Switzerland vs Qatar: World Cup preview, predictions and bet builder tips

• Fixture: Switzerland vs Qatar

• Competition: World Cup - Group B

• Date: Saturday, 13 June, 2026

• Kick-off: 20:00 BST

• Venue: Levi's Stadium, San Francisco, California, USA

Our prediction: Switzerland 2-0 Qatar

Switzerland

Our predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Kobel / Widmer, Akanji, Elvedi, Rodriguez / Xhaka, Freuler / N'Doye, Manzambi, Vargas / Embolo

Qatar

Our predicted XI (4-3-3): Barsham / Al-Oui, Khoukhi, Pedro Miguel, Ahmed / Madibo, Boudiaf, Hatem / Al-Haydos, Ali, Afif

Switzerland arrive at the 2026 World Cup full of momentum after an unbeaten qualifying campaign, and look like a potential dark horse candidate this summer. They are favourites to win Group B, which would set them up for a favourable run in the knockouts and the Swiss have a history of big upsets at major tournaments. Granit Xhaka will play an integral role in the middle of the park, with Breel Embolo and Dan N'Doye providing plenty of speed up front.

Qatar will want to make a vast improvement on their performance at their home World Cup in 2022, when they exited at the group stage with three defeats in three. Their chances are increased by the fact eight third-placed teams qualify for the knockouts, but Qatar are still favourites to finish bottom of Group B. Former Spain, Real Madrid and West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui has been in charge of the national team for just over a year.

In their previous four World Cups, Switzerland have not lost their opening game, winning three and drawing once. That included a shock 1-0 victory over 2010 champions Spain, and the draw was against Brazil in 2018. There's nothing to suggest that Qatar will be the team to break that trend, as Switzerland look to set the tone at a tournament where many think they have a real shot at an extended run. We're predicting Switzerland to comfortably see off Qatar 2-0.

Qatar failed to make an impression when they hosted the World Cup in 2022, losing all three of their group games and scoring just one goal in the process. They'll hope for a better showing this time around, but face a tough assignment against a solid Swiss team containing Manuel Akanji at the back and Gregor Kobel in goal.

Switzerland will want to keep a clean sheet to start their campaign, and come up against a Qatari side who have scored just one goal in their last five international games. In line with our 2-0 prediction, we're tipping Qatar to score under 0.5 goals as part of our Switzerland vs Qatar bet builder.

Dan N'Doye finished the season out of the Nottingham Forest starting XI, but the former Bologna winger is a key man for the national side, with 8 goals in 31 caps for Switzerland. N'Doye scored in each of his country's warm-up games against Jordan and Australia to cement his spot in the team, after impressing with a goal against Germany in March.

N'Doye's directness and goal threat from the right wing could pose a major problem for Qatar, and the winger will want to continue his good form with the likes of Noah Okafor pushing for a place. N'Doye has had at least one shot on target in each of his last five internationals, averaging 2.39 per game in that stretch. We're backing him to start his World Cup with a bang by landing two shots on target against Qatar.

The main attacking threat for Qatar is likely to come from the trio of captain Hassan Al-Haydos, Akram Afif and all-time top goalscorer Almoez Ali. Almoez has a superb record of 60 goals in 126 caps, and the 29-year-old forward played a key role in Qatar's 2023 AFC Asian Cup triumph. We've picked the Al-Duhail captain as one of our 48 players to watch at this summer's World Cup, and we're tipping Almoez Ali to get his tournament underway with at least one shot on target against Switzerland.

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All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.