World Cup 2026 in sight – which players will make it into the Swiss squad?

Switzerland managed to qualify for the World Cup for the sixth time in a row and played a fantastic qualification round. The team, and especially goalkeeper Gregor Kobel from Borussia Dortmund, even set a new record for consecutive matches without conceding a goal. A milestone for the keeper and at the same time a strong sign of the strength of the Swiss team.

In the World Cup 2026, Switzerland is going to face a solid group with Bosnia, Canada, and Qatar as the opponents. It’s actually not a big surprise that Switzerland and Canada are the favorites for the group win for now. Anything other than a first or second place would actually already become a disappointment after such a strong qualification. 

For achieving those goals, every country needs a strong team in order to compete. Especially in the German Bundesliga are lots of Swiss players, but which ones could be part of the squad? A brief look and analysis together with the experts about sports betting in Switzerland from MySportwetten.de/ch.

Players who need to be part of the squad

Some of the Swiss Bundesliga players are more or less indispensable for Murat Yakin and his ambitions in such a tournament. Therefore, the glance should be on two exceptional Bundesliga players.

Gregor Kobel (28, GK, Borussia Dortmund)

After the retirement of Yann Sommer in the Swiss national team, Gregor Kobel stepped in as expected. This was absolutely well-earned since the keeper from Borussia Dortmund improved a lot in the last few years and became one of the best players in his position, Europe-wide. In this season, Kobel has the most clean sheets in the whole Bundesliga.

If nothing bad happens, Kobel will be one of the most important players for the Swiss team during the World Cup.

Johan Manzambi (20, CM, SC Freiburg)

Another crucial player could be the central midfielder Manzambi. In his first full season as a Bundesliga football player, he managed to earn his place in the starting eleven of Freiburg and, pretty often, became the best and most creative player on the pitch. At the same time, Manzambi has been with the Swiss national team since the summer of 2025.

As a national coach, you wanna have such a weapon like Manzambi in your team. Even though the midfielder is only coming from the bench, he could turn games around with his carefreeness and his undoubted skill set.

Players who will most likely be part of the squad

Besides the two exceptional and extremely important players, there are some others who might be part of the squad too. 

Aurèle Amenda (22, CB, Eintracht Frankfurt)

Back in the winter transfer period, it looked like Amenda could leave Frankfurt without getting a real chance to shine after all his injuries. In the end, the central defender stayed, and in the past months, Amenda established himself as one of the starters at the club. Not all of his performances have been good ones, but the playing, in combination with his player profile, could help Switzerland in such a tournament. 

Looks like Amenda has high chances to be nominated at the moment.

Nico Elvedi (30, CB, Borussia M’gladbach)

There are only a few central defenders from Switzerland who have gathered so much experience in a top league in the last few years, as Elvedi did in Gladbach. Of course, Elvedi unfortunately never proved himself on an even higher level, but he always performed quite solidly for many years, which is a clear indication of quality.

If he keeps healthy and plays some decent last Bundesliga matches, Elvedi should be part of the final squad too.

Fabian Rieder (24, OM, FC Augsburg)

Stuttgart unfortunately didn’t trigger the buy clause for Rieder last summer, but fortunately, Augsburg jumped in and signed the promising young attacking midfielder. After some promising matches in Stuttgart, he finally became a Bundesliga starter in Augsburg and played a decent season overall. Thanks to his two goals against Leverkusen recently, he became the best Augsburg scorer this season, and the club is more or less secure in the battle of relegation.

Even though he hasn’t had the same impact for the Swiss team in important matches yet, a team always needs some in-form players, and therefore, Rieder could be a nice addition to the Swiss team.

Silvan Widmer (33, RV, 1.FSV Mainz 05)

Every single team needs experienced players and real leaders on the field, and so is Silvan Widmer from Mainz. After a difficult first half of the season, the right back and his team are currently playing a fantastic second half and are close to staying in the league. A phenomenal comeback story could therefore come true in the end.

Despite a difficult season in Mainz, Widmer was always an important player for the Swiss national team and will most likely continue in this role at the World Cup.

Players who still have a chance

Of course, that’s still not all the Swiss players in the Bundesliga. There are some players, and some of them could still have a chance, too. For example, the centre back talent Bruno Ogbus (20) from Freiburg or Cédric Zesiger (27) from Augsburg, who both gained lots of playing time recently and played some really good matches.  

The promising defender Luca Jaquez (22) could be part of the World Cup squad too, but would definitely need more playing time and strong performances in the last Bundesliga matches in order to have a chance. JonasOmlin (32), currently on loan in Leverkusen, has unfortunately only outside chances because of his lack of playing time.

Players who will most likely miss the World Cup

Last but not least, it’s time to mention the last few Swiss players that will most likely not be part of the squad for various reasons. Defender Joël Schmid (27) from Cologne sometimes showed his skills, but had to deal with several injuries during the season and will therefore miss the World Cup. The same issue with a lack of playing time applies to Leonidas Stergiou (24) from Heidenheim, too. 

Defender Isaac Schmidt from Werder Bremen was actually part of the Swiss team during this season, but didn’t play much in the past few weeks and wasn’t nominated for the last friendly matches already. His chances might be low, too.

Miro Muheim (27) would have had a World Cup chance, but got a serious injury in his last Bundesliga match in Bremen and is therefore likely to miss the World Cup 2026.

Many Swiss Bundesliga players have good World Cup chances

For Bundesliga fans, it’s actually quite nice to see that so many Swiss players could be part of the World Cup too. This shows once more the quality of the league as well as the players. At the World Cup, Switzerland clearly wants to reach the next rounds. In the last three World Cups, the Swiss team always reached the last 16 and then lost.

This year, the goal of the Swiss team will be at least the round of 16 again, but of course, the team, as well as the fans, are striving for more. Maybe Switzerland is going to be one of the big surprises of the tournament, you’ll never know. The quality in the squad and the excitement around the World Cup are both there. We’ll see how well they will perform on this platform.