Goals have not been an issue for Switzerland in recent matches, scoring 2+ goals in six of their 10 fixtures so far this season.

But these games have come up against some impressive opponents, with the Swiss bagging three in a recent friendly loss to Germany as well as four in a qualifier against Sweden. Qatar’s qualification for the finals, meanwhile, was achieved despite a leaky defence.

They conceded 2+ goals in seven of their 12 qualifiers from the third round onwards. Against opponents who qualified for the finals (Iran and Uzbekistan), they conceded 2+ in three of four games as well as seven in just two away trips.

Qatar’s discipline was not a strong point in their qualifying games. Across their last 15 competitive matches, they have picked up 2+ cards on 13 occasions.

They triggered this figure in both their fourth round qualifiers and in eight of their 10 third-round games. The only figures that they did not were the blowout defeat (4-1) against Iran and the easy win (5-1) over North Korea.

A red card in their recent 1-0 friendly loss against Ireland highlights that this team is no soft touch. With Switzerland liable to be ball dominant (they had 50%+ possession in all their qualifiers), there will be ample opportunities for cards.

No Switzerland player who featured for more than 45 minutes of qualifying had a higher shot rate than Manzambi, who offered up 3.28 shots per 90.

He only started one of these fixtures but has been increasingly prominent in the thinking of manager Murat Yakin, starting both pre-tournament friendlies after an outstanding end to the season with Eintracht Frankfurt, finishing the campaign with 2.96 shots per 90 in the Bundesliga.

He had three or more shots in seven of his last 11 matches and two or more in 11 of his last 13. Often deployed as a deep midfielder at club level, he is being used in a more attacking manner by Switzerland.

No player featured more in Qatar’s successful qualifying campaign than Afif, so it is little surprise that he fared well when it came to shooting stats, offering 18 across all his matches.

Across his last 14 games for the national side, he has mustered at least one shot on 10 occasions, including both the latest friendly matches.

In two of the four he missed out, he was used away from his favoured roles, either in attack or as an offensive midfielder. He is forecast to lead the line in this game, giving him maximum opportunities to get efforts away.

Embolo is a handful of a striker for any defence he faces, underlined by the fact that he has averaged at least 2.1 fouls per 90 minutes in each of the last 10 league seasons.

That figure is echoed for the national team, with the Monaco hitman picking up 3.52 fouls per 90 in qualifying after winning 4.55 per 90 in the last edition of the Nations League.

He won at least two free kicks in the first five qualifiers before being replaced early against Kosovo, having won one free kick in what was effectively a dead rubber for the Swiss.

Qatar’s defensive numbers do not look promising ahead of this encounter.

In five of their last nine qualifying matches, they conceded six or more shots on target, doing so notably in three of four encounters against Iran and Uzbekistan – the two other sides they faced that qualified for the finals. Switzerland are not short of an attacking threat, too.

They mustered seven or more shots on target in two of their last four qualifying games, both against Sweden – a side ranked considerably higher by FIFA than Qatar.

Manzambi could easily be one of the breakout stars at the World Cup for Switzerland after enjoying a positive season with Freiburg, helping them reach the Europa League Final.

It looks like he’ll be trusted to operate in a more advanced role for Switzerland, having played as a striker in both of Switzerland’s warm-up games for the tournament. 

He registered 13 goal contributions for Freiburg during the 25/26 campaign and has already scored three goals on the international stage across just three caps.

Switzerland are very short to win here. I expect them to win by a few goals, which should give Manzambi plenty of chances to show his talent on this stage.

Breel Embolo represents the biggest threat to the Qatari goal, having been devastatingly accurate in qualifying, when 69.2% of his 13 shots found the target.

This translated to 1.67 shots on target per 90 minutes. Although he posted only 0.87 shots on target per 90 in Ligue 1 with Rennes, he finished the season in excellent form, having seven shots on target in 388 minutes (1.62 per 90).

This carried on in the pre-tournament friendly he played, with Embolo hitting the target three times against Jordan.

If the opening game is anything to go by, we’re going to see quite a few cards at this World Cup.

Switzerland aren’t likely to be challenged too much by Qatar, but one angle that could develop is the Swiss having to make tactical fouls to stop Qatar putting together counterattacks.

Freuler is a player I look at for cards pretty often; he’s generously priced to pick up a caution here and has collected five cautions across his 26 appearances for Bologna during the 25/26 campaign. 

Freuler will have to contend with Jassem Gaber, who won 12 fouls across his six starts during qualifying for Qatar (1.87 per 90), so he’s clearly someone who can trouble the midfielder.