland he played a crucial role in their qualifying campaign with two goals and three assists from five matches and this tournament could provide the impetus for an improved sophomore Premier League season.
Fifa ranking: 19.
Odds to win the World Cup: 150/1
Group B prediction
Switzerland should have no trouble in topping the group and progressing into the knockout rounds with three wins from three. Early momentum could prove key for the other three teams and with Canada only facing the Swiss in their final group game they hold an advantage. But, both Qatar and Bosnia and Herzgovina will fancy their chances and it will not be a surprise to see either of them go through at the expense of the co-hosts.
