Bad news for England as Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka passed fit

Both nations booked their places in the quarter-finals over the weekend with wins over Italy and Slovakia respectively.

The Three Lions struggled against the Slovakians as they needed a very late Jude Bellingham equaliser to save them from elimination, while Switzerland had a much easier time against the Italians as they secured a 2-0 win.

Xhaka featured in the game in Berlin on Saturday but admitted after the match that he had issues with an injury during the week.

“We practiced penalty shootouts before the Italy game,” the Bayer Leverkusen star said on Sunday via Blick. “On my first attempt, I felt something in my left adductor. That’s why I skipped training on Thursday. On Friday in the final training session, everything was fine again.

“But in the game, I felt it again after 15 minutes. Luckily we have very good doctors who gave me something for it. I was able to play the whole game afterwards, which was important for me.

“We’ll do an MRI on Monday and see what exactly it is. But I have seven days now to get everything treated.”

The results from that scan are now back and the Swiss captain has been passed fit to play against England on Saturday as they look to book a place in the semi-finals.

Granit Xhaka will be fit for Switzerland’s clash with England

“Fortunately, the MRI showed no injury. It was a long season and that left its mark on Granit Xhaka,” Swiss FA media spokesman Adrian Arnold told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon via The Standard.