Ghana vs Switzerland

Al Nahyan Stadium is the venue as Ghana and Switzerland go head-to-head in their first-ever international showdown.

Back from missing the 2018 World Cup, Ghana face an uphill task to navigate a competitive-looking Group H consisting of Portugal, Uruguay, and South Korea. Therefore, the ‘Black Stars’ need to pick up momentum ahead of the tournament, especially following an abysmal group-stage exit at the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year. Otto Addo’s men have blown hot and cold across their last five internationals (W2, L3), with four of those five matches (won/lost) seeing the winner keep a clean sheet. Scoring has emerged as a genuine issue for Ghana of late, with the four-time AFCON champions netting under 1.5 goals five times in their last six outings. With each of their four goals scored in that sequence coming beyond halftime, it’s reasonable to expect them to switch on in the second half.

In the meantime, Switzerland’s bid to reach the World Cup knockouts for the third time in a row has strong foundations after ‘La Nati’ delivered several giant-killing performances in the past two years. Murat Yakin’s men first ousted reigning world champions France from the Euros before playing a crucial role in Italy’s second straight World Cup miss. On top of that, they have hit the ground running just in time, going from an underwhelming five-match winless run (D1, L4) to three consecutive victories in the recently completed UEFA Nations League group stages. With Spain and Portugal amongst the sides to find themselves on the receiving end of Switzerland’s rise to prominence, Yakin’s men must be looking forward to this fixture.