06/06/2026

SPORTS SATURDAY | JUNE 6, 2026 26 Group B Canada, Switzerland, Bosnia & Qatar W ORLD CUP co-hosts Canada got the kindest possible draw when they were gifted a group with Switzerland as the highest ranked nation and rounded out by previous World Cup hosts Qatar along with Bosnia & Herzegovina. At least on paper, it’s a draw SWITZERLAND coach Murat Yakin opted for consistency and experience as he named his 26-man squad for the World Cup, picking 17 players who were in the selection in Qatar four years ago. A further three were in the squad at the Itten was picked despite his club Fortuna Duesseldorf being relegated from the German second division on Sunday. Itten scored 15 league goals this season. Also included was Burnley striker Zeki Amdouni, who returned to Switzerland opt for consistency

2026 WORLD CUP

Murat Yakin

2024 European Championship in Germany, leaving only uncapped backup goalkeeper Marvin Keller and the German-based quin tet of Aurele Amenda, Cedric Itten, Luca Jaquez, Johan Manzambi and Miro Muheim playing in a major tournament for the first time. Captain Granit Xhaka, who is Switzerland’s most capped player with 144 appearances, and fullback Ricardo Rodriguez (136 caps) will be competing at their fourth successive World Cup, while it is a third in a row for five other players. Xhaka, remains the team’s most impor tant player at the age of 33. He is the linch pin of Switzerland’s buildup play, dictating the tempo and ensuring a balance between defence and attack. This will probably be the last World Cup for Switzerland’s record appearance-maker, but he could well continue his international career after the tournament. He has followed up two outstanding years at Bayer Leverkusen with an equally impressive one for Sunderland, the Premier League newcomers who secured Europa League football on the last day of the sea son. Xhaka, as he says, is like a good red wine: the older, the better. There was surprise at the omission of Young Boys attackers Alvyn Sanches and Joel Monteiro, who had both been in the last squad for friendly matches against Germany and Norway in March. But teammate Christian Fassnacht was selected after topping the Super League scoring charts with 18 goals, while Cedric

action from a long-term knee injury this month but has made only three substitute appearances in the Premier League. “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 “I think we have selected

that should allow Canada not just to win their first points ever at a World Cup, but to advance to the knockouts with a second-place group finish the minimum target. Still, as high as hopes are for the co-hosts, it’s Switzerland who are group favourites, with the Swiss Fifa’s 19th ranked side while Canada are 30th. Qatar are 55th and Bosnia & Herzegovina 65th to round out the group. With 12 groups and 48 coun tries at this expanded World Cup, the top ranked side here being 19th best in the world while the final two fall outside the top-50 should set the Canadian co-hosts up for success – or for a rather embarrassing failure. There could also be a chance for Qatar to slip into the knockout rounds, as eight of 12 third-place finishers will advance this year. It’s a situation that either highlights that there are simply too many countries at the World Cup party this time around, or alternately that an expanded World Cup means a chance to see some Cinderella stories. Certainly Group B seems set up to allow at least one underdog out sider to go deeper at a World Cup than they ever could have dreamed of. Seeing who that turns out to be and going along for the ride with them could be a lot of fun. AFTER a decade-long march up the Fifa rankings, co-hosts Canada are hoping to crown their rise by claim ing a piece of World Cup history in Group B – a first ever win. In two previous appearances at the World Cup – the 1986 finals in Mexico and the 2022 tournament in Qatar – Canada have a perfect record of six defeats from six matches. The co-hosts are aiming to buck that trend in a first round group that includes Bosnia-Herzegovina, Qatar and Switzerland. Canada’s American coach Jesse Marsch insists his team, which includes the likes of Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies and Juventus’s Jonathan David, have set their sights high. “We want to win the World Cup,” Marsch said last year. “That may sound ridiculous, but why would we go into any tournament at any time and think, ‘Yeah, let’s see how we do, and maybe we get one win. Or can we score a goal?’” While outright victory remains monumentally unlikely, Canada’s results under Marsch suggest that winning a first World Cup game is well within reach. The Canadians surprised many by reaching the semifinals of the Copa America in 2024, where they only narrowly lost on penalties to Uruguay in the third-place playoff.

the best players for the squad and I can’t wait to get going,” he added. Switzerland have reached the last 16 of the

last three World Cup tournaments and the quarterfinals of the last two European Championships. They will play Qatar in Santa Clara

in their opening Group B game on June 14 (3am Malaysian time), fol

lowed by fix tures against Bosnia and

co-hosts Canada.

Canada targeting World Cup first

David remains central to Canada’s hopes and his ambition is clear. “My wildest dream? Let’s just say winning the World Cup with Canada. “If I ever manage to do that, hon estly, I could retire the very next day,” David told La Voix du Nord . That may be a stretch, but a more realistic target is to help transform the sport at home. “I want this World Cup to change football in Canada forever, to make it maybe the No. 1 sport in the coun try,” David told Fifa.com . “The national team have come on leaps and bounds since I came into the picture,” he reflected. “To win a match would be momentous for Canada. After that, the aim is obviously to go as far as possible in the competi tion.” Quiet and unassuming off the pitch, David is already one of Canada’s greatest footballers at just 26. Now, as the co-hosts prepare for the World Cup, the forward hopes to make plenty of noise on the global stage. “I’ve advertised him often as the most intelligent footballer I’ve ever coached,” Canada coach Jesse Marsch said in 2024. “He’s really clever. We all really believe that he can be one of the best

remains the most expensive Canadian footballer in history, with Lille splashing out €30 million (RM4.6m) to sign him in 2020. His first season in Italy, however, proved challenging. He scored just eight times in 46 appearances and saw his minutes reduced late in the campaign. “For me, I think it’s been up and down … I wasn’t scoring as regularly as I wanted to,” he told TSN in April. “Juventus is the club that is under more scrutiny than any other club in Italy; there are all these eyes on you, and obviously, people will talk.” If David is central to Canada’s hopes, so too is captain Alphonso Davies, arguably the most well known player in the Canadian squad. But the Bayern Munich leftback faces a race to be fit in time for the first match, against Bosnia Herzegovina, on June 13 (3am Malaysian time) after picking up a hamstring injury during a Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain. “Obviously, the first game of the tournament it won’t be possible. But let’s see what happens the sec ond, third, maybe if we make it out of the group stage,” Davies said. “Anything is possible in life,” he added.

in the world, if he’s not already in that category.” Yet David remains modest, and happy to shun the spotlight. “Personally, speaking in public isn’t really in my nature because I don’t like putting myself forward – I’m someone who is discreet and calm,” he told the La Voix newspaper. “After a match I prefer to leave the stadium without saying a word.” Last year, David joined Juventus on a free trans fer. He

Jesse Marsch