Granit Xhaka has urged Switzerland to “get back down to earth and face reality” after a poor start to their 2026 World Cup.
Switzerland were held to a 1-1 draw by Qatar on Saturday after conceding a 94th-minute equaliser in Santa Clara, denying them top spot in Group B.
However, it was Switzerland’s wastefulness in attack which cost them, scoring just once – a Breel Embolo penalty – from their 26 shots against Qatar.
Switzerland’s 26 shots are their most in a World Cup match on record (since 1966), and the most for a side not to win a game at the tournament since Germany’s 2-1 defeat to Japan in 2022 (also 26).
Xhaka lamented Switzerland’s missed chances, believing an equaliser was inevitable as they missed shot after shot.
“If you don’t take your chances up front, you’ll concede them,” said Xhaka.
“Maybe we also lost a bit of patience, thinking we absolutely had to score the 2-0. We have to be clever and experienced enough to see out the game with a 1-0 lead.
“We knew they were waiting for their moment. And they had it in the 94th minute. We lost our rhythm at the end of the second half. That can’t happen at this level.
“Now we have to get back down to earth and face reality. And the reality is that we’re not at all ready to talk about a title or our best World Cup yet.”
Schluss. Wir spielen Remis
Fin. On fait match nul.
Fine. Pareggiamo. pic.twitter.com/pAJRolJgI9— Nati (@nati_sfv_asf) June 13, 2026
Qatar, meanwhile, won their first-ever point at the World Cup thanks to captain Boualem Khoukhi.
Khoukhi’s equaliser for Qatar (93:59) is the third-latest equaliser scored in the group stages of the World Cup on record (since 1966), behind only Silvestre Varela for Portugal v USA in 2014 (94:34) and Luis Hernandez for Mexico v Netherlands in 1998 (94:04).
Qatar head coach Julen Lopetegui has encouraged his side to keep dreaming after their dramatic draw.
“Switzerland are one of the best teams in Europe right now, with significant solidity, continuity in the coach, and top players in top leagues – that’s important,” Lopetegui told DAZN.
“It’s true that for that to happen, a series of circumstances have to align, and they did.
“We knew how to suffer in difficult moments, we didn’t panic when we were losing, which was important, and in the end, we got that reward of a goal that gave us a point we’d never had before.
“Being here was a dream, achieving something positive today was a dream, we’ve achieved it, and we’ll continue dreaming.
“It’s a right we’ve earned, knowing the difficulty and knowing that we are inferior to our rivals.”
