Switzerland’s national football team (German: Schweizer Fussballnationalmannschaft, Italian: Nazionale di calcio della Svizzera, French: Équipe nationale suisse de football, Romansh: Squadra naziunala da ballape da la Svizra) plays international football for Switzerland. The Swiss Football Association is in charge of the national squad.
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Switzerland’s finest FIFA World Cup results were three quarter-final appearances in 1934, 1938, and 1954. They hosted the competition in 1954, and played Austria in the quarter-finals, losing 7-5 in what is still the highest scoring World Cup match ever. [4] Switzerland set a FIFA World Cup record in 2006 by being eliminated from the tournament despite not conceding a single goal, losing to Ukraine on penalties in the round of sixteen. They did not concede a goal until a match against Chile in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, when they conceded in the 75th minute, setting a World Cup finals record for the longest time without conceding a goal.
Switzerland and Austria co-hosted UEFA Euro 2008, when the Swiss made their third appearance in the competition but failed to advance from the group stage for the third time. [6] [7] Since then, the Swiss have advanced to the Round of 16 at UEFA Euro 2016, as well as a record-breaking quarter-final appearance at UEFA Euro 2020. [8] [9]
Switzerland’s best ever finish in an official football competition was a silver medal in 1924, after losing to Uruguay 3-0 in the Olympic Games final.
1924–1966: Early years, host nation
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Switzerland won a silver medal at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris after losing 3-0 to Uruguay in the final. [10] The team made its World Cup debut in 1934, reaching the quarter-finals after defeating the Netherlands 3-2 in the round of sixteen before being eliminated by Czechoslovakia. [11] [12] Switzerland reached the quarter-finals once more in 1938, after defeating Germany in the round of sixteen, winning 4-2 after a replay, but were eliminated by Hungary, losing 2-0.
Switzerland was put in a group alongside Brazil, Yugoslavia, and Mexico for the 1950 World Cup, where they finished third after losing 4-0 to Yugoslavia in their opening encounter, drawing 2-2 with Brazil in their second match, and winning Mexico 2-1 in their final group play. [16] Switzerland was given the unchallenged right to host the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Luxembourg City on July 22, 1946. [17] Switzerland finished second in their World Cup group behind England, beating Italy and losing to England[18], but advanced to the quarter-finals after defeating Italy in a group play-off. [19] They were eliminated from the tournament after falling 7-5 to Austria.
Switzerland finished last in their group at the 1962 World Cup, losing all three games, 3-1 to Chile, 2-1 to West Germany, and 3-0 to Italy. [21] A similar outcome occurred in 1966, when Switzerland finished bottom of their group after losing all three of their matches, 5-0 to West Germany, 2-1 to Spain, and 2-0 to Argentina.
The Roy Hodgson era 1992-1996.
Switzerland recruited English manager Roy Hodgson as head coach of the national team in 1992, and the Swiss had not qualified for any major tournament since 1966 at the time of his employment. [23] Switzerland moved to third place in the FIFA World Position under his leadership in August 1993, which remains their greatest FIFA ranking to this day. Hodgson led Switzerland to the 1994 FIFA World Cup, losing only one game in qualifying in a group that included Italy, Portugal, and Scotland. [Citation required] The Swiss won their home game against Italy and took a 2-0 lead in the away game before being held to a 2-2 draw. They also took four points from Scotland, winning 3-1 at home and drawing 1-1 away.
Switzerland drew 1-1 at home against Portugal and fell 1-0 away in Porto, their sole defeat in the qualification campaign. [28] [29] On June 18, 1994, they met the United States in the Pontiac Silverdome, and the two sides tied 1-1 in the opening match of the 1994 FIFA World Cup. [30] They won 4-1 against Romania in their next game before losing 2-0 to Colombia in their final game. [31] [32] Despite this, Switzerland qualified for the knockout round, but were defeated 3-0 by Spain.
The Köbi Kuhn era 2000-2008
Switzerland successfully qualified for the UEFA Euro 1996 tournament finals in England, topping their qualification group and losing only once, a 1-2 setback to Turkey. [34] [35] They were drawn in Group A, however their campaign was largely disappointing, as they finished last in their group. [36] Their first match was a 1-1 draw against the hosts, England. [37] They lost 2-0 to the Netherlands in their second match, and 1-0 to Scotland in their final group game.
Switzerland failed to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, which was held in France, finishing fourth in their qualifying group, winning three games, 3-2 against Finland, 1-0 against Hungary, and 5-0 against Azerbaijan, drawing one game (1-1), and losing three games, 1-0 against Azerbaijan, and losing both games against Norway, losing 1-0 at home and 5-0 away.
The Swiss qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup after defeating Turkey on away goals in Istanbul, the country’s first World Cup since 1994. [47] Switzerland was drawn in Group G, along with former world champions France, fourth-place finisher South Korea in the 2002 World Cup, and newcomer Togo. Switzerland bravely held the mighty France of Zinedine Zidane 0-0,[48] before defeating the Togolese 2-0 in the second match, tied with the South Koreans four points, but the Swiss were inferior to the Koreans in number of goals scored, making the final game a must-win.
The Swiss then defeated South Korea 2-0 in the final match to take first place in their group and knock the Asians out of the tournament. [50] Switzerland faced Ukraine in the round of sixteen, but lost on penalties in what has been dubbed the “worst game” in World Cup history. [51] Despite this, Switzerland was the only team to be eliminated without giving up a single goal.
Switzerland and Austria were selected as co-hosts of UEFA Euro 2008. [52] Switzerland was assigned to Group A, along with Portugal, Turkey, and the Czech Republic. [6] Their first match ended in a 1-0 loss to the Czech Republic, followed by a 1-2 loss to Turkey. [53] [7] In their third match, Switzerland defeated Portugal 2-0, ensuring that Portugal did not finish first in their group.
