Key events
Some of the news stories from the first Saturday of the tournament.
Here’s the Qatari star man.
Sunderland fans will be looking forward to seeing their local hero in action.
The 2022 hosts’ preparations for the tournament were disrupted as the US-Iran war caused the cancellation of valuable friendlies against Serbia and champions Argentina in March. The coach, Julen Lopetegui, had wanted as many minutes as possible with his players, having only been appointed in May 2025. Worryingly, they had won only one out of 11 games under the former Spain and Real Madrid manager before the World Cup warm-up games.
Lopetegui did what he had to do though, making sure Qatar reached the World Cup finals, but it was a close call. The Maroons finished fourth out of six teams in the main qualifying group before – aided by home advantage and a favourable schedule – drawing 0-0 with Oman and beating UAE 2-1 to ensure qualification.
There are many reasons why Swiss fans can approach the tournament with hope and anticipation. The team were very comfortable in qualifying, finishing top of their group ahead of Kosovo, Slovenia and Sweden, winning four games and drawing two.
There is a good mix in the squad between the elder statesmen – such as Granit Xhaka, Manuel Akanji and Ricardo Rodriguez – and a younger generation represented by Dan Ndoye, Fabian Rieder and Johan Manzambi among others. Moreover, the Nati have so far avoided injuries with the Burnley striker Zeki Amdouni seemingly winning his battle to get back after an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Preamble
OK, here’s a test of the expanded tournament. Hipsters only? Though to be fair, both teams are not unfamiliar, having been at the 2022 finals, Qatar as hosts. The Swiss are serial qualifiers, 12 times in all though have never been past the quarters, and that was as long as 1954, when they were hosts. Qatar are Asian champions, no less, and coached by a familiar Premier League face in Julen Lopetegui. The Swiss qualified with ease, topping their group unbeaten. They meet in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Kick-off at 3pm ET/8pm UK time
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