Soccer World Cup 1966 / Switzerland

This article covers the Swiss national team at the 1966 World Cup .

qualification

Switzerland had to play in qualifying group 5 for the 1966 World Cup against Northern Ireland , Albania and the Netherlands .

Before qualifying, the Swiss were in a low performance. Since the 1962 World Cup , the Swiss have only won one game (2-0 against Belgium), with nine defeats and two draws. The game system was also changed, the Swiss bar developed by national coach Karl Rappan was abandoned in favor of more offensive tactics. After Rappan's elimination at the end of 1963, the games got more goals, but the Swiss mostly conceded even more goals and the games were also lost. With the commitment of the Italian Alfredo Foni, an attempt was made to return to the old customs.

Foni's start in the Swiss national team was extremely unfortunate, the first international match under his leadership was lost 3-2 to Norway on July 1, 1964, and the second friendly three months later against Hungary ended in bankruptcy for the Swiss team.

The Swiss started the qualification as outsiders compared to the Dutch and Northern Irish, who were rated more strongly. This opinion was also confirmed in the first qualifying match against Northern Ireland. The team converted by Foni, which only relied on experienced people in defense, lost 1-0 to the Northern Irish ten days after the defeat against Hungary. The only goalscorer of the day was Manchester City's Johnny Crossan , who converted a penalty taken by the first 19-year-old George Best .

So Foni lost his first three games in the office of the Swiss national coach. Exactly one month after the game in Belfast, the second leg followed on November 14, 1964 against the Northern Irish in Lausanne. Foni hired three new people in the storm, including two debutants with René-Pierre Quentin and Georges Vuilleumier . With a rather offensive 4-2-4 tactic, the Swiss tried to compensate for the defeat in the first leg, because in the event of a defeat, the World Cup qualification would have become almost unattainable after just two match days.

The game started anything but good for the Swiss team. After the newcomer Vuilleumier lost the ball, George Best , who was already a top performer on his team at the time , was able to bypass the advanced Swiss defense and score an unsustainable 1-0 for goalkeeper Karl Elsener . The backlog was like a wake-up call for the Confederates. Quentin headed a cross from Vuilleumier in the 28th minute to equalize 1: 1. And just seven minutes later, a cross from Quentin found Jakob Kuhn , who was also able to head successfully and thus put Switzerland in the lead. The Swiss were able to secure this score over the 90 minutes and were thus there with 2-2 points after two games. On the next two match days, Albania, a newcomer to the World Cup and a blatant underdog of Group 5, was the opponent.

Switzerland is preparing for the meeting against the Albanians in Coverciano , Italy . There were complications even before the game against the Southeast Europeans. The Swiss aircraft had to turn around shortly before landing in Tirana due to the onset of dusk and stop in Dubrovnik , as no air traffic was allowed in Tirana at night. The Swiss were also not satisfied with the Albanians' balls, which were made in China. The Albanians, for their part, declared the Swiss a "state of war" until the end of the game. In the game itself there were countless fouls that did not allow the game to flow. In the end, Switzerland won 2-0 with a goal from Quentin and a converted penalty from Kuhn in stoppage time in the second half. Although the Albanians had more shares in the game, they could not benefit from them and thus lost to cleverer Swiss who had to fight harder for this victory than expected.

For the second leg, which takes place three weeks later, Foni called Rolf Wüthrich , who is playing in Nuremberg, to the national team. Wüthrich was considered a physically extremely strong player. The trained center forward was used in this game in midfield and should stand up to the rustic Albanians. Switzerland also won this game. However, the Confederates managed the only goal of the day after a dubious foul on Wüthrich only with a penalty. Kuhn was again the shooter who secured the points against the "football dwarf". So the Swiss had 6: 2 points after four of six games. For the last two games, the opponent was now the Netherlands.

For the first game against the Netherlands in Amsterdam, the Swiss team prepared in the Duisburg sports school. In front of 57,000 spectators, including 2,000 Swiss who traveled with them, the two teams separated 0-0. Both defensive rows were very safe throughout the game, but the offensive rows were also very poor in ideas. This resulted in the following picture before the final group matches: Northern Ireland and Switzerland were in first place with 7: 3 points each, followed by the Netherlands with 6: 4, while the Albanians with 0:10 points have so far participated in the qualifying round without any success.

