Swiss national football team

This article deals with the Swiss men's national football team. For the women's team see here .

Switzerland
Suisse ( French )
Svizzera ( Italian )
Svizra ( Rhaeto-Romanic )

Nickname (s)	«Nati»
Association	Swiss Football Association
confederacy	UEFA
Technical sponsor	puma
Head coach	Vladimir Petković
Assistant coach	Antonio Manicone
captain	Stephan Lichtsteiner
Record scorer	Alex Free (42)
Record player	Heinz Hermann (118)
FIFA code	SUI
FIFA rank	12. (1608 points) (as of July 16, 2020)
First jersey Second jersey
Balance sheet
805 games 282 wins 175 draws 348 defeats
statistics
First international match France 1-0 Switzerland ( Paris , France ; February 12, 1905 )
Biggest victory Switzerland 9-0 Lithuania ( Paris , France ; May 25, 1924 )
Biggest defeats Switzerland 0: 9 England (amateurs) ( Basel , Switzerland ; May 20, 1909 ) Hungary 9: 0 Switzerland ( Budapest , Hungary ; October 29, 1911 )
Successes in tournaments
World Championship
Participation in the finals	11 ( first : 1934 )
Best results	Quarter-finals ( 1934 , 1938 , 1954 )
European Championship
Participation in the finals	4 ( first : 1996 )
Best results	Round of 16 ( 2016 )
Olympic games silver 1924
(As of November 18, 2019)

The Swiss national football team ("Nati" [ nat͡si ] for short ), French Équipe de Suisse de football , Italian Nazionale di calcio della Svizzera , Romansh Squadra naziunala da ballape da la Svizra ) is the national team of the Swiss Football Association (SFV). The A-Team , as the SFV is called, represents Switzerland on an international level. She has been trained by Vladimir Petković since July 2014 .

The Swiss played their first international match against France in 1905 . The greatest success of the A-team so far was winning the silver medal at the 1924 Summer Olympics , the greatest success of a 2009 junior selection of the U-17 world championship . From the 1930s to 1960s, the Austrian Karl Rappan shaped Swiss football; he introduced the Swiss bar and looked after the team at three world championships. The 1954 World Cup took place in Switzerland.

In the 1960s, an era of unsuccessfulness began that lasted almost 30 years. National coach Roy Hodgson brought the team back to the top of the world and qualified for the 1994 World Cup and the 1996 European Championship . With national coach Köbi Kuhn , the Swiss qualified for the 2004 European Championship and the 2006 World Cup . As a host together with Austria, you were automatically entitled to participate in the EM 2008 . Under Ottmar Hitzfeld , Switzerland qualified for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, and under Vladimir Petković for the 2016 , 2018 and 2021 European Championships .

history

Soccer pioneer country Switzerland

After the United Kingdom , Switzerland was the first country in Europe to play football. British students and merchants formed various clubs in the Lake Geneva region in the early 1870s. In 1879, the oldest club in Switzerland still in existence today, FC St. Gallen, was established . In 1895, eleven clubs founded the Swiss Football Association in the Olten train station buffet . Initially four out of five members of the executive committee were British. The Swiss federation was one of the seven founding members of FIFA in 1904 and was renamed the Swiss Football Association (SFV) in 1913 . With the Germanization of the name, football, which at that time was still considered typically “British”, was to be better anchored in the population. In addition, the association hoped with this step to obtain the status of an organization entitled to subsidies, which only succeeded in the 1920s.

The fact that only a few German-language terms have caught on in Swiss football is due to the strong Anglophone influence in the early phase. The penalty kick is still called the penalty , the corner corner , the goal goal and the captain is called the captain . Numerous clubs also have English names such as the Young Boys or the Grasshoppers .

The further spread of football in Europe came mainly from Switzerland, through graduates of local elite schools and universities who had got to know the game during their study visits and who brought it to their respective home countries. They include the German Walther Bensemann , who founded the first football club in southern Germany in 1889, and Vittorio Pozzo , who also got to know the game in Switzerland and made a decisive contribution to its popularization in Italy. The Swiss also made it popular: the gymnastics teacher Georges de Rebius introduced football to Bulgaria in 1893 , Joan Gamper founded FC Barcelona in 1899 , and the majority of the founding members of Inter Milan were Swiss. The club Stade Helvétique Marseille , made up almost entirely of Swiss, won the championship of the largest French association USFSA in 1909, 1911 and 1913 .

