Football World Cup 2018 / Switzerland

Soccer World Cup 2018 : Switzerland
Trainer	Vladimir Petković
captain	Stephan Lichtsteiner
Qualified as	Winner of the European Playoff against Northern Ireland
World rankings before the tournament	6th
Tournament result	Round of 16
Games won	1
Games tie	2
Games lost	1
Gates	5: 5

This article covers the Swiss national football team at the 2018 World Cup . The A national team of the Swiss Football Association took part in the finals for the eleventh time.

qualification

The team qualified for the World Cup in Russia through the qualifying matches of the European football association UEFA .

Games

Haris Seferović, top Swiss goalscorer in qualification

The Switzerland met in Group B on European champions Portugal , Hungary , the Faroe Islands , Latvia and Andorra . In the ten encounters that resulted, the Swiss team had nine wins that they had not previously achieved in a World Cup qualification. In addition, the Swiss set a new goal record with 23 goals. Nevertheless, this was not enough for the direct qualification, as the last decisive game for the group victory against Portugal, in which the Swiss would have been enough to draw, was lost 2-0. Here underwent Johan Djourou as the only Swiss in qualifying an own goal and the Swiss succeeded for the first time myself a goal. Since Portugal had the better goal difference, the Portuguese pulled past the Swiss on the last match day, against whom they had lost the first game 2-0. However, as the best runner-up in the group, Switzerland still had the chance to book the World Cup ticket via the playoffs of the runners-up in the group. They met Northern Ireland and won their first game in Belfast through a controversial hand penalty transformed by Ricardo Rodríguez 1-0. Even the former Swiss referee Urs Meier considered the penalty to be unjustified. With a goalless draw in the second leg, the Swiss then qualified for the World Cup finals.

In total, national coach Vladimir Petković used 29 players, 20 of whom were already in the squad for the 2016 European Championship . Only Haris Seferović was used in all twelve games. Captain Stephan Lichtsteiner , Admir Mehmedi , Fabian Schär , goalkeeper Yann Sommer and Granit Xhaka , who once received a yellow-red card in the first game, could not be used in the following game, made eleven missions . Edimilson Fernandes played his first international match against the Faroe Islands on November 13, 2016, making him the only newcomer to a qualifying match.

The top scorer was Haris Seferović with four goals. Stephan Lichtsteiner and Ricardo Rodríguez scored three goals each, the latter two from penalties . A total of 14 players contributed at least one goal.

date	Venue	host		guest	Result	Goal scorers for Switzerland
09/06/2016	Basel	Switzerland	-	Portugal	2: 0 (2: 0)	Breel Embolo (23rd), Admir Mehmedi (30th)
07/10/2016	Budapest	Hungary	-	Switzerland	2: 3 (0: 0)	Haris Seferović (51.), Ricardo Rodríguez (67.), Valentin Stocker (89.)
10/10/2016	Andorra la Vella	Andorra	-	Switzerland	1: 2 (0: 1)	Fabian Schär (19./Penalty), Admir Mehmedi (77.)
11/13/2016	Lucerne	Switzerland	-	Faroe Islands	2: 0 (1: 0)	Eren Derdiyok (27.), Stephan Lichtsteiner (83.)
03/25/2017	Geneva	Switzerland	-	Latvia	1: 0 (0: 0)	Josip Drmić (66.)
06/09/2017	Tórshavn	Faroe Islands	-	Switzerland	0: 2 (0: 1)	Granite Xhaka (36th), Xherdan Shaqiri (59th)
08/31/2017	St. Gallen	Switzerland	-	Andorra	3: 0 (1: 0)	Haris Seferović (43., 62.) Stephan Lichtsteiner (68.)
09/03/2017	Riga	Latvia	-	Switzerland	0: 3 (0: 1)	Haris Seferović (9th), Blerim Džemaili (54th), Ricardo Rodríguez (58th / penalty)
07.10.2017	Basel	Switzerland	-	Hungary	5: 2 (3: 0)	Granit Xhaka (18th), Fabian Frei (20th), Steven Zuber (43rd, 49th), Stephan Lichtsteiner (83th)
10/10/2017	Lisbon	Portugal	-	Switzerland	2: 0 (1: 0)

