Qatar and Switzerland meet in a Group B match of the 2026 World Cup at 12:00 p.m. local time (19:00 GMT) on Saturday in San Francisco, USA. It is the tournament opener for both sides.
Qatar, the 2023 Asian Cup champions, enter the tournament determined to shake off the comprehensive failure of 2022, when they lost all three group matches on home soil and scored only one goal. Since then, the Middle Eastern side has revived under former Real Madrid coach Julen Lopetegui, who took charge in May 2025. Lopetegui guided Qatar to North America after a 2-1 win over UAE in October 2025 — their first time qualifying through the sporting route.
“When we came here, the goal was to qualify. Now we don’t want to stop. We know who we are up against, but we want to pursue our dream,” Lopetegui said in a pre-match press conference.
Switzerland are appearing at their sixth consecutive World Cup, a record in Europe shared only with France, Spain, England, Portugal and Germany. However, they have never advanced past the round of 16 since 1954. Confident after an unbeaten qualifying campaign in which they conceded only two goals, captain Granit Xhaka stated: “We want to deliver the highest performance. This will be the greatest World Cup. We are ready physically and mentally.”
The two sides have met once before, in 2018, when Qatar caused a shock 1-0 win thanks to an 88th-minute goal from Akram Afif — who remains in the current Qatar squad.
Recent form: Qatar have lost, drawn, lost, drawn and lost in their last five matches, including a 0-0 draw with El Salvador and a 1-0 defeat to Ireland. Switzerland have a better run: one draw, three wins, one loss and one draw, most recently a 1-1 draw with Australia.
In terms of squad, Qatar have no injury concerns and are expected to field the attacking trio of Edmilson Junior, Akram Afif and Yusuf Abdurisag in a 4-3-3 formation. Switzerland also have no absentees, but coach Murat Yakin faces a tough choice between Breel Embolo and Zeki Amdouni for the striker role.
Projected lineups:
- Qatar: Mahmud Abunada (goalkeeper); Ayoub Al-Oui, Boualem Khoukhi, Pedro Miguel, Homam Ahmed; Issa Laye, Ahmed Fathi, Jassim Gaber; Yusuf Abdurisag, Akram Afif, Edmilson Junior.
- Switzerland: Gregor Kobel (goalkeeper); Silvan Widmer, Manuel Akanji, Nico Elvedi, Ricardo Rodriguez; Granit Xhaka, Remo Freuler; Ruben Vargas, Fabian Rieder, Dan Ndoye; Zeki Amdouni.
Earlier, Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina drew 1-1 in their opener, each taking one point. For the two remaining teams, victory in this match would bring a significant advantage in the race for a place in the 32-team knockout stage, where the eight best third-placed sides also qualify.
The match will be broadcast live on beIN SPORTS in Qatar, SRG SSR in Switzerland, ITV in the UK and Fox in the USA.