The first years of the national team (1905–1918)

International games took place from the mid-1890s, initially at club level, against teams from neighboring countries. On December 4, 1898, a selection of Swiss club teams played for the first time, defeating a South German selection 3-1. Half of the contingent consisted of foreigners living in Switzerland, most of whom were British. Other games of this kind followed, for example the encounter with Austria on April 8, 1901, which is referred to in Austrian football literature as the “ original international game ” and ended in a 4-0 defeat.

The first international match (France-Switzerland on February 12, 1905)

The Swiss played their first official international match against France on February 12, 1905 in Paris . The Swiss lost the game in front of 5,000 spectators 0: 1. The return leg in Geneva could only be played three years later due to financial problems of the association and was lost 2-1. Adolf Frenken from FC Winterthur scored the first Swiss international goal. In the third game on April 5, 1908 , the Swiss came to their first victory. In Basel they beat the national soccer team of the German Reich 5: 3, it was also the first international game of the Reich Germans . England were guests on May 20, 1909 , the Swiss lost 9-0. This encounter as well as an away game against Hungary in 1911 with the same result are the biggest defeats to date. The association planned to participate in the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm , but this project could not be implemented due to lack of money.

After the beginning of the First World War , gaming operations in Switzerland were severely restricted. Over half of the playing fields were converted into fields and many clubs stopped their activities because the players had to do military service. But the SFV gradually succeeded in convincing the initially skeptical military authorities of the good physical constitution of the footballers called up for service. Game operations largely normalized from 1916 onwards, and numerous military units also played football, thereby contributing to the popularization of the sport. It was also possible to play five international games, two home games against Austria and one away game each in Italy, Austria and Hungary.

Interwar period (1918–1938)

The first post-war international match was played against France on February 29, 1920. The game on June 27, 1920 in Zurich against the German Reich was politically extremely explosive. FIFA had banned the loser from international matches, which the Swiss ignored. France threatened Switzerland with a football boycott, and there were also protests from Belgium and England. The regional association of French-speaking Switzerland prohibited its members from participating in the game. This took place anyway and ended with a 4-1 victory for the Swiss. As early as August 1919, the SFV had decided to take part in the football tournament of the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp . Just one week before the tournament started, she withdrew her registration. On the one hand there was a lack of money, on the other hand, in view of the controversial Germany game, there was fear of a split in the association along the language border.

17 players took the train to Paris for the 1924 Summer Olympics . In anticipation of an early departure, the SFV had bought a group ticket that was only valid for ten days. Accompanied by the players were, for the first time ever, three coaches hired by the association, the Britons Teddy Duckworth and Jimmy Hogan and the Hungarian Izidor Kürschner . In the only preliminary round match, the Swiss won against Lithuania 9-0 and achieved the highest victory in their history. In the last sixteen they met Czechoslovakia , the game ended 1-1 after extra time. In the replay, the Swiss prevailed 1-0. After Italy had been defeated 2: 1 in the quarter-finals , the newspaper “Sport” called for a fundraising campaign in order to be able to raise the additional costs for hotel accommodation. In the semifinals, the Swiss met tournament favorites Sweden and unexpectedly won 2-1. The sensation in the final did not materialize; they lost 3-0 to Uruguay , but secured the silver medal and received the unofficial title of European champion.

After this high-altitude flight, the national team's level of performance dropped noticeably. At the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam , Switzerland played only one game; after the 4-0 defeat against the German Reich, she was eliminated. The performances in the European Cup of the National Football Teams , the predecessor of the European Championship, were also modest . In all six events, the Swiss came in last, but Leopold Kielholz was the top scorer in the third edition (1933-1935) together with the Hungarian György Sárosi . Like many other European countries, Switzerland did not take part in the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930 for reasons of cost.

The Swiss only managed to qualify for the 1934 World Cup in Italy with luck. The two draws against Yugoslavia and Romania would not have been enough, but the Romanians had used an ineligible player, which is why the tie at the Green Table was converted into a 3-0 forfait win. Before the start of the final round, there was a dispute between the SFV and Servette Geneva . The club feared longer injury breaks for its players and demanded financial compensation in advance. It was only after the SFV threatened severe sanctions that Servette Geneva gave in and released the nominated players a week before the start of the World Cup. The Swiss won their first World Cup game under coach Heinrich "Henry" Müller 3-2 against the Netherlands and made it to the quarter-finals. This was lost with 2: 3 against the eventual vice world champion Czechoslovakia.

