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Hundreds of Welsh fans have travelled to Azerbaijan for today’s game despite government warnings and the Welsh FA advising against it because of Covid-19.

Azerbaijan is on the government’s amber list which means anyone returning from the country will have to quarantine on arrival back in the UK.

But that isn’t deterring those in attendance who are determined to support Wales in their first game against Switzerland and their second against Turkey in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku.

“Even if there is only a few hundred of us, we can make a lot of noise,” said fan Richard Collier.

Liverpool midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri has scored or assisted 47% of Switzerland’s goals at major tournaments since 2014, netting five and setting up two of his side’s 15 goals in that time.

Switzerland have scored more than one goal in only one of their 13 games at the European Championships, a 2-0 win on home soil against Portugal in the 2008 group stages.

Can Shaqiri continue his impressive form for the Swiss today?

Gareth Bale scored three times in Wales’ Euro 2016 run and has found the back of the net in his last two appearances against Switzerland.

Wales scored 1.25 goals per game in Euro 2020 qualifying (10 goals in eight games), which is the joint-lowest of any of the 24 sides to qualify for the tournament alongside North Macedonia.

Will Bale be the man the propel them into the knockout stages?

Wales manager Rob Page has opted for a 3-4-3 formation in recent friendlies preferring to play a false nine whilst keeping Kieffer Moore on the bench.

However, Wales switched to a 4-2-3-1 in the second half of their friendly against Albania last weekend and looked like a far more threatening side.

Page elected to go with that formation today which should delight the Welsh fans and Page says he has known his starting XI for a while. He said:

"No need for debates. I’ve been set in my starting XI for some weeks now,

“It wasn’t a difficult decision at all. You want your best players on the pitch at all times.”

Gareth Bale took over the Welsh captaincy from Ashley Williams after the defender retired earlier this year and the 31-year-old says leading out his country at a major tournament will be one of the highlights of his career.

"It’s going to be a massive honour to wear the captain’s armband," said Bale.

"It’s a huge honour anyway but to be leading your country out into a major tournament is going to be one of the highlights of my career."

Despite being Wales’ all-time leading goalscorer with 33 goals in 92 appearances Bale hasn’t scored in 11 games for his country although he feels in good form.

"Like I’ve always said from when I started and when I was scoring loads of goals, it doesn’t matter who scores - it matters about the result," he said.

"I haven’t scored for a while but I’ve made maybe six or seven assists in that time. So I’m still contributing in terms of goals.

"I’m not worried. I know where the back of a net is and hopefully if a chance arises I’ll be able to take it."

This is the first meeting between Wales and Switzerland at a major tournament. In all competitions including friendlies, Switzerland have won five of the seven encounters with Wales winning the other two, including their most recent meeting in 2011.

Switzerland are taking part in their fifth European Championship. They have reached the knockout stages only once previously, in 2016.

At that same tournament Wales became the first debutant to reach the semi-finals of the competition since Sweden in 1992.

Switzerland have high expectations of themselves and want to go far in Euro 2020. After winning the 2009 Under-17 World Cup and finishing as runners-up at the 2011 Under-21 European Championship, Switzerland had hoped to be flourishing in senior tournaments by now.

Current captain Granit Xhaka featured in both those teams, while Xherdan Shaqiri and Yann Sommer are among the many members of this Euro 2020 squad who played for the Under-21s in 2011.

Yet despite qualifying for seven of the last eight senior finals Switzerland have failed to go beyond the second round. But that hasn’t deterred them from believing this time may be different.

"I have a good feeling. We have had good preparations and of course expectations are high," said Xhaka.

"We have high expectations of ourselves and also from the outside, the public expect a lot from us.

"We don’t want to talk, we want to achieve."

Wales reached the semi-finals for the first time in Euro 2016. The vivid memory of that fairytale contrasts with testing circumstances for Wales as they prepare for their second international tournament in five years.

After manager Ryan Giggs was charged with assault, the Welsh FA swiftly appointed Robert Page for this summer’s tournament.

And the 46-year-old has overseen an encouraging start in relief of Giggs, winning four out of six with their only loss coming against the No 1 side in the world Belgium:

There had been some uncertainty over Fabian Schar’s inclusion in the Swiss side as the Newcastle defender missed most of the season with injury but Vladimir Petkovic names him in today’s starting XI.

Elsewhere it’s a familiar story as Switzerland line up in their tried and tested 3-4-1-2 formation with Liverpool playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri in the hole behind the strikers and Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka captaining the side.

The big news for Wales is that Aaron Ramsey and Kieffer Moore both start. Ramsey’s inclusion was doubtful after he missed training on Thursday and questions had been asked about Kieffer Moore’s lack of game time.

Dan James, Gareth Bale and Ramsey will likely operate behind lone striker Moore, with Joe Morrell and Joe Allen in holding midfield.