Granit Xhaka believes Switzerland have what it takes to beat Portugal in tonight’s Qatar 2022 World Cup round of 16 clash at the Lusail Stadium in Doha.
The two sides are familiar foes, and Switzerland captain Xhaka feels they are of similar strength.
“We’ve played Portugal many times recently,” the Arsenal midfielder told FIFA.
“They’re a dangerous team who can catch you on the counter-attack, as we found out in Lisbon during the Nations League.
“We need to be fully focused from the first minute to the last and make sure we don’t make any mistakes. If we can do that, then I’m confident we can frustrate them.”
The most recent meeting between the sides came in the current edition of the Nations League, with each side winning a match apiece.
Switzerland exacted revenge for a 4-0 defeat on June 5 to emerge with a 1-0 victory from the reverse fixture a few days later.
In their head-to-heads, of the 25 matches played, Switzerland have won 11, Portugal have won nine and the teams have drawn five times.
The Portugal players also expect a tough game, with midfielder William Carvalho saying: “They’re formidable opponents. Switzerland have some excellent players in their ranks and we expect them to have plenty of possession.
“The match will be decided by the little details. We’ll do our best to win the game, and to do that we need to play the way we did in our first two group matches.”
Ruben Dias agreed with his teammate, adding: “There are no favourites in this game. Switzerland have plenty of quality and potential. It’ll be a very close match.”
