Shadow of Kosovo hangs over Switzerland’s crunch tie with Serbia

The Kosovan heritage of Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka and Valon Behrami means there is extra needle for the pivotal meeting in Kaliningrad

When a footballer’s boots are among the pre-match talking points it should normally be a sign that subplots are scarce: the opposite will be true when Xherdan Shaqiri walks out in Kaliningrad. The Switzerland forward will be sporting footwear that, on his right side, displays the stitched flag of Kosovo. He is far from the only member of the team to profess that allegiance and it has raised the temperature of a fixture that has looked pivotal to both sides’ World Cup hopes ever since the draw was made.

“If he loves Kosovo so much and decides to flaunt the flag, why did he refuse a chance to play for their team?” asked Aleksandar Mitrovic when Shaqiri’s choice of boot – for balance, a Swiss flag is displayed on his left shoe – was raised last week. That Mitrovic decided to fire back told enough of a story. Any excuse for needle between Kosovo and Serbia, which refuses to recognise the former as an independent state, tends to be seized upon in a flash and Shaqiri had made his own feelings public by posting an Instagram picture of his boots last month. The reaction online and in the Serbian media – “Provokacija” (provocation) being a prominent and time-honoured theme – was outrage but Shaqiri will, at least, be able to count on strength in numbers if bad blood spills onto the pitch.

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