Ottmar Hitzfeld era 2008-2014.
The squad defeated eventual champions Spain 1-0 in their opening encounter at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, thanks to a goal by Gelson Fernandes, however they were eliminated in the group stage. [55] In the second game, a goal by Mark González in the 75th minute against Chile halted a 559-minute stretch without surrendering a goal in World Cup matches, breaking Italy’s previous record by nine minutes. Switzerland was eliminated from the tournament following a 0-0 draw with Honduras in the third and final group match.
Switzerland failed to qualify for UEFA Euro 2012, falling out for the first time in a decade, after finishing third in the qualifying group, which included England, Montenegro, Wales, and Bulgaria. [61] Switzerland’s qualifying campaign began with a 1-3 loss to England, in which Xherdan Shaqiri scored his debut goal for the national team, followed by a 1-0 loss to Montenegro. [62] [63] Switzerland then defeated Wales 4-1 before drawing with Bulgaria (0-0) and England (0-0). (2–2).
Switzerland’s qualification chances were renewed with a 3-1 win over Bulgaria, thanks to a hat-trick from Xherdan Shaqiri. [67] However, after a 2-0 loss to Wales (in which Reto Ziegler was sent off) and Montenegro’s last-minute equalizer against England in a 2-2 draw, Switzerland’s chances of qualifying were mathematically eliminated. [68] [69] Switzerland earned redemption in the final game, defeating Montenegro 2-0. [70] Xherdan Shaqiri scored four goals for Switzerland during the qualifying period.
Switzerland was drawn to face France, Honduras, and Ecuador in the group stage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. [72] They moved to the round of sixteen after defeating Honduras 3-0, with Xherdan Shaqiri scoring a hat-trick. They fell 1-0 against Argentina in the quarterfinal round, surrendering in the 118th minute to ngel Di Mara.
The Vladimir Petkovi era2016-2021.
Switzerland was chosen to compete in Group A at Euro 2016 alongside hosts France, Albania, and Romania. [Citation required] Switzerland defeated Albania 1-0 in the opening game, with Fabian Schär scoring the game’s only goal in the fifth minute. [75] Switzerland then drew 1-1 with Romania, conceding from a penalty but equalizing in the second half thanks to a goal from Admir Mehmedi.
The final group game was a 0-0 tie with France. The game, however, gained notoriety for several Swiss players’ jerseys being ripped during challenges with French players, as well as the ball bursting during a challenge between Antoine Griezmann and Valon Behrami when they both converged on the ball, with the game also attracting attention for its poor surface, which was criticized by both coaches and players of the two teams; after the game, Switzerland’s kit manufacturer blamed “faulty material” for the incisiveness.
Switzerland finished second in the group due to the draw, setting up a tie against Poland in the round of sixteen; initially the Swiss conceded but found a late equalizer from Xherdan Shaqiri, who scored a bicycle-kick to send the game into extra-time, but the Swiss were knocked out as Granit Xhaka missed the second penalty during the penalty shootout, as all other players converted their penalties, with Poland winning 5-4 on penalties to advance.
The Swiss started their qualifying group with a 2-0 win over European champions Portugal, who had won the tournament less than two months before they met on September 6. [84] Following that, they defeated Hungary 2-3, Andorra 2-1, Faroe Islands 2-0, and Latvia 1-0 in the first five games, taking the group lead with maximum points.
In the reverse fixtures, they defeated the Faroe Islands 2-0, Andorra 3-0, Latvia 3-0, and Hungary 5-2, before facing Portugal in the final group game, which they lost 2-0,[93], requiring them to compete in the play-offs, where they were ranked as the best second-placed team,[83][94] and were drawn to play Northern Ireland. They won the first leg 1-0 thanks to a controversial penalty scored by Ricardo Rodrguez, and three days later they played the second leg, drawing 0-0 and advancing to the World Cup finals in Russia with a 1-0 aggregate win. Prior to the World Cup, Switzerland was ranked sixth in the world, higher than eventual World Cup winners France.
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Switzerland was drawn in Group E of the World Cup to face Brazil, Serbia, and Costa Rica. [100] They opened their campaign with a 1-1 draw against Brazil before defeating Serbia 2-1 thanks to a late goal from Xherdan Shaqiri. [102] The celebrations performed by goal scorers Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka (both ethnic Albanians), along with Stephan Lichtsteiner, during the game with Serbia sparked controversy, as the trio performed a celebration where they crossed their hands to depict a double-headed eagle, the official emblem of Albania, considered by many as an Albanian nationalist symbol, but they were not banned by FIFA for this.
Their last group game was against Costa Rica, which they tied 2-2 with goals from Blerim Demaili and Josip Drmi, placing second in the group. [107] They were scheduled to face Sweden in the round of sixteen, which they lost 1-0, knocking them out of the competition.
Switzerland was chosen to play in the inaugural edition of the UEFA Nations League, a tournament contested by all UEFA member’s national teams, on January 23, 2018, being drawn to play in League A, Group 2, against Belgium and Iceland.
Switzerland finished third in Group A, which included Italy, Wales, and Turkey, however they advanced to the next round as one of the top third-placed teams. They defeated World Cup champions France on penalties in the round of 16 after a 3-3 draw and overcoming a 1-3 second-half deficit to earn their first knockout phase victory in a major tournament since the 1938 FIFA World Cup. After trailing 1-0 in the subsequent quarter-final game against Spain, they went to penalties once more. However, after converting only one of their four penalties, they were eliminated from the tournament.
