Preview: Switzerland vs. Ghana - prediction, team news, lineups

Both nations start their campaign in Qatar in exactly a week's time.

Match preview

Ghana will travel to the Middle East following a 2022 that has seen the Black Stars suffer many ups and downs.

The Africa Cup of Nations at the start of the year proved disastrous, and cost Milovan Rajevac, the man who took them to the World Cup quarter-finals in 2010, his job.

A defeat to Morocco was no surprise, but failing to beat a Gabon side without Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang before losing to debutants Comoros was a national humiliation.

With Rajevac on his way out, Otto Addo came in to guide them through the World Cup playoffs which would come just two months later.

The debacle at AFCON was soon forgotten though as Ghana pulled off a surprise in drawing 1-1 in Nigeria to claim a place at the World Cup on away goals.

Recent September friendlies also provided mixed results, as they comfortably lost to Brazil before beating Nicaragua.

Switzerland offer a better middle ground in terms of testing the Black Stars, as they are on a similar level to Portugal and Uruguay, two of the sides Ghana will face in the group stage next week.

For the Swiss, life after Vladimir Petkovic truly starts here, as Murat Yakin prepares for his first major tournament in charge of the European nation.

Italy's complete capitulation following their Euro 2020 success opened the door for Switzerland to cruise past them to top the group and secure their place at these finals.

Drawing home and away with the Azzurri was vital, and rather fortunate for the Swiss considering Jorginho missed penalties in both fixtures, but a 4-0 demolition over Bulgaria on the final matchday saw them deservedly seal their spot in Qatar.

Fortunes went relatively downhill post-qualification though, as Switzerland won none of their following five matches, as a draw with Kosovo being the only time they avoided defeat during that run.

That saw them lose their opening three UEFA Nations League games, but they avoided relegation from League A by roaring back to win their final three - no mean feat facing sides of the calibre of Spain, Portugal and Czech Republic.

Switzerland International Friendlies form:

L

D

Switzerland form (all competitions):

L

L

L

W

W

W

Ghana International Friendlies form:

L

L

W

Ghana form (all competitions):

D

W

D

L

L

W

Team News

First-choice goalkeeper Jojo Wollacott has been ruled out of the World Cup after injuring his finger in the warm up of Charlton Athletic's match with Burton Albion last weekend.

Elsewhere, Addo made a few notable snubs when selecting his 26-man squad this week, as Jeffrey Schlupp, Felix Afena-Gyan, Emmanuel Gyasi and Ransford-Yeboah Konigsdorffer were all left out, despite featuring often in some of Europe's top leagues.

It is an inexperienced squad, as only five players have over 20 caps for the national team, as the Black Stars look to overhaul their squad following the AFCON shambles.

Meanwhile for Switzerland, Yakin has not made many notable omissions, as a lot of the regulars who have been in the squad since 2014 will be around once again.

Granit Xhaka, Ricardo Rodriguez, Yann Sommer and Haris Seferovic are among those from the 2014 squad who will feature at a fifth major tournament, while Xherdan Shaqiri is at his sixth.

Kevin Mbabu's lack of game time at Fulham means there is no place for him, while injury has cost Yvon Mvogo a spot in the squad despite a great start to the season with Lorient.

A tough season for former regular Steven Zuber at AEK Athens means the left winger has also been omitted.

Switzerland possible starting lineup:

Sommer; Widmer, Akanji, Elvedi, Rodriguez; Freuler, Xhaka, Sow; Shaqiri, Seferovic, Okafor

Ghana possible starting lineup:

Ati-Zigi; Lamptey, Salisu, Djiku, Baba Rahman; Partey, Idrissu; J Ayew, Kudus, Sulemana, I Williams

We say: Switzerland 1-2 Ghana

Neither side will probably look too much into the result here, but both will want to prove they can quickly adapt as a team with such short preparation.

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