{"id":43011,"date":"2026-04-01T17:51:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T17:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/43011\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T17:51:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T17:51:13","slug":"why-is-xherdan-shaqiri-not-playing-for-switzerland-at-the-2026-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/43011\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is Xherdan Shaqiri not playing for Switzerland at the 2026 World Cup?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Switzerland are going to be playing at the World Cup this summer without one of their most iconic players.<\/p>\n

Xherdan Shaqiri has scored many goals at major tournaments<\/a> over the years, but he won’t be featuring this time around.<\/p>\n

\"Xherdan<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Shaqiri is a Switzerland legend but won’t be playing at the 2026 World CupCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

The former Liverpool<\/a> and Stoke<\/a> winger, who is still playing club football for Basel, hasn’t played for Switzerland since 2024.<\/p>\n

He has played at four World Cups<\/a> in total for his country, while also playing in three European Championships over his career.<\/p>\n

But that is where it stopped, as Shaqiri will not be adding another tournament to his collection this summer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Why is Shaqiri not playing for Switzerland?<\/p>\n

Shaqiri isn’t playing for Switzerland at the World Cup as he retired from international football in July 2024.<\/p>\n

READ MORE ON WORLD CUP<\/p>\n

Just a few days after the Swiss lost to England<\/a> at the Euros, the now 34-year-old called time on his international career.<\/p>\n

“Seven tournaments, many goals, 14 years with the Swiss national team and unforgettable moments,” he wrote on social media.<\/p>\n

“It’s time to say goodbye to the national team.<\/p>\n

“Great memories remain and I say to you all, thank you.”<\/p>\n

Shaqiri played 125 times for Switzerland across his 14 years with the team, scoring 32 goals for his nation.<\/p>\n

Only two players have ever played more games for the Swiss team than the ex-Premier League<\/a> star.<\/p>\n

\"Xherdan<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Shaqiri has played at four World Cups, including in Qatar four years agoCredit: Getty\"Xherdan<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

The ex-Liverpool star has played at seven major tournaments for his countryCredit: GettyShaqiri’s history-making career<\/p>\n

Shaqiri, who picked up his first cap at the age of 18 in 2010, is the third-highest Swiss appearance maker of all time, sitting behind only Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez and Xhaka are likely to collect some more caps at the World Cup this summer, while Shaqiri misses out.<\/p>\n

His Switzerland career ended with a third appearance at a European Championship after featuring in a fourth World Cup.<\/p>\n

He is currently the only Swiss player ever to play in seven major tournaments, with Xhaka and Rodriguez set to equal him soon.<\/p>\n

The veteran forward played in 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 at the iconic tournament, playing 12 games altogether.<\/p>\n

Shaqiri scored five times in those 12 appearances<\/a>, including a memorable hat-trick at the 2014 edition against Honduras.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Switzerland are going to be playing at the World Cup this summer without one of their most iconic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[21383,17,24855,24856,13703,24857,24858],"class_list":{"0":"post-43011","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-switzerland","8":"tag-2026-world-cup","9":"tag-switzerland","10":"tag-why-is-xherdan-shaqiri-not-playing-for-switzerland","11":"tag-why-is-xherdan-shaqiri-not-playing-for-switzerland-at-the-2026-world-cup","12":"tag-world-cup","13":"tag-xherdan-shaqiri","14":"tag-xherdan-shaqiri-retired"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116330724392358693","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}