In 1931 the delegates' assembly of the SFV decided to introduce a league with professional players. However, this did not meet the high expectations. Numerous national players preferred more lucrative engagements abroad, especially in the French Division 1 . The audience interest remained modest and the main goal, an increase in the performance of the national team, was not fulfilled. Between 1934 and 1938, only every fourth international match could be won. Influential functionaries saw professional sport as the main reason for the grievances and idealized the performance of the amateur era. In 1937 the upper wage limit was set so low that the players were forced to work. In 1943, the then SFV President Robert Zumbühl implemented a complete ban on professional sports. Among other things, the strict regulations provided for a one-year compulsory break when changing clubs and were only relaxed a little two decades later.

Karl Rappan: National coach 1937–38, 1942–49, 1953–54 and 1960–63

In September 1937 Karl Rappan took over the position of national coach, and during the next quarter of a century he would have a decisive influence on Swiss football. His tenure was spread over four periods (1937–1938, 1942–1949, 1952–1954, 1960–1963). The German-Austrian, who was controversial because of his NSDAP membership, introduced a defense concept originally developed in East Central Europe, which became known as the Swiss Bar . It was a hybrid of man and area coverage, with which the Swiss national team was able to hold its own against teams with a higher ranking. Later the Italian catenaccio developed from it .

In the service of intellectual national defense (1938–1945)

To qualify for the 1938 World Cup in France, the Swiss had to play against Portugal in Milan ; the game ended in a 2-1 win. In the first round, Switzerland faced the team from the German Reich ruled by the National Socialists . The “ Anschluss ” of Austria had taken place three months earlier , which is why the Austrians were no longer allowed to compete as an independent team. The game ended 1: 1 after extra time, which is why it had to be repeated five days later. The repetition on June 9, 1938 went down as one of the most important games in Swiss football history. The German team, which corresponded to a forced merger of the two World Cup semi-finalists Germany and Austria in 1934 and was considered a tournament favorite, was 2-0 up until the 40th minute, but then collapsed. The Swiss scored four goals in a row and won 4-2. The victory over Germany was considered a sensation and was enthusiastically celebrated in Switzerland. Three days later the quarter-final against Hungary was on the program; that the Swiss lost 0-2.

The victory over Germany

After the victory over the Germans, the footballers were no longer seen as representatives of an "non-Swiss" sport, but as figures of identification. Numerous newspapers compared her to the heroes of the early Confederation . The Gazette de Lausanne , for example, wrote : "The eleven little Swiss [...] fought like they did at St. Jakob and won a victory that will be talked about for a long time".

Switzerland, it seemed, had put the expanding German Reich in its place, at least on the football field. Football was now an element of “ intellectual national defense ”, that cultural policy that was supposed to protect Switzerland's basic democratic and cultural values ​​from the influence of the totalitarian neighboring states. In the perception of the public, the Swiss bar has become a mythically inflated symbol of the country's will to assert itself. The game has also found its way into literature: Otto F. Walter included a longer passage about radio transmission in his novel Zeit des Fasans (1988), the Ticino author Giovanni Orelli dedicated an entire book to Eugène Walaschek , one of the scorers, in 1991 ( Il sogno di Walaschek ).

During the Second World War , the championship operation could be maintained with the exception of the mobilization phase. National league players generally had no problems getting vacation for championship games during active service . In particular, the protection of the football enthusiast General Henri Guisan contributed to this. The national team played 16 games, 11 of them against the Axis powers and their allies. The home games were staged as national events, at some of which Guisan was personally present. Although broad sections of the population did not sympathize with the Axis Powers, and in particular the German Reich, the games against their national teams served the politicians to maintain the image of Switzerland's absolute neutrality. On April 20, 1941, the birthday of Adolf Hitler , the Swiss won 2-1 against the Germans in Bern . Joseph Goebbels then wrote in a letter to Reich Sports Leader Hans von Tschammer und Osten that "above all, no sports exchanges should be made if the result was in the least doubtful".

Four World Cup participations in the post-war period (1945–1966)

On May 21, 1945, the first opponent after the war was Portugal . On November 11, 1945, the Swiss received the Italians in Zurich and thus enabled them to reintegrate into international football. With two wins against Luxembourg , Switzerland qualified for the 1950 World Cup . For the support during the finals in Brazil , the SFV signed the former national player Franco Andreoli . For the first time ever, the national team was in action outside of Europe. The Swiss lost their first game against Yugoslavia 3-0. Opponent in the second game was the Brazilian Seleção . The game against the hosts and clear tournament favorites ended surprisingly 2-2, five minutes before the end of the game, the Swiss almost scored the winning goal. The 2-1 win against Mexico was not enough for a place in the final round.

