SWITZERLAND

Breel Embolo has undergone an astonishing transformation in recent years. The forward, who had always stood out for his impressive physicality, has now added more goals to his repertoire. At the time of writing he has scored eight times for Switzerland since the start of 2025 – the same amount of goals he had in the previous six years for his country. But it is not only on the pitch that the striker, born in Cameroon but raised in Switzerland, has matured. In the past, Embolo has had a tendency to cause controversy. In early 2021, he attended an illegal party despite the Covid lockdown and hid in a bathtub when the police arrived. In 2023, he was convicted of making multiple threats. His comeback at Monaco was derailed because he allegedly obtained two fake Covid certificates in 2021. Today, however, the man from Basel is a key leader within the team, part of the captaincy team and, thanks to his bilingualism, an important link between the German- and French-speaking players.

Has come a long way since those dark days when he failed to make his breakthrough at GC, despite scoring a goal in the derby against FC Zurich at the age of 18. He first went on loan to Challenge League side Winterthur before catching the eye at Lucerne. In January 2016 he joined Atalanta, where, despite many telling him the move abroad came too early, became an instant hit. He spent five years in Bergamo, being a crucial part of Gian Piero Gasperini’s successful time at the club, gaining Champions League experience along the way. After a year with Nottingham Forest in England he returned to Bologna, where he was part of the side who ended a 50-year trophy drought by winning the Coppa Italia. Freuler is this season chasing down Stephan Lichtsteiner as the Swiss player with most Serie A appearances and is a leader within the national team set-ups. “When I don’t like something, I don’t stay quiet, I say something,” he told watson.ch. “If you don’t do that you are a little grey mouse. That is something that has changed in recent years. But at the end what you do on the pitch is always the most important thing. Actions always speak louder than words.”

The big discovery of the past 12 months. Having burst on to the scene from seemingly nowhere at Freiburg Murat Yakin called him up to the summer friendlies in 2025 - and Manzambi responded by scoring and assisting on his first start, a 4-0 win against USA. The technically gifted player can play in any position and at Freiburg he is often deployed as a defensive or attacking midfielder while he has often appeared on the wing for his country. Has matured since moving from the French-speaking part of Switzerland to Germany at the age of 17 but can still lose his cool on the pitch, and was sent off in two consecutive Bundesliga matches during the 2025-26 season. After Freiburg had beaten Basel 2-1 in the Europa League last season Xherdan Shaqiri gatecrashed an interview with Manzambi and said: “It was good to him play, he has a big future ahead of him.”

Captain, record-breaker and the manager’s right-hand man: Granit Xhaka is the undisputed leader of the national team at his seventh major tournament – both on and off the pitch. In the March friendlies against Germany and Norway, the captain was rested for three quarters of the two matches. “We have to be prepared to play without him at times, or when he is marked man-to-man, as he was against Germany,” said Murat Yakin. After a difficult start to their relationship, the pair are now very close. The midfielder has been around for some time now. In 2011, Ottmar Hitzfeld threw the then 18-year-old Xhaka in at the deep end at Wembley during a Euro qualifier against England and the Under-17 World Cup winner is now the record holder for international caps in his country with more than 140 appearances. Many felt that his career was on the way down when he joined Bayer Leverkusen in 2023 after seven years at Arsenal but it was the opposite - and as Xabi Alonso’s leader on the pitch he took the club to a first ever Bundesliga title, won the Cup and reached the Europa League final. Now back in England, he says: “It’s important for me to experience moments of suffering and solidarity too.” His parents are from Kosovo; his father, Ragip, was arrested in 1986 at the age of 22 during a demonstration against the communist central government

A man for the big moment. After being mainly a substitute for Switzerland he grabbed his chance at Euro 2024 and produced his best performance yet for his country in the opening game against Hungary, scoring a goal and providing an assist. What wasn’t known at the time was that he was playing through the pain because of a groin injury. In the end he had to have an operation and lost his place at Bologna and the national team. In the summer of 2025 he therefore joined Pisa. “I no longer had the role I wanted,” he said. “Because I’m someone who likes to get plenty of playing time and also plays an important role in the team. That’s why I deliberately took a step back.” Fluent in all three official Swiss languages – Italian, German and French, he responded diplomatically when asked if he preferred Italian or Swiss food: “You are not going to struggle to find nice food in Italy, that’s for sure” before adding that he was missing a good fondue.