Ghana and Switzerland will play in a World Cup practice match on Thursday morning in Abu Dhabi. Both teams in Qatar will begin their campaigns in precisely one week.
Ghana will travel to the Middle East after a 2022 that saw the Black Stars endure many highs and lows. Due to the appalling outcomes of the Africa Cup of Nations at the start of the year, Milovan Rajevac, who had guided them to the World Cup quarterfinals in 2010, was fired. The national humiliation came from failing to upset a Gabon squad without Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang before losing to debutants Comoros, even if losing to Morocco was predicted.
Two months after Rajevac resigned, Otto Addo took control and guided them into the World Cup playoffs. But after Ghana surprised everyone by drawing 1-1 in Nigeria to qualify for the World Cup based on away goals, the AFCON calamity was swiftly forgotten.
In a recent friendly in September, they had mixed results, losing comfortably to Brazil before beating Nicaragua. Switzerland offers a better middle ground for testing the Black Stars because they are akin to Portugal and Uruguay, two of the teams Ghana will play in the group stage next week.
Murat Yakin is getting ready to lead the European nation of Switzerland in his first big competition, and this is where life after Vladimir Petkovic for the Swiss really begins.
Following their triumph at Euro 2020, Italy completely capitulated, which allowed Switzerland to easily cruise past them to win the group and qualify for these finals.
It was important to draw both at home and away against the Azzurri, which was fortunate for the Swiss considering Jorginho missed penalties in both games. However, a 4-0 thrashing of Bulgaria on the final matchday allowed them to deservedly secure their place in Qatar.
Switzerland possible starting XI:
Sommer; Widmer, Akanji, Elvedi, Rodriguez; Freuler, Xhaka, Sow; Shaqiri, Seferovic, Okafor
Ghana possible starting XI:
Ati-Zigi; Lamptey, Salisu, Djiku, Baba Rahman; Partey, Idrissu; J Ayew, Kudus, Sulemana; I Williams