Xherdan Shaqiri Misses Switzerland National Football Team at 2026 World Cup

Xherdan Shaqiri will not play for the switzerland national football team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He retired from international soccer in July 2024, ending a 14-year run that left Switzerland without one of its most productive tournament scorers.

Shaqiri’s July 2024 exit

Shaqiri stepped away after Switzerland’s penalty shootout loss to England in the Euro 2024 quarterfinals. At 32, he said on social media that “my memories with the national team would remain forever.”

That retirement closed the door on a career that stretched across 125 appearances and 32 goals. He finished as Switzerland’s third-most capped player and fourth-highest goalscorer, a rare combination of volume and end product for a player used in the biggest matches.

FC Basel after Chicago Fire

His exit from the international game came shortly before another change. Shaqiri parted ways with Chicago Fire and returned to his boyhood club, FC Basel, in the Swiss Super League.

The move also removes a familiar reference point for Murat Yakin’s squad. Shaqiri had been one of Switzerland’s most recognizable attackers in major tournaments, with key moments in 2014, 2016 and Euro 2024 still attached to his name.

In 2014, he scored a hat-trick against Honduras. In 2016, he struck a bicycle kick against Poland. At Euro 2024, he scored a curler against Scotland. Those goals now sit inside a finished international record, and Switzerland heads to the 2026 World Cup without the player who built much of that record.

Switzerland without a veteran

For Switzerland, the absence is straightforward: the World Cup roster does not include a retired international. For Shaqiri, the choice was made after Euro 2024, and his national-team career ended on 125 caps, 32 goals and one last line that still defines how he left the shirt behind.