Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka will be making his fourth successive Fifa World Cup appearance in the 2026 World Cup as he is included in the Switzerland squad for this summer’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Xhaka, Switzerland’s most capped player with 144 appearances, is one of four Premier League players called up by manager Murat Yakin.
The Swiss captain is joined by Nottingham Forest striker Dan Ndoye, Leeds United forward Noah Okafor and Burnley attacker Zeki Amdouni.
Amdouni has made just three substitute appearances in the Premier League this season, after retuning from a long-term knee injury earlier this month.
“Medically, he is 100% fit. He knows our system. He knows his role. That’s the reason why I’m very glad he can be part of it,” Yakin said of Amdouni during a press conference on Wednesday.
“I think we have selected the best players for the squad and I can’t wait to get going.”
Yakin has selected an experienced 26-man squad, including 17 players who featured at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Like Xhaka, Real Betis full-back Ricardo Rodriguez will compete at his fourth World Cup in a row and will look to add to his 136 caps.
Young Boys forwards Alvyn Sanches and Joel Monteiro are surprise omissions, having both been in the squad for friendly matches against Germany and Norway in March.
Their team-mate Christian Fassnacht has been selected, after topping the scoring charts in the Swiss Super League with 18 goals, while Cedric Itten is picked despite suffering relegation to the German third tier with Fortuna Dusseldorf.
Switzerland will begin their tournament preparations on Monday, with friendlies against Jordan in St Gallen on 31 May and Australia in San Diego on 6 June.
They will face Qatar in Santa Clara in their opening Group B game on 13 June, followed by fixtures against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Canada