The last group game in Switzerland took place on November 14, 1965 in Bern's Wankdorf Stadium. After the goalless draw against Switzerland, some of the Dutch players were criticized by the press and teammates for failing to show the necessary commitment in the national team. Due to this criticism, some players resigned, which is why the Dutch team was switched to five positions. There were three changes in the Swiss team, including Anton Allemann , who also played for Nuremberg .

Switzerland dominated the first half in front of 57,000 spectators. After just ten minutes, the hosts took the well-deserved lead following a presentation by Kuhn through Robert Hosp . This result remained until half-time, although the Confederates still had some good chances to extend their lead. Shortly after the break, Heinz Bäni sustained a bleeding head wound, which meant that ten of the Swiss had to continue the game. During this shortfall, the surprising equalizer fell. Elsener was unable to fend off a cross from Sjaak Swart decisively and Piet Kruiver brought the ball into the net to equalize 1-1. After returning to the field, Bani ended up in the 63rd minute when he showed signs of a concussion. As a result, the Swiss had to continue the game outnumbered (substitutions were first allowed at World Cup tournaments in 1970). The ten Swiss tried, after still dominating in the first half, to save the 1-1 over time. In the 88th minute Werner Leimgruber advanced with a solo into the opposing half, passed the sixteen meter space on the Nuremberg Allemann, who was until then one of the weakest players of the day, who hit the ball to the hardly thought possible 2-1 victory Tor promoted.

With that, Switzerland already had at least one play-off against Northern Ireland, as no value was placed on the goal difference in the event of a tie. The Northern Irish had to compete ten days later with the previously pointless Albanians. Despite a 1-0 lead after an hour, the Northern Irish could not decide the game for themselves. In the end, the two teams separated 1: 1 and Switzerland was qualified for a World Cup finals for the sixth time thanks to Albania's rifle aid.

rank	country	Gates	Points
1	Switzerland	7: 3	9: 3
2	Northern Ireland	9: 5	8: 4
3	Netherlands	6: 4	6: 6
4th	Albania	2:12	1:11

Northern Ireland	-	Switzerland	1: 0 (0: 0)
Switzerland	-	Northern Ireland	2: 1 (2: 1)
Albania	-	Switzerland	0: 2 (0: 1)
Switzerland	-	Albania	1: 0 (1: 0)
Netherlands	-	Switzerland	0-0
Switzerland	-	Netherlands	2: 1 (1: 0)

Swiss contingent

Number / name		Association at the time	birthday	Sp.	goal	red
goalkeeper
12	Leo Eichmann	FC La Chaux-de-Fonds	December 24, 1936	1	0	0
1	Karl Elsener	Lausanne Sports	08/13/1934	2	0	0
22nd	Mario Prosperi	FC Lugano	08/04/1945	0	0	0
Defense
5	René Brodmann	FC Zurich	10/25/1933	2	0	0
7th	Hansruedi Fuhrer	Young Boys Bern	12/24/1937	3	0	0
9	André Grobéty	Lausanne Sports	06/22/1933	1	0	0
14th	Werner Leimgruber	FC Zurich	09/02/1934	1	0	0
18th	Heinz Schneiter	Young Boys Bern	04/12/1935	1	0	0
19th	Xavier Stierli	FC Zurich	October 29, 1940	2	0	0
20th	Ely Tacchella	Lausanne Sports	May 25, 1936	1	0	0
midfield
3	Kurt Armbruster	Lausanne Sports	09/16/1934	2	0	0
4th	Heinz Bani	FC Zurich	11/18/1936	3	0	0
6th	Richard Dürr	Lausanne Sports	December 01, 1938	1	0	0
11	Jakob Kuhn	FC Zurich	October 12, 1943	2	0	0
attack
2	Willy Allemann	FC Grenchen	06/10/1942	0	0	0
8th	Vittore Gottardi	FC Lugano	09/24/1941	2	0	0
10	Robert Hosp	Lausanne Sports	12/13/1939	3	0	0
13	Fritz Künzli	FC Zurich	01/08/1946	2	0	0
15th	Karl Odermatt	FC Basel	December 17, 1942	1	0	0
16	René-Pierre Quentin	FC Sion	08/05/1943	2	1	0
17th	Jean-Claude Schindelholz	Servette Geneva	10/11/1940	1	0	0
21st	Georges Vuilleumier	Lausanne Sports	09/21/1944	0	0	0
Trainer
	Alfredo Foni		01/20/1911

