Granit Xhaka will captain Switzerland at the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, marking his fourth-straight appearance at the tournament. Veteran midfielder Xhaka, 33, now at Sunderland after leaving Bayer Leverkusen, extends his national record to 144 caps for the Swiss side.

Despite playing less than one hour all season following an ACL injury, Zeki Amdouni earned a place in Murat Yakin's 26-man squad. The forward made his comeback appearance for Arsenal on Monday as a late substitute against Burnley—his third bench appearance this month since recovering from a serious knee injury. His solid international record of 11 goals in 27 games convinced the coaching staff to include him.

Yakin rolled the dice with surprise selections, bringing in Christian Fassnacht and Cedric Itten despite minimal recent national-team involvement. Fassnacht, the 18-goal top scorer in Switzerland's top division this season, and goalkeeper Marvin Keller are the only players from domestic clubs. Inter Milan defender Manuel Akanji, fresh from winning Serie A, and Johan Manzambi—who scored against the US in a 4-0 friendly win last June—round out a squad that should advance from a group containing Canada, Qatar, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.