Switzerland officially announce their final 26-man squad ahead of Euro 2024 this summer, but who has made the cut and which star names have been left out?
Switzerland have officially confirmed their final 26-man squad ahead of competing at Euro 2024 this summer.
UEFA confirmed last month that squad sizes have been increased from 23 to 26 players for this year’s eagerly-anticipated tournament held in Germany, and all squads must include at least three goalkeepers.
Murat Yakin is gearing up for his third major tournament in charge of the Swiss, who have been drawn in Group A alongside Euro 2024 hosts Germany, Hungary and Scotland.
Here, Sports Mole takes a look at Switzerland’s 26-man squad for Euro 2024, who has been selected and who are the unfortunate players to miss out.
Which Swiss stars have been selected?
© Reuters
The most experienced member of Yakin’s squad is Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka, who has earned 124 international caps to date and heads into Euro 2024 following a hugely successful debut campaign with Bayer Leverkusen.
Xhaka was a key cog in the Leverkusen machine that put together a record 51-game unbeaten run in all competitions in 2023-24 and became double winners for the first time in the club’s history, clinching both the Bundesliga title and DFB-Pokal.
The 31-year-old midfielder is one of three Swiss players in the 26-man squad who has earned over 100 caps along with Torino‘s left-sided defender Ricardo Rodriguez and Chicago Fire winger Xherdan Shaqiri.
The oldest member of the Switzerland squad is 35-year-old goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who will compete with Borussia Dortmund‘s Gregor Kobel and Lorient‘s Yvon Mvogo for the number one jersey.
© Reuters
Premier League duo Manuel Akanji of Manchester City and Fabian Schar of Newcastle United are two of seven defenders selected in Yakin’s squad along with two-cap 22-year-old Leonidas Stergiou, who enjoyed a successful 2023-24 season with Stuttgart.
Remo Freuler and Michel Aebischer both helped Bologna qualify for the Champions League for the first time in the Italian club’s history last season, and the midfield duo will be heading to Euro 2024, as will Denis Zakaria, Fabian Rieder and Vincent Sierro – who all ply their trade at club level in Ligue 1 – and Luzen’s Ardon Jashari, who at the age of 21 is the youngest member of Yakins’s squad.
Forward Breel Embolo was reduced to just five appearances for Monaco last season due to an ACL injury and did not feature in any of Switzerland’s Euro 2024 qualifiers, but the 27-year-old made his long-awaited comeback in April and is fit to represent Switzerland at the Finals.
Embolo is one of eight attackers to make Yakin’s squad along with experienced winger Steven Zuber, Augsburg‘s Ruben Vargas, AC Milan‘s Noah Okafor and London-born Ludogorets Razgrad striker Kwadwo Duah, who made his international debut in a friendly against Estonia on June 4.
Which Swiss stars will miss Euro 2024?
© Reuters
Yakin’s provisional 33-man squad was cut to 27 on June 5, with 24-cap right-back Kevin Mbabu one of the standout names to be left out of Switzerland’s final squad.
Filip Ugrinic, Albian Hajdari, Uran Bislimi, Pascal Loretz and Marvin Keller, who have earned just four international caps between them, have also been sent home.
Switzerland have since confirmed that Genk striker Andi Zeqiri is the final player to be dropped from the final squad and will not be making the trip to Germany, but the 24-year-old will be on standby.
“Andi made the decision difficult for us. He has been performing very well recently,” said Yakin. “The training days in the pre-camp showed that there is also a lot of competition in the offensive, which is why other players were given preference.”
Other notable omissions from the Switzerland squad include 93-cap striker Haris Seferovic, who now plays his club football in the UAE with Al Wasl, 41-cap Sevilla midfielder Djibril Sow and 30-cap Mainz 05 man Edimilson Fernandes.
© Reuters
What are Switzerland’s pre-tournament preparations?
Those that were initially selected in Switzerland’s preliminary 33-man squad linked up for a 4-0 friendly victory over Estonia on June 4 in Lucerne.
The Swiss will play their final warm-up fixture at the AFG Arena in St Gallen on Saturday before travelling to their Stuttgart training base on June 10 to finalise their preparations for Euro 2024.
Switzerland will kick-start their Euro 2024 campaign with a Group A clash against Hungary at the RheinEnergieStadion on Koln on June 15, before facing Scotland on June 19 and then Germany on June 23.
Switzerland’s 26-man squad for Euro 2024:
Goalkeepers: Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund), Yvon Mvogo (Lorient), Yann Sommer (Inter Milan)
Defenders: Manuel Akanji (Manchester City), Nico Elvedi (Borussia Monchengladbach), Ricardo Rodriguez (Torino), Fabian Schar (Newcastle United), Leonidas Stergiou (Stuttgart), Silvan Widmer (Mainz 05), Cedric Zesiger (Wolfsburg)
Midfielders/Attackers: Michel Aebischer (Bologna), Zeki Amdouni (Burnley), Kwadwo Duah (Ludogorets Razgrad), Breel Embolo (Monaco), Remo Freuler (Bologna), Ardon Jashari (Luzern), Dan Ndoye (Bologna), Noah Okafor (AC Milan), Fabian Rieder (Rennes), Xherdan Shaqiri (Chicago Fire), Vincent Sierro (Toulouse), Renato Steffen (Lugano), Ruben Vargas (Augsburg), Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen), Denis Zakaria (Monaco), Steven Zuber (AEK Athens)