In 1948, Switzerland supported the Germans in their application for re-entry into FIFA, but this was rejected. The three subsequent city games between German and Swiss club teams met with criticism in foreign media, especially in the Netherlands. The Swiss only escaped the threat of blocking issued by FIFA by imposing fines of 500 francs on the organizers of the city games. After Germany and Saarland were admitted to FIFA, there were no longer any obstacles to hosting international matches from 1950. On November 22, 1950, Switzerland played the Germans' first international match after the end of the war in Stuttgart and lost 1-0. The B-selection lost on the same day 3: 5 against the Saarland national football team , which existed until 1956.

Friendly game Netherlands – Switzerland (1: 2) on March 22, 1953, goal celebration Switzerland

The SFV President and FIFA Vice President Ernst Thommen managed to bring the 1954 World Cup to Switzerland. In order to prepare the national team for this, the SFV hired Karl Rappan again in November 1952. On April 25, 1954, Swiss television broadcast an international match live for the first time, a preparatory match against Germany. In their first World Cup game against Italy in Lausanne , the Swiss celebrated a 2-1 win, while the game against England in Bern was lost 2-0. Because of a tie, the Swiss had to play against Italy again in Basel and secured the quarter-finals with a 4-1 victory. The encounter with Austria turned out to be the highest-scoring game in World Cup history. The Swiss lost the “ Heat Battle of Lausanne ” 5-7 after giving up a 3-0 lead.

The years after the home world championship were marked by failure. Victories were rarely achieved and with national coach Jacques Spagnoli they also missed qualifying for the 1958 World Cup in Sweden . Spagnoli's successor, the Austrian Willibald Hahn , did not change things for the better either. After an 8-0 defeat against Hungary, the second highest in the history of the national team, the SFV immediately dismissed him in October 1959. Karl Rappan took his place for the fourth and last time in March 1960. After three wins and one defeat in qualifying for the 1962 World Cup, the national team forced a playoff against vice world champions Sweden . This took place in November 1961 in Berlin and ended with a 2-1 victory. Due to the construction of the wall three months earlier, the game had a special political meaning in the isolated western part of the city. At the World Cup finals, Switzerland retired early after three defeats against hosts Chile (1: 3), Germany (1: 2) and Italy (0: 3).

In July 1964, the national team received a prominent coach, the Italian Alfredo Foni , who had become Olympic champion in 1936 and world champion in 1938. Under his leadership, the Swiss managed to qualify for the finals of the 1966 World Cup in England. After the 2-1 win against the Netherlands , everything initially indicated a replay against Northern Ireland . Since the Northern Irish unexpectedly only achieved a draw in their last game against Albania , the Swiss were the winners of their qualifying group. At the World Cup itself, they reached their playful limits and were unable to match the teams from Germany (0: 5), Spain (1: 2) and Argentina (0: 2). Far more attention than the performances on the football field caused a nightly hitchhiking tour by the players Jakob Kuhn , Leo Eichmann and Werner Leimgruber in Sheffield in the media . Foni did not offer her for the Germany game and the association banned her for several months because of her allegedly scandalous behavior. The case drew wider circles and culminated in a defamation action brought by the players concerned against the top of the association. The lawsuit was finally withdrawn in April 1968 after a settlement.

"Honorable Defeats" (1967–1989)

In 1962, Karl Rappan analyzed Swiss football as follows: “If we don't reorganize our top football - immediately - then we will win one or two international games here and there with luck and as a Swiss football miracle, but in the long run we will no longer have anything to order internationally. "

Rappan's assessment was proven correct. The fact that the national team and Swiss football in general fell further and further behind the world's elite was due to several reasons. The Swiss bar was considered out of date and was no longer used at club level. Instead, a kind of football-like “ Röstigraben ” developed along the language borders . In German-speaking Switzerland , an athletic and straightforward style of play based on defense prevailed, which required a lot of strength and discipline. In French-speaking Switzerland and (to a lesser extent) Ticino, on the other hand, the clubs favored a tech-savvy style with an offensive focus and many short passes. For more than two decades it was not possible to combine these opposing game cultures. Between 1967 and 1989 no fewer than ten national coaches were in office, each of whom failed to achieve their set goals (World Cup or European Championship qualification).

In the eyes of many, the ideal Swiss athlete was an amateur, or at best a semi-professional. Pure professional sport, combined with commercialization and high media presence, was generally viewed with great skepticism. In addition, politics at that time practically did not advocate sport in general and top-class sport in particular. In 1964, the Federal Assembly even decided to temporarily ban the construction of sports facilities in order to dampen the boom. In football, professional operations were only gradually introduced from the mid-1970s. The era of voluntary work and semi-professionalism lasted even longer at the football association. There have only been professional trainers in the junior sector since 1995.

