Switzerland and Bosnia-Herzegovina will be hoping to get their first wins of the 2026 World Cup when they face off on Thursday at 9pm (UK time).
Both sides opened the tournament with draws, in a very open Group B. Switzerland looked en route to a slender win over Qatar in their first game, thanks to Breel Embolo’s penalty. But they rested on their laurels and allowed Qatar back into the game, conceding a last-gasp equaliser from an own goal.
Bosnia-Herzegovina also gave up a lead in their opening game, against co-hosts Canada. Jovo Lukic converted from a set-piece to put the European nation in dreamland, but their hopes of a win were burst by Cyle Larin’s second-half strike.
It leaves Group B open and all teams will fancy their chances of making the knockout stages. This will be just the second meeting between these two sides, with Bosnia-Herzegovina winning the first 2-0 in 2016.
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Switzerland vs Bosnia-Herzegovina team news
Switzerland team news
Murat Yakin didn’t pull up many surprises in his starting lineup against Qatar. And he’s unlikely to make many changes for the team to play Bosnia-Herzegovina.
One of the biggest calls was Denis Zakaria starting at right-back over Silvan Widmer, but he performed well with three tackles. So the converted midfield may continue as part of the defence, alongside Manuel Akanji, Nico Elvedi and Ricardo Rodriguez.
Granit Xhaka should continue at the base of the midfield trio, joined by Remo Freuler and Michel Aebischer. Djibril Sow is another midfield option, but he’s unlikely to trouble a settled midfield trio.
At most, there may be room for a change in the attacking trio. Dan Ndoye, Breel Embolo and Ruben Vargas started up front against Switzerland. But they only managed to score from the penalty spot. Noah Okafor and Zeki Amdouni may hope to get a chance in rotation, though they might have to make do with substitute appearances again.
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Bosnia-Herzegovina team news
Sergej Babarez made a big call in his first starting lineup at the World Cup. Edin Dzeko had to make do with a place on the bench, and he didn’t even come on as a substitute. Instead, Bosnia-Herzegovina lead with a two-man strike partnership made of Ermedin Demirovic and Jovo Lukic. They’re both likely to keep their place, with the latter starting over Dzeko.
Sead Kolasinac came off late on against Canada and there were fears that it was injury related. But there was no such issue, and the Bosnia-Herzegovina captain will start again at left-back. Like Switzerland, there’s no real reason for Bosnia-Herzegovina to switch up their starting XI given how well they played against Canada.
So Benjamin Tahirovic and Ivan Basic will continue as the central midfield pairing to protect the defence, with Amar Memic and Esmir Bajraktarevic on the flanks. Amar Dedic is set to play at right-back, with Tarik Muharemovic and Nikola Katic at centre-back.
Switzerland vs Bosnia-Herzegovina predicted lineups
Switzerland (4-3-3): Kobel; Zakaria, Akanji, Elvedi, Rodriguez; Freuler, Xhaka, Aebischer; Ndoye, Embolo, Vargas.
Bosnia-Herzegovina (4-4-2): Vasilj; Dedic, Katic, Muharemovic, Kolasinac; Bajraktarevic, Basic, Tahirovic, Memic; Lukic, Demirovic.
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