Xhaka and Akanji in Switzerland squad for Euro 2024

Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka and defender Manuel Akanji will headline the country’s 26-man European Championship squad which was named by manager Murat Yakin on Friday, but striker Andi Zeqiri has missed out on a place. Having helped Bayer Leverkusen win their first Bundesliga title last season, 31-year-old Xhaka will be instrumental to Switzerland’s hopes when they kick off their Euro 2024 campaign against Hungary on June 15. Akanji, a Premier League champion with Manchester City, will lead the defence alongside Nico Elvedi, Ricardo Rodriguez, Fabian Schar, Leonidas Stergiou, Silvan Widmer and Cedric Zesiger.
Switzerland, who will also play Scotland and hosts Germany in Group A, have kept 24-year-old Genk player Zeqiri on standby. “Andi made the decision difficult for us. He has performed very well recently. The training days in pre-camp showed that there is a lot of competition in the offence, which is why other players have been given preference,” Yakin said in a statement.
“We had very good training sessions. The competition for the 26 places contributed to the high training intensity and kept the tension in the team high throughout the camp. I am very satisfied. With this good spirit, we now want to start the last European Championship test against Austria and then the journey to Stuttgart.”
As part of their Euro preparation, Switzerland will host Austria in a friendly match on Saturday.

Squad
Goalkeepers: Gregor Kobel, Yvon Mvogo, Yann Sommer
Defenders: Manuel Akanji, Nico Elvedi, Ricardo Rodriguez, Fabian Schar, Leonidas Stergiou, Silvan Widmer, Cedric Zesiger
Midfielders and forwards: Michel Aebischer, Zeki Amdouni, Kwadwo Duah, Breel Embolo, Remo Freuler, Ardon Jashari, Dan Ndoye, Noah Okafor, Fabian Rieder, Xherdan Shaqiri, Vincent Sierro, Renato Steffen, Ruben Vargas, Granit Xhaka, Denis Zakaria, Steven Zuber.

Barca’s Cubarsi among cuts for final Spain Euro 2024 squad
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente cut Barcelona’s teenage defender Pau Cubarsi from his final squad for Euro 2024 along with Marcos Llorente and Aleix Garcia. De la Fuente named a 29-man list in May before whittling it down to 26 players a week before the tournament begins in Germany.
Cubarsi, 17, burst into the limelight with Barcelona in the second half of the season and made his international debut in March against Colombia in a friendly. Atletico Madrid’s versatile midfielder Llorente missed out along with Girona playmaker Garcia.
Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal, 16, stayed on the list with the club’s midfielder Fermin Lopez. Real Betis’s Ayoze Perez and Athletic Bilbao defender Dani Vivian also survived the cut despite Spanish reports they were in line to miss out. Spain face Northern Ireland in a final tune-up friendly today, seven days before their first match at Euro 2024 against Croatia on June 15.

Squad
Goalkeepers: Unai Simon (Athletic Bilbao), Alex Remiro (Real Sociedad), David Raya (Arsenal/ENG)
Defenders: Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Robin Le Normand (Real Sociedad), Dani Vivian (Athletic Bilbao), Nacho Fernandez (Real Madrid), Aymeric Laporte (Al Nassr/KSA), Alex Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen/GER), Marc Cucurella (Chelsea/ENG)
Midfielders: Rodri Hernandez (Manchester City/ENG), Martin Zubimendi, Mikel Merino (Real Sociedad), Fabian Ruiz (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA), Pedri, Fermin Lopez (both Barcelona), Alex Baena (Villarreal)
Forwards: Alvaro Morata (Atletico Madrid), Joselu (Real Madrid), Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao), Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig/GER), Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres (both Barcelona), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Ayoze Perez (Real Betis)