In the 1970s, “honorable defeat” was a common term. The national team lost a disproportionately large number of games, but mostly with only one goal difference. Draws against stronger opponents were celebrated like victories. In addition, the national team has become less and less important to many players over time. Only under Paul Wolfisberg did an upswing appear. The Swiss achieved a few sensational successes in test matches, for example a 0-1 away win against the new world champions Italy in 1982. But in the decisive qualifying games, the success was still missing. It was not until the end of the 1980s that Daniel Jeandupeux , who had received a lot of praise, could not achieve the results he had hoped for, that the SFV initiated long overdue reforms in the association structures and in the promotion of young people .

Mood of optimism and intermediate low (1989-2001)

In 1989 the association hired the German Uli Stielike as a trainer. Right at his debut he was able to achieve a remarkable success, a 1-0 victory over Brazil on June 21, 1989. The friendly game on December 19, 1990 in Stuttgart against Germany (0: 4) was again historically significant, as the Germans after The first time players from the former GDR were used after reunification . The qualification for the World Cup in 1990 was missed, but the desired change in mentality - away from the usual defensive tactics mocked in the media as "Abbruch GmbH" to more offensive - still needed time. For the qualification for the European Championship 1992 (at that time still with eight teams) only one point was missing.

Roy Hodgson

The Englishman Roy Hodgson continued Stielike's development work from 1992. In 1993, the SFV signed a long-term sponsorship agreement with the major bank Credit Suisse , which is still valid today. The association had to commit itself to invest half of the money in the youth work in order to secure the long-term success of the national team. Qualification for the 1994 World Cup was successful, with the Swiss finishing second in the group behind Italy and third in the FIFA world rankings in August 1993. For the first time in 28 years, they were able to take part in a World Cup final. The opening game against hosts USA ended 1-1, followed by a 4-1 win against Romania . Despite a 2-0 defeat against Colombia , it was enough for participation in the round of 16. This was then also lost 3-0 to Spain .

Switzerland finished qualifying for the 1996 European Championship as group winners. On September 6, 1995, an action before the qualifying match against Sweden in Gothenburg made global headlines . At the suggestion of Alain Sutter , the players held up a banner with the message “Stop it Chirac” while the national anthems were playing. In doing so, they protested against the nuclear tests ordered by French President Jacques Chirac in Mururoa Atoll. As a result, UEFA banned all political rallies on the pitch. The SFV, which had received a reprimand from UEFA, refrained from punishing the responsible players, as the action met with broad approval from the population and the media.

Artur Jorge succeeded Hodgson, who ended his contract prematurely . The Portuguese was under criticism from the start. After he failed to nominate the players Adrian Knup and Alain Sutter, who were considered to be team supports, for the 1996 European Championship and poorly communicated his decision, the tabloid Blick conducted the longest and most intense negative campaign against a national coach that has ever existed in Switzerland (“Now he's crazy ! »). Despite weeks of polemics , the team got off to a good start in the European Championship finals and achieved a 1-1 draw against hosts England. After the defeats against the Netherlands (0: 2) and Scotland (0: 1), however, she was eliminated early and Jorge immediately announced his resignation.

The draw for the qualifying groups for the 1998 World Cup gave the Swiss seemingly easy opponents. But the first game with the new coach, the Swiss-born Austrian Rolf Fringer , turned out to be a disgrace. The seemingly unmotivated Swiss lost 1-0 to the clear outsider Azerbaijan in Baku on August 31, 1996 and caused a defeat of sport-historical proportions that made numerous observers less than flattering comparisons with the international match between Faroe Islands and Austria six years earlier. The unexpected defeat had a negative effect on the further course of the World Cup qualification. Against the eventual qualifying winners Norway resulted in a 5-0 defeat in September 1997, the highest in 17 years.

In March 1998, Fringer was followed by Gilbert Gress from Alsace . The Swiss just barely missed qualifying for the 2000 European Championship. They had the same number of points as the second-placed Danes and also the better goal difference, but the worse record in the direct encounters. In August 2000, the Argentine Enzo Trossero took over the national team, but he also failed to achieve the desired goal (qualification for the 2002 World Cup). There were two reasons for the interim low around the turn of the millennium: Many top performers resigned for reasons of age after the European Championship in 1996 and the young talent concept launched in the mid-1990s had not yet produced enough talent.