Games of the Swiss team

Switzerland played in group 2 against Argentina , Spain and Germany . After a 5-0 opening defeat against their northern neighbors, they also lost the next two games. Against Spain they gave away a half-time lead, against Argentina they could only keep the game open until half-time. They were eliminated from the tournament as bottom of the table with 1: 9 goals and 0: 6 points.

rank	country	Gates	Points
1	Germany	7: 1	5: 1
2	Argentina	5: 2	5: 1
3	Spain	4: 5	2: 4
4th	Switzerland	1: 9	0: 6

Preliminary round
Germany	-	Switzerland	5: 0 (3: 0)
Switzerland	-	Spain	1: 2 (1: 0)
Argentina	-	Switzerland	2: 0 (0: 0)

Preliminary round

Germany - Switzerland 5: 0 (3: 0)

12 July 1966 at Hillsborough Stadium , Sheffield

Germany: Tilkowski - Höttges , Weber , Schulz , Schnellinger - Haller , Beckenbauer - Brülls , Seeler (captain), Overath , hero - trainer: Helmut Schön

Switzerland: Elsener - Grobéty, Schneiter (captain), Tacchella, Fuhrer - Bäni, Dürr, Odermatt - Künzli, Hosp, Schindelholz

Spectators: 36,000 - Referee: Hugh Phillips (Scotland) - Goals: 1-0 Held (15th), 2-0 Haller (20th), 3-0 Beckenbauer (39th), 4-0 Beckenbauer (54th), 5: 0 Haller (77th, foul penalty)

As four years earlier , Switzerland had to play against the German team in the preliminary round. The last comparison was a year ago, when the Germans got the upper hand in Basel 1-0. Even before the first group game there was excitement among the Swiss. Kuhn and Leimgruber had returned to the hotel too late the day before the opening game. Foni then closed his playmaker as well as his most experienced defender. Dürr and Tacchella joined the team for the two of them.

Both teams started the game offensively, with the Swiss having the first chance of the game when Künzli appeared free in front of Tilkowski and Tilkowski was just able to parry the shot. After a quarter of an hour, the German team took over the initiative. The 1-0 lead by the Germans was preceded by a pass from Overath to Held. He pushed over the outside lane into the Swiss penalty area, his shot attempt ricocheted off Schneiter directly to Seeler, who also shot Schneiter, with the ball in the six-yard box jumping back to Held, who had no trouble making it 1-0 from close range .

After the opening goal, the Germans became more and more dominant. In the 22nd minute Haller ran with the ball at his foot over half the place, while Schneiter let go of the empty run and replaced the goalkeeper Elsener, so that the score was 2-0 for the German team. A play of the only 20-year-old Beckenbauer, who included Haller and Seeler in his advance, in order to then skilfully complete, brought the decision in the 40th minute with the 3-0. Nevertheless, the Swiss did not surrender to their fate, but continued to play ahead, without being able to successfully complete an attack.

Nine minutes after the break, Beckenbauer increased to 4-0. The Bayern player received a long ball from midfield, then left two Swiss defenders and completed from the left position with the pick. Haller, who like Beckenbauer scored twice, set the final point with a penalty kick. Leimgruber substitute Tacchella brought Seeler down in the penalty area and easily converted the penalty.

The Swiss made a smooth false start, although the 5-0 was a few goals too high, but the Swiss defensive players could not hold their own against the offensive forces of the Germans. In the attack, the Swiss tried hard, but remained unlucky time and again in the end.

