Algeria’s Petkovic Reunites With Swiss Stars Xhaka and Embolo at World Cup

Petkovic faces former team

Petkovic coached Switzerland for seven years and now faces them in the World Cup Round of 32. Yakin also pushed back on Swiss favorite status.

Yakin vs Petkovic again as Switzerland battle Algeria in World Cup last 32...

Switzerland will run into a familiar setup Thursday in their World Cup Round of 32 tie against Algeria, with Vladimir Petkovic in the North African dugout. Petkovic spent seven years coaching the Swiss national team before taking the Algeria job.

The Bosnian coach moved to Swiss side Chur 97 back in 1987 and later played for and managed several clubs in Switzerland. He then led the national team from 2014 to 2021, working directly with current captain Granit Xhaka and forward Breel Embolo.

“I look different now than I ‌did six years ago, there's a big difference,” Embolo joked when asked what had changed since Petkovic left the Switzerland job.

“Both teams want to win, we want to write ‌history. Petkovic, he really raised the bar with the ⁠Swiss team. And now we want ‌to go even further. We have a new coach now. And it is always difficult as a player to compare coaches to each other.

“One thing that they have in common is that they both want to write history. If it's going to be an advantage, well, at the end of the day, it's still football.”

This World Cup matchup won’t be Yakin’s first go at Petkovic either. The two current Swiss and Algeria coaches have already gone head-to-head while managing in the Swiss league.

“Every time we met, it was very special. I was the coach of Thun and he was the coach of ‌Young Boys, so it was the big brother against the small brother, it was always very positive,” Yakin said.

“It was also a very tactical approach, and this is going to be the case also tomorrow.

“Of course, this was years ago and tomorrow is a very special match and a very special time we meet, at the end of the day, the players will decide who has the better tactical approach.”

Yakin dismissed the idea that Switzerland should be seen as favorites to advance to the Round of 16.

“If ‌we look at the knockout matches, we can't really talk about favourites in this tournament. There are even matches, and this is going to ‌be the case tomorrow as well,” he said.

🔥⛔ National team coach Vladimir Petković’s statements ahead of the match against Switzerland:

💬 “I am Swiss, but tomorrow my country is Algeria and I want to win. I don’t mix things up. I’ve had great experiences and I’m proud to be Swiss, but tomorrow I will be Algeria’s… pic.twitter.com/DKXRpWEOpD

— Algeria Gate -English (@algatedzEng) July 1, 2026

“Algeria is a team that has individual qualities, they're technically very refined, they're very strong, and obviously, they'll try to press hard, but we also try to stick to the way we play football.

“This is going to be an ⁠open match. From the beginning, we'll ⁠try to set the tone, ‌and win.”