ZURICH, May 20 (Reuters) - Switzerland coach Murat Yakin opted for consistency and experience on Wednesday 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 2024 European Championship in Germany, leaving only uncapped backup goalkeeper Marvin Keller and the German-based quintet 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.
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 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 action from a long-term knee injury this month but has made only three substitute appearances in the Premier League.
"Medically, he is 100 percent 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 told a press conference on Wednesday.
“I think we have selected the best players for the squad and I can’t wait to get going,” he added.
The squad will assemble on Monday and play a friendly against Jordan in St. Gallen on May 31. The Swiss will then fly to the U.S. where they take on Australia in San Diego in a warm-up match on June 6.
They meet Qatar in Santa Clara in their opening Group B game on June 13, followed by fixtures against Bosnia and co-hosts Canada.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Marvin Keller (Young Boys Bern), Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund), Yvon Mvogo (Lorient)
Defenders: Manuel Akanji (Inter Milan), Aurele Amenda (Eintracht Frankfurt), Eray Comert (Valencia), Nico Elvedi (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Luca Jaquez (VfB Stuttgart), Miro Muheim (Hamburg), Ricardo Rodriguez (Real Betis), Silvan Widmer (Mainz)
Midfielders: Michel Aebischer (Pisa), Christian Fassnacht (Young Boys Bern), Remo Freuler (Bologna), Ardon Jashari (AC Milan), Johan Manzambi (Freiburg), Fabian Rieder (Augsburg), Djibril Sow, Ruben Vargas (both Sevilla), Granit Xhaka (Sunderland), Denis Zakaria (Monaco)
Forwards: Zeki Amdouni (Burnley), Breel Embolo (Stade Rennais), Cedric Itten (Fortuna Düsseldorf), Dan Ndoye (Nottingham Forest), Noah Okafor (Leeds United).
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Toby Davis)