Successes under Jakob Kuhn (2001-2008)

Jakob "Köbi" Kuhn

After Trossero's resignation, Jakob «Köbi» Kuhn was chosen . From 1962 to 1976 he was a national player himself and had been in charge of the U-21 national team before taking office in August 2001. While Kuhn was still described by the media as a wrong choice after the first games, a clear upward trend was noticeable again after about a year. Kuhn managed to integrate the youth players he had previously looked after into the national team and to bring about a generation change. The Swiss finished qualifying for the 2004 European Championship as group winners, leaving Russia and Ireland behind, among others . In Portugal, however , they could not meet the high expectations. The 0-0 win against Croatia was followed by two defeats against England (3-0) and France (3-1). The only goal was scored by then 18-year-old Johan Vonlanthen , who became the youngest scorer in European Championship history and undercut the record set by Wayne Rooney just four days earlier .

Qualifying for the 2006 World Cup , the Swiss finished second in the group behind France, which required a barrage against Turkey , who were third in the 2002 World Cup. The 2-0 win in the first leg in Bern was followed by a 2-4 defeat in Istanbul . However, due to the away goal rule, Switzerland qualified. After the final whistle, there were attacks on Swiss players on the field and in the cabin corridors by Turkish players and security forces. Several Turkish players as well as the Swiss Benjamin Huggel , who had also become violent, received game bans, while the Turkish team had to play three of their home qualifying games for the 2008 European Championship abroad and in front of empty stands.

At the World Cup finals in Germany, the Swiss group winners were ahead of eventual runners-up France (0: 0), South Korea (2: 0) and Togo (2: 0), but were eliminated in the round of 16 against Ukraine with 0: 3 on penalties . Switzerland is the only team in World Cup history that was eliminated in regular time without conceding a single goal. At the same time, they are also the only team that failed to score in a penalty shoot-out.

Starting line-up for the friendly against Brazil (November 15, 2006)

In the FIFA world rankings published on January 14, 2007, the team was in 17th place. But this was followed by a relapse in the table, as Switzerland, as co-organizer alongside Austria , was automatically qualified for the European Championship 2008 and could therefore only play friendly matches. At the European Championship 2008, Switzerland met the Czech Republic , Turkey and Portugal in the preliminary round . After the first two games against the Czech Republic and Turkey ended with narrow defeats, the Swiss national team was eliminated early. In the third group game, the Swiss succeeded against Portugal - which, however, had played with a reserve team to spare themselves for the quarter-finals - their first victory at a European Championship finals. With this game, coach Jakob Kuhn said goodbye to the national team.

The Hitzfeld era (2008-2014)

The SFV was able to win Ottmar Hitzfeld to succeed Kuhn . The German's contract initially ran for two years until after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and was extended by two years in August 2009. Under Hitzfeld, the national team got off to a mixed start in the 2010 World Cup qualification : A 2-2 in Tel Aviv against Israel was followed by a 1-2 home defeat against Luxembourg . After that, the team remained undefeated eight times in a row (including two wins against Greece, the 2004 European champions), qualifying them as group winners for the World Cup finals. In the first final game of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the Swiss managed to beat the European champions from 2008 and later world champions with a 1-0 win over Spain . This was the first win for Switzerland in their 19th game against the Spanish national team. However, the Nati retired after a 0-1 defeat against Chile and a 0-0 against Honduras as third in the group.

The Swiss national team did not qualify for the 2012 European Championship . After defeats against England and Montenegro , only the second group position was achievable. In the penultimate qualifying game on October 7, 2011, the Swiss needed a win against Wales to safely move into the Barrage (relegation), but lost 2-0. A few hours later, Montenegro's 2-2 win against England meant the final elimination. The home win against Montenegro in the last qualifier didn't matter anymore. On May 26, 2012, the national team won their first win against Germany in 56 years in a friendly in Basel . In St. Jakob-Park , 27,381 spectators witnessed a 5-3 success, in which Eren Derdiyok scored three goals.

Austria – Switzerland (1: 2) on November 17, 2015: Behrami (left), Klose (h) with Sabitzer (front, AUT)

In qualifying for the 2014 World Cup , the Confederates faced Slovenia , Albania , Norway , Iceland and Cyprus . In the first four games, three wins and one draw meant the most successful interim record since qualifying for the European Championship in 1996. On October 11, 2013, they qualified early for the 2014 World Cup with a 2-1 win in Albania . In the meantime, a 1-0 win against Brazil in Basel followed in August 2013 . The achievements in the World Cup qualification also meant that Switzerland climbed to seventh place in the FIFA world rankings in October 2013, which meant that Switzerland was placed in Pot 1 for the World Cup group draw for the first time and therefore not in any group with hosts Brazil, defending champions Spain or Germany could be drawn. For Switzerland as opponents, the lot resulted in France as in 2006, Honduras as in 2010 and, for the first time, Ecuador.

