Switzerland Star Denied Travel to USA Before 2026 World Cup
The Swiss Football Federation announced a completely unexpected setback involving one of their stars as the team departed to the United States for the 2026 World Cup.
Switzerland traveled from Zurich to Los Angeles on Tuesday in order to hold a mini-training camp in San Diego ahead of the tournament, but a seat on the nation's plane was left empty.
Forward Breel Embolo was unable to board the flight with the rest of the squad after an unexpected issue emerged at the airport, and the player was ultimately denied access to the flight.
"Unfortunately, Breel Embolo is currently unable to travel to the United States with the team," the federation said.
The ASF explained that the striker's ESTA travel authorisation had initially been approved but was later flagged shortly before departure. The issue was not expected to be resolved immediately, forcing Embolo to miss the Swiss flight.
"His ESTA authorisation had been approved until this morning," the federation said. "However, at 10:30 a.m., we were informed that his ESTA application had been placed under further review."
Despite the setback, Swiss officials indicated they are actively working to resolve the situation with the authorities, expecting Embolo to join the rest of the squad in the USA either on Wednesday or Thursday.
"We are currently in contact with the relevant authorities and expect that Breel will either join the team later today or travel tomorrow and join the squad then," the ASF said.
JUST IN: Breel Embolo isn't traveling to the US today with the Swiss national team due to his travel documents not being approved pic.twitter.com/OFylT4MrEH
— Polymarket Sports (@PolymarketSport) June 2, 2026
Embolo, 29, is expected to play a key role for Switzerland at the tournament, in what would be his third World Cup. He has scored 24 goals in 86 international matches.
The striker last featured for Switzerland in the nation's 4-1 friendly win over Jordan on May 31, where he scored one goal and assisted on another. If all goes according to plan and Embolo joins Switzerland, he should lead the nation's forward line to start the World Cup.
Switzerland will open its campaign against Qatar on June 13, before facing Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 18 and co-hosts Canada on June 24 during the group stage.
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This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 3:18 AM.