Final table of the qualifying round

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Portugal	10	9	0	1	032: 400	+28	27
2.	Switzerland	10	9	0	1	023: 700	+16	27
3.	Hungary	10	4th	1	5	014:140	± 0	13
4th	Faroe Islands	10	2	3	5	004:160	−12	09
5.	Latvia	10	2	1	7th	007:180	−11	07th
6th	Andorra	10	1	1	8th	002:230	−21	04th

Playoff games

date	Venue	host		guest	Result	Goal scorers for Switzerland
11/09/2017	Belfast	Northern Ireland	-	Switzerland	0: 1 (0: 0)	Ricardo Rodríguez (58th / penalty)
11/12/2017	Basel	Switzerland	-	Northern Ireland	0-0

preparation

In preparation for the World Cup, four friendlies were planned. The first meeting was on March 19, 2018 in Zurich with a direct journey to Athens , on the occasion of a six-day training camp and the test match against Greece on March 23. On March 27, the second test match against World Cup participant Panama took place in the Swissporarena in Lucerne . Switzerland celebrated an undisputed 6-0 win, with six different scorers : Blerim Džemaili , Granit Xhaka , Breel Embolo , Steven Zuber , Josip Drmić and Fabian Frei .

Two months later, from May 27 to June 8, 2018, another training camp took place in Lugano , during which two more test matches were played. In Villarreal , the Swiss met another World Cup participant in Spain on June 3, 2018 . Five days later they played the last of four friendly matches against Japan in Lugano , which they won 2-0. After the training camp, they left for Russia , where they moved into accommodation in Tolyatti (Tolyatti Resort). The training sessions take place in the stadium of the Russian third division club FK Lada Tolyatti .

date	opponent	Result	Venue	Swiss goal scorers
23 Mar 2018	Greece	1: 0 (0: 0)	Athens	Blerim Džemaili (59.)
27 Mar 2018	Panama	6: 0 (4: 0)	Lucerne	Blerim Džemaili (22nd), Granit Xhaka (31st / penalty), Breel Embolo (33rd), Steven Zuber (39th), Josip Drmić (49th), Fabian Frei (68th)
03rd June 2018	Spain	1: 1 (1: 0)	Villarreal	Ricardo Rodríguez (62.)
0June 8, 2018	Japan	2: 0 (1: 0)	Lugano	Ricardo Rodríguez (42./Penalty), Haris Seferović (82.)

Note: Teams in italics are not qualified for the World Cup.

Squad

Valon Behrami is the first Swiss to take part in a World Cup finals for the fourth time.