Hitzfeld announced on October 17, 2013 that he would not extend his contract beyond the World Cup. In the group stage of the World Cup in Brazil, Switzerland won their first game against Ecuador with a goal from Haris Seferović in stoppage time just 2-1 and lost the second game against France 2-5. With a 3-0 win over Honduras - all three goals scored by Xherdan Shaqiri - Switzerland qualified as second in the group for participation in the round of 16, in which they met Argentina . The game ended 0: 1 aet, the decisive goal being conceded only in the 118th minute and Switzerland had an opportunity to equalize in added time of extra time through Blerim Džemaili . With this game Hitzfeld ended his coaching career. He was succeeded by Vladimir Petković .

Present (2014–)

On February 22, 2014, Switzerland was drawn into a group with England , Slovenia , San Marino , Lithuania and Estonia for the qualification for the qualification for the European Championship 2016 . The first two games under the new coach Petković against England and Slovenia were lost, which put Switzerland under early pressure in qualifying for the Euro 2016 . With two wins against San Marino and Lithuania, the team found their way back to the top of the table. On October 9th - in the penultimate round - the qualification was secured. In the European Championship 2016 in Switzerland started with a 1: 0 win over Albania . They then scored a point against Romania and France and finished second in Group A without defeat. In the last sixteen, the game plan held Poland's selection as an opponent . A fall back goal by Xherdan Shaqiri saved the Confederates in extra time, at the end of which it was still 1: 1. So the penalty shootout had to be used for decision-making. Only Granit Xhaka missed , which meant the elimination for Switzerland.

The Swiss national team qualified for the finals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia . Up until the last matchday they were leaders in a group with European champions Portugal , Andorra , the Faroe Islands , Latvia and Hungary . However, they lost the last game against Portugal and prevailed against Northern Ireland in the barrage . At the World Cup, Switzerland will face Brazil , Serbia and Costa Rica in the group stage . In the opening game against the Brazilians, Switzerland won 1-1 and in the second group game against Serbia, Switzerland won 2-1 after a 0-1 deficit with goals from Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri . The goal celebration of the two caused a sensation when they imitated the Albanian double-headed eagle. After a 2-2 win against Costa Rica, Switzerland qualified for the round of 16, in which they were eliminated by Sweden .

In the following UEFA Nations League, Switzerland played in League A in a group with Iceland and Belgium, third in the World Cup . With a 5-2 win in the last game against Belgium, Switzerland won the group and qualified for the finals , where the Swiss met Portugal and lost 3-1. In qualifying for the 2021 European Championship (initially planned for 2020), the Swiss national team played against Georgia , Denmark , Ireland and Gibraltar and won the group.

Playing clothes

Classic away shirt

Classic home shirt

Since the first international match in 1905, the Swiss national team's playing attire has remained more or less unchanged. At home games it consists of a red jersey, white shorts and red socks. The red color usually corresponds to that of the flag of Switzerland . For away games, the color composition is reversed. Occasionally the team plays all in red or white. For three quarters of a century, a distinctive white Swiss cross was affixed to the shirt over the left chest (on the away shirt in a circular red field). Over the years, the size of the cross has decreased by about a third. At the beginning of the 1980s, the cross was replaced by the football association's logo. In this the cross can only be partially recognized. The official team supplier is Puma . Only in a friendly against Denmark on September 4, 1999, Switzerland played in blue, on October 11, 2006 against Austria in gold-colored jerseys.

Tournament participation

The Swiss national team has not yet won a title. The most significant success is winning the silver medal at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris , when they only lost in the final against Uruguay . The best result at world championships is three times reaching the quarter-finals (1934, 1938, 1954). In the first three appearances in the European Championship finals (1996, 2004, 2008), Switzerland was eliminated after the group matches, and the team reached the second round for the first time at the 2016 European Championship in France.

In recent times, the juniors in particular have drawn attention to themselves with excellent performances. The U-17 national team became European champions in 2002 and world champions in 2009 . In addition, the Swiss managed to qualify for the semi-finals at the U-21 European Championship 2002 , the U-19 European Championship 2004 and the U-17 European Championship 2009 . The Swiss U-20s also qualified for the 2005 Junior World Championships .