Switzerland - Spain 1: 2 (1: 0)

July 15, 1966 at Hillsborough Stadium , Sheffield

Switzerland: Elsener - Grobéty, Schneiter (captain), Tacchella, Fuhrer - Bäni, Dürr, Odermatt - Künzli, Hosp, Schindelholz

Spain: Iribar - Sanchís , Reija , Pirri , Gallego - Zoco , Amancio , del Sol - Peiró , Luis Suárez , Gento (captain) - Coach: José Villalonga

Spectators: 32,000 - Referee: Tofik Bachramow (Soviet Union) - Goals: 1-0 Quentin (31st), 1: 1 Sanchís (57th), 1: 2 Amancio (75th)

After the clear opening defeat Alfredo Foni changed his team to seven positions. Only the departure of Schneiter and Grobéty was based on injuries. Only Elsener, Bani, Hosp and Fuhrer remained of the line-up against Germany.

For the Swiss it was clear before the game that if they lost, they would have been eliminated from the tournament after two matchdays, as they did in Chile in 1962. Nevertheless, the first attacks came from the Spaniards, who had the first scoring chances through Luis Suárez (7th) and Gento (13th). The Swiss played more cautiously than in the first game and were therefore more secure in the back. On the offensive, they were much more dangerous than the opening game with Kuhn and Quentin. These two players were then also responsible for the 1-0. A cross from the right found a grateful buyer in Quentin, who could easily hit the lead.

The Swiss defense was safe almost up to the 60th minute. Then Sanchís started from his own half, left three Swiss people standing, pushed Brodmann somewhat illegally in a duel in the sixteen and scored the 1-1 equalizer. The Swiss waited in vain for the Soviet referee's free kick. When Quentin's second goal was denied in the 69th minute, as the linesman recognized Gottardi had fouled in the penalty area, the Swiss felt they were being treated unfairly. The Spaniards take advantage of this phase, during which the Swiss defense in particular lost its line and looked increasingly bad. In the 75th minute, the Iberians took the lead. Amancio was able to complete a Gento cross with a diving header. The Spaniards turned the game around in the second half, but the Swiss didn't rebel in the final quarter of an hour.

Schneiter, the injured captain of the Swiss, said after the game: “Never before have we been as close to our first win against Spain as this time.” But with two referee decisions and the break-in of the Swiss defense after an hour, the Confederates had to follow suit return home in the preliminary round. In the last group game against Argentina it was all about a decent and fair finish.

Argentina - Switzerland 2: 0 (0: 0)

July 19, 1966 at Hillsborough Stadium , Sheffield

Argentina: Roma - Ferreiro , Perfumo , Calics , Marzolini - Rattín (captain), González , Solari - Onega , Artime , Mas - Trainer: Juan Carlos Lorenzo

Switzerland: Eichmann - Fuhrer, Brodmann, Bäni, Stierli - Armbruster, Kuhn (captain) - Gottardi, Hosp, Künzli, Quentin

Spectators: 20,000 / 32,000 - Referee: Joaquím Campos (Portugal) - Goals: 1-0 Artime (51st), 2-0 Onega (80th)

The Argentines wanted to achieve the highest possible victory in this game in order to reach the next round as group winners and to get the English team out of the way. The Argentines had to give up this project after the first half, which was goalless. The Swiss showed a combative performance. But again it was an individual performance that caused the Swiss to concede a goal. Artime left three Swiss players and scored his third tournament goal with a low shot.

The Swiss reared up again after falling behind, they absolutely wanted to avoid another pointless elimination like in Chile, but a shot by Hosp after an hour only hit the crossbar. On the other side, the decision was made after 80 minutes. After Artime presented, Onega enforced the 2-0 preliminary decision.

The Zürcher Zeitung "Sport" wrote after the elimination: " ... A team like ours cannot afford to play offensively at a world championship. We play carefully at world championships. Our team has played - at least in the field - not badly done. But we don't have any top people, certainly not in attack. [...] Our main problem, however, is the storm ... ".

It was not until 1994 that Switzerland was represented at the World Cup finals.

literature

• SZ WM library: England 1966 , Munich 2005, ISBN 3-86615-155-1
• Ernst Huberty , Willy B. Wange: World Championship 1966 , Lingen-Verlag, Cologne 1966
• Dr. Friedebert Becker : Soccer World Cup 1966 , Copress-Verlag, Munich 1966
• Bertelsmann Sports Editing / Sports Information Service: VIII. Soccer World Cup England 1966 , C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Gütersloh 1966