By Opta Analyst | Created at 2026-06-12 12:18:38 | Updated at 2026-06-13 15:50:56
1 day ago
We look ahead to Saturday’s match in Group B of the 2026 FIFA World Cup with our Qatar v Switzerland preview. After both nations topped their respective qualifying groups, can either get off to the perfect start with a vital three points?
Qatar vs Switzerland: The Key Insights
- The Opta supercomputer sees Switzerland as heavy favourites to kick off their World Cup campaign with a victory, winning 76.0% of the pre-match simulations compared to Qatar’s mere 9.1%.
- This is only Qatar’s second appearance at the FIFA World Cup, although it’s the first time they’ve ever qualified for the tournament after hosting in 2022.
- Switzerland are one of only two European teams to have reached the knockout stages in each of the last six major international tournaments (World Cup/Euros), alongside France.
Sharing Group B with Bosnia-Herzegovina and hosts Canada at the 2026 World Cup, Qatar and Switzerland will begin their campaigns with a clash at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Playing in their first World Cup as qualifiers, having hosted the previous edition, Qatar will hope for a change of fortunes this time around, after finishing rock-bottom of their group four years ago.
Qatar lost all three of their matches, conceding seven goals and scoring just one in 2022, but Julen Lopetegui’s side made short work of their final qualifying group for the 2026 tournament, beating the United Arab Emirates to top spot.
Across two previous qualification rounds and 16 matches in total, Qatar were spearheaded by Al-Duhail striker Almoez Ali, whose 12 goals were more than any other player managed in AFC qualifiers for the 2026 tournament.
Only Norway’s Erling Haaland (16 in total) managed more goals than Ali across the various continental qualifying groups, while Akram Afif led the way for assists for Qatar, with 11 in his 16 appearances.
Six of the goals laid on by the Al Sadd playmaker came from set-pieces, with only Iran’s Mehdi Taremi (17) accumulating more goal involvements than Afif’s 15 in total, via four goals and 11 assists.
Of the AFC nations that reached this summer’s World Cup, Qatar lost more games than any other nation (five), and amongst teams that played at least 10 games in the AFC qualifiers, Qatar’s games featured more goals per game than any other side, with 3.61 on average.
However, those goals have dried up in 2026, with Qatar failing to get on the scoresheet across their last 373 minutes of play in all competitions, and last netting in a December 2025 Arab Cup match against Syria.
That run includes a 1–0 loss to the Republic of Ireland and a goalless draw with El Salvador in their two pre-World Cup friendlies, after three planned fixtures hosting Serbia, Argentina and Sudan were all cancelled.
By contrast, Qatar face a Switzerland side in red-hot form, with Murat Yakin’s side topping Group B of the UEFA qualifiers, winning four of their six games and going unbeaten in the process. Alongside England, the Swiss were one of just two teams in UEFA qualifying who never went behind in any of their games.
Switzerland’s only dropped points came in away draws against Slovenia and Kosovo, and also had Group B’s top goalscorer in the form of Rennes striker Breel Embolo.
A sensation in recent tournaments, Embolo is one of just five players to have scored multiple goals at both the 2022 World Cup and UEFA Euro 2024, alongside Harry Kane, Kai Havertz, Niclas Füllkrug and Cody Gakpo.
The Swiss are unbeaten in their last six World Cup openers, since losing 5–0 to West Germany back in 1966. They’ll be confident of making that seven in a row against a Qatar side ranked 56th in the current FIFA World Rankings, 37 places below themselves (19th).
Despite qualifying for a 13th tournament and 2026 being their sixth in a row, Switzerland have only topped their group at one World Cup previously – in 2006, when they didn’t concede a single goal across their four matches.
Switzerland’s imperious 2025 form has been followed up by a stuttering start to 2026, however, with a 4–3 defeat to Germany in March, draws with Norway and Australia, either side of a 4–1 victory over Jordan last month.
Dan Ndoye netted in three of those matches – including the opener against Australia in San Diego – with the Nottingham Forest winger, Embolo, and Young Boys duo Joël Monteiro and Christian Fassnacht providing Yakin with plenty of attacking options.
Qatar vs Switzerland Head-to-Head
These two nations have only faced off once before in their respective histories, with that meeting coming in a November 2018 friendly as Qatar edged the hosts 1–0 at Stadio di Cornaredo in Lugano, Switzerland.
Akram Afif’s strike proved to be the difference in the 86th minute, and the now 29-year-old forward is one of nine players from that victorious Qatar team to be named in Lopetegui’s 2026 World Cup squad.
Switzerland, meanwhile, have seven survivors from that 2018 defeat in their 26-player squad for this year’s tournament, including skipper Granit Xhaka and Remo Freuler.
Qatar vs Switzerland Prediction
Although both Qatar and Switzerland have seen their form during qualification tail off in the lead-up to this summer’s tournament, there is one comfortable favourite to win their World Cup opener according to the Opta supercomputer.
Across 10,000 pre-match simulations of this Group B clash, Switzerland came out on top 76.0% of the time, suggesting they are highly likely to pick up an early three points.
Qatar’s chances of victory stand at just 9.1% by comparison, and with 14.9% of the simulations ending level, Julen Lopetegui’s side would likely be more than happy with a solitary point from this game.
Qatar vs Switzerland Squads
Qatar: Mahmoud Abunada, Salah Zakaria, Meshaal Barsham, Pedro Miguel, Lucas Mendes, Issa Laye, Jassem Gaber, Ayoub Al Oui, Homam El Amin, Boualem Khoukhi, Sultan Al Brake, Al Hashmi Al Hussain, Abdulaziz Hatem, Karim Boudiaf, Ahmed Fathy, Assim Madibo, Mohammad Al Mannai, Ahmed Alaa, Edmílson Junior, Mohammed Muntari, Hassan Al Haydos, Akram Afif, Yusuf Abdurisag, Ahmed Al Ganehi, Almoez Ali, Tahsin Mohammed.
Switzerland: Gregor Kobel, Yvon Mvogo, Marvin Keller, Miro Muheim, Silvan Widmer, Nico Elvedi, Manuel Akanji, Ricardo Rodríguez, Eray Cömert, Aurèle Amenda, Luca Jaquez, Denis Zakaria, Remo Freuler, Johan Manzambi, Granit Xhaka, Ardon Jashari, Djibril Sow, Christian Fassnacht, Rubén Vargas, Michel Aebischer, Fabian Rieder, Breel Embolo, Dan Ndoye, Noah Okafor, Zeki Amdouni, Cedric Itten.
Qatar vs Switzerland Predicted Lineups
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