No.	player	Club before the start of the World Cup	International matches	Länderspiel- gates	Date of birth	Games	Gates				World Cup participation	World Cup games (before 2018)	World Cup goals (before 2018)
goalkeeper
21st	Roman Bürki	Borussia Dortmund	009	00	Nov 14, 1990						2014	0	0
12	Yvon Mvogo	RB Leipzig	000	00	0June 6, 1994
1	Yann summer	Borussia Monchengladbach	035	00	Dec 17, 1988	4th					2014	0	0
Defense
5	Manuel Akanji	Borussia Dortmund	007th	00	July 19, 1995	4th
20th	Johan Djourou	Antalyaspor	074	02	Jan. 18, 1987	1					2006, 2014	7th	0
4th	Nico Elvedi	Borussia Monchengladbach	006th	00	Sep 30 1996
6th	Michael Lang	FC Basel	024	02	0Feb 8, 1991	3				1	2014	1	0
2	Stephan Lichtsteiner	Juventus Turin D.	100	08th	Jan. 16, 1984	3		2			2010, 2014	7th	0
3	François Moubandje	Toulouse FC R	018th	00	June 21, 1990
13	Ricardo Rodríguez	AC Milan	053	05	Aug 25, 1992	4th					2014	4th	0
22nd	Fabian Schär	Deportivo La Coruña ↓	039	07th	Dec 20, 1991	3		2			2014	2	0
Midfield and attack
11	Valon Behrami	Udinese Calcio	079	02	Apr 19, 1985	4th		2			2006, 2010, 2014	6th	0
19th	Josip Drmić	Borussia Monchengladbach	029	09	0Aug 8, 1992	3	1				2014	4th	0
15th	Blerim Džemaili	Bologna FC	065	10	Apr 12, 1986	4th	1				2006 , 2014	4th	0
7th	Breel Embolo	FC Schalke 04	025th	03	Feb 14, 1997	4th
16	Gelson Fernandes	Eintracht Frankfurt P.	067	02	0Sep 2 1986						2010, 2014	4th	1
8th	Remo Freuler	Atalanta Bergamo	010	00	Apr 15, 1992
18th	Mario Gavranović	Dinamo Zagreb M.	014th	05	Nov. 24, 1989	2					2014	0	0
9	Haris Seferović	Benfica Lisbon	051	12	Feb 22, 1992	3					2014	4th	1
23	Xherdan Shaqiri	Stoke City ↓	070	20th	Oct 10, 1991	4th	1	1			2010, 2014	5	3
10	Granite Xhaka	Arsenal FC	062	09	27 Sep 1992	4th	1	1			2014	4th	1
17th	Denis Zakaria	Borussia Monchengladbach	010	00	Nov 20, 1996	2		1
14th	Steven Zuber	TSG 1899 Hoffenheim	012	03	Aug 17, 1991	3	1
Coaching staff
	Vladimir Petković	Trainer			Aug 15, 1963	4th
	Antonio Manicone	Assistant coach			Oct. 27, 1966
	Patrick Foletti	Goalkeeping coach			May 27, 1974
	Oliver Riedwyl	Fitness trainer			July 26, 1975
(*) only the games and goals that were played or scored before the start of the World Cup are given. (Source: List of players / List de joueurs A - Nationalteam / Sélection nationale A FIFA WORLD CUP RUSSIA 2018 , updated after the games against Spain and Japan)
↑ Numbers according to the official squad list ↑ M = The club became champions of its country in the World Cup year, P = The club won the cup in its country in the World Cup year, D = The club won the championship and cup double in the World Cup year, ↓ = The club got out of the highest league in the country, R = The club secured itself in the relegation to remain in the highest league. ↑ a b Only the games and goals that were played or scored before the start of the World Cup are listed (as of June 8, 2018, after the game against Japan).

Group draw

Kaliningrad (VR) Nizhny Novgorod (VR) Rostov-on-Don (VR) Saint Petersburg (AF) Tolyatti

Venues and quarters (blue / italic) of the Swiss team

For the draw of the qualifying groups on December 1st, Switzerland was assigned to Pot 2 and could therefore be drawn into a group with Germany, Brazil, Argentina or host Russia. Switzerland shall take in Group E on Brazil , Serbia and Costa Rica . Switzerland have only met Brazil at a World Cup tournament so far: in 1950, the two separated 2-2 in the first meeting in the preliminary round. After that there were seven friendlies, of which the Swiss won two, u. a. the last game in August 2013. Three games were lost and two ended in a draw. There have only been two friendlies against Costa Rica so far, and each team has won one. The Swiss meet the Serbs for the first time at the World Cup, against their predecessor Yugoslavia in the preliminary round of the 1950 World Cup, Switzerland lost 3-0 in their first international match outside of Europe. From a total of 13 games against Yugoslavia, Switzerland could only win two, five ended in a draw and six were lost. Switzerland has not yet played in any of the three group venues.

