Granit Xhaka and Breel Embolo are back in contention for Switzerland. On Tuesday the Swiss Football Association (SFV) announced that both players can be selected again from the November international window, closing a chapter that had kept the national team captain out of the October Nations League fixtures and cost Embolo his place in September.
The decision was taken by the SFV Central Board after it reviewed the concluded proceedings over forged Covid certificates the pair obtained in 2021 and 2022. In its official statement, the federation says a comeback is justifiable now that the legal side is over and the sporting consequences have already been felt, which the federation counts as four missed internationals in September and October. It also stresses that anyone wearing the national shirt carries a particular responsibility.
Tami: “the right thing to do”
National team director Pierluigi Tami explained the reasoning. “We considered this from various perspectives. The specific circumstances of both cases, the concluded legal proceedings, and the sporting consequences already implemented all factored into the decision,” he said, as quoted by BBC Sport. “We are convinced that a return to the national team in November is responsible and the right thing to do.”
According to the BBC, both men were fined 150,000 Swiss francs (around £136,000), with the penalty suspended for two years on condition that they commit no further offences. Xhaka, now 34 and playing his club football at Sunderland, had admitted acquiring a fake certificate that allowed him to travel and play in 2022. Embolo, 29, is at Atlanta United in MLS.
Xhaka keeps the armband
The question of the captaincy has also been settled. The SFV says the decision belongs to the head coach and the squad, and that Murat Yakin, his technical staff and the players’ council agreed unanimously that Xhaka should stay on as skipper. No one has played more often for the Nati: he has 152 caps.
Both names are on Yakin’s long list for the last two Nations League group games, and the coach said he was glad to have his full range of options available again. He will name the squad on Thursday, 5 November. The players meet up in St. Gallen on Monday, 9 November, with an open training session at the Berit Sitterstadion that afternoon, before facing Slovenia in Maribor on Friday, 13 November, and Scotland in St. Gallen three days later.
Switzerland have won all four of their Nations League matches so far and sit top of Group E. Getting Xhaka back restores the player who sets the tempo from deep in Yakin’s midfield, while Embolo gives the coach a physical focal point up front. For a reminder of how the Swiss set up when both were available, see our tactical analysis of Switzerland’s 2-0 win in Sweden, and for Xhaka’s role at club level, our breakdown of Newcastle United against Sunderland.
New rules for every national team
The ruling arrived alongside a wider policy change. On the same day the SFV Central Board approved uniform guidelines on how to deal with criminal matters involving players, coaches and staff across all of its national teams, from the youth sides to the senior women’s and men’s teams. The guidelines take effect on 1 November 2026, require those affected to inform the federation as soon as an investigation or proceedings begin, and allow outcomes ranging from no action to temporary or long-term exclusion, with every case judged individually.