Participation in world championships

→ Main article : Swiss national football team / World Championships

year	host	Result	S.	U	N	Gates	items
1934	Italy	Quarter finals	1	0	1	5: 5	items
1938	France	Quarter finals	1	1	1	5: 5	items
1950	Brazil	Preliminary round	1	1	1	4: 6	items
1954	Switzerland	Quarter finals	2	0	2	11:11	items
1962	Chile	Preliminary round	0	0	3	2: 8	items
1966	England	Preliminary round	0	0	3	1: 9	items
1994	United States	Round of 16	1	1	2	5: 7	items
2006	Germany	Round of 16	2	2	0	4-0	items
2010	South Africa	Preliminary round	1	1	1	1: 1	items
2014	Brazil	Round of 16	2	0	2	7: 7	items
2018	Russia	Round of 16	1	2	1	5: 5	items

Participation in European championships

→ Main article : Swiss national football team / European championships

year	host	Result	S.	U	N	Gates	items
1996	England	Preliminary round	0	1	2	1: 4	items
2004	Portugal	Preliminary round	0	1	2	1: 6	items
2008	Switzerland and Austria	Preliminary round	1	0	2	3: 3	items
2016	France	Round of 16	1	3	0	3: 2	items
2021	Europe	qualified				:	items

Participation in European football cups

year	Result	S.	U	N	Gates	items
1927-1930	5th place	0	0	8th	11:28	-
1931-1932	5th place	2	1	5	16:30	-
1933-1935	5th place	1	1	6th	13:24	-
1936-1938	*	1	1	6th	16:25	-
1948-1953	5th place	0	3	5	12:25	-
1955-1960	Rank 6	0	2	8th	10:37	-

* Due to the annexation of Austria to the German Reich, the competition was canceled prematurely.

Participation in the Olympic Games

year	place	Result	S.	U	N	Gates	items
1924	Paris	2nd place (silver medal)	4th	1	1	16: 6	items
1928	Amsterdam	Preliminary round	0	0	1	0: 4	items
2012 *	London	Preliminary round	0	1	2	2: 4	items

* Qualification of the U-21 national team

Player and coach

Record holder

When determining the record national player and the record goal scorer, it should be borne in mind that in the early years of football, far fewer international matches were played each year than today. Rudolf Ramseier was the first to cross the limit of 50 international matches; between 1920 and 1931 it was used 59 times. A little later he was surpassed by Max «Xam» Abegglen (68 games between 1922 and 1937). The record set by Severino Minelli (80 games between 1930 and 1943) was considered unattainable for a long time and was only broken four decades later by Heinz Hermann (118 games). Stephan Lichtsteiner has made the most appearances among the current players.

The Abegglen brothers were the top goal scorers of the first half of the 20th century. Max Abegglen scored 32 goals in 68 games, André Abegglen 30 goals in 52 games. This record also took several decades to break. Kubilay Türkyılmaz scored 34 times in 60 games and was the record holder from 2001. Alex Frei surpassed this mark on May 30, 2008 and is the top scorer in the history of the national team with 42 goals.

On the occasion of the World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg on October 10, 2009, Benjamin Huggel scored the Swiss national football team's 1000th goal.

Alex Frei (right)

Record player

Games	player	Period	Gates
118	Heinz Hermann	1978-1991	15th
112	Alain Geiger	1980-1996	02
108	Stephan Lichtsteiner	2006-2019	08th
103	Stéphane Chapuisat	1989-2004	21st
094	Johann Vogel	1995-2007	02
089	Gökhan Inler	2006-2015	07th
087	Hakan Yakin	2000-2011	20th
084	Alex Frei	2001-2011	42
083	Valon Behrami	2005-2018	02
082	Xherdan Shaqiri	since 2010	22nd
	Granite Xhaka	since 2011	12
081	Patrick Muller	1998-2008	03
080	Andy Egli	1979-1994	08th
	Severino Minelli	1930-1943	00

Record shooters

Gates	player	Period	Games
42	Alex Frei	2001-2011	084
34	Kubilay «Kubi» Türkyılmaz	1988-2001	062
32	Max "Xam" Abegglen	1922-1937	068
30th	André "Trello" Abegglen	1927-1943	052
29	Jacques Fatton	1946-1955	053
26th	Adrian Knup	1989-1996	048
23	Josef "Seppe" Hügi	1951-1961	034
22nd	Charles "Kiki" antennas	1948-1962	056
22nd	Xherdan Shaqiri	since 2010	082
21st	Lauro "Lajo" Amadò	1935-