Group stage

In the first round against Brazil, Brazil's Paulinho had the first big chance in the 11th minute after Schär involuntarily dropped the ball on him in the six-yard area. In the 20th minute, Coutinho shot the 1-0 with an untenable long-range shot. Switzerland, which had hardly any chances to score in the first half, equalized at the beginning of the second half after a corner kick: Zuber made room in the six-yard area against his teammate Miranda and headed to 1-1. In the last minutes of the game, Brazil had a few options, but it remained in a draw that the Confederates could be satisfied with.

After Brazil defeated Costa Rica in the second round and now had four points on the account, the Swiss national team was under pressure, the Serbian too, so the game was correspondingly intense. Mitrović headed into the Swiss goal in the fifth minute. As a result, it was Serbia that had several chances, while the Nati lacked punch, apart from the fact that Džemaili had several great chances. In the second half, Xhaka scored in the 52nd minute for Switzerland with a long shot to equalize. After this Swiss pressure phase, Serbia became dominant again. In the closing stages, both teams were looking for the goal, with Switzerland developing more traction. A counterattack in the 90th minute then provided the winning goal for Switzerland, initiated by a long pass from Gavranović to Shaqiri.

After the Swiss players Xhaka, Shaqiri and Lichtsteiner formed a double-headed eagle with their hands on the pitch , which is a symbol of the flag of Albania, FIFA imposed a fine on them as part of disciplinary proceedings, Xhaka and Shaqiri each with 10,000 francs, Lichtsteiner with 5000 francs. The Serbian association, on the other hand, had to pay 54,000 francs for “discriminatory banners” and battle calls by the fans, and their coach Krstajić was fined over 5,000 francs for misplaced statements to the referee.

→ Main article : Football World Cup 2018 / Group E

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Brazil	3	2	1	0	005: 100	+4	07th
2.	Switzerland	3	1	2	0	005: 400	+1	05
3.	Serbia	3	1	0	2	002: 400	−2	03
4th	Costa Rica	3	0	1	2	002: 500	−3	01

Sun., June 17, 2018, 9:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. CEST) in Rostov-on-Don
Brazil	-	Switzerland	1: 1 (1: 0)	50. ′ tub
Friday, June 22, 2018, 8:00 p.m. (CEST) in Kaliningrad
Serbia	-	Switzerland	1: 2 (1: 0)	52. ′ Xhaka , 90. ′ Shaqiri
Wed., June 27, 2018, 9:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. CEST) in Nizhny Novgorod
Switzerland	-	Costa Rica	2: 2 (1: 0)	31. ′ Džemaili , 88. ′ Drmić

Knockout round

→ Main article : Football World Cup 2018 / final round

Round of 16

Tuesday, July 3, 2018, 5:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. CEST) in Saint Petersburg
Sweden	-	Switzerland	1: 0 (0: 0)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ zdf.de: "Meier: Video assistant has to be 100 percent correct"
2. ↑ Nati is testing in Greece. Swiss Radio and Television , March 19, 2018, accessed June 30, 2018 . 
3. ↑ "World Cup 2018 in Russia: Swiss Team Base Camp in Tolyatti". football.ch, December 14, 2017, accessed June 30, 2018 . 
4. ↑ In the game against Sweden instead of the suspended Stephan Lichtsteiner
5. ↑ Zuber enchants the national team - Coutinho is magical. In: kicker.de . June 17, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2018 . 
6. ↑ Switzerland defies Brazil one point. In: sportschau.de. June 17, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2018 . 
7. ↑ kicker, Nuremberg, Germany: Shaqiri shoots the Nati to a last-minute victory: Serbia - Switzerland 1: 2 (1: 0). Accessed June 25, 2018 (German). 
8. ^ Kicker, Nürnberg, Germany: Proceedings against Krstajic, Shaqiri, Xhaka and Lichtsteiner . In: kicker . ( kicker.de [accessed June 25, 2018]).
9. ↑ kicker, Nuremberg, Germany: Fines for Swiss trio and Serbia's coach Krstajic . In: kicker . ( kicker.de [accessed June 25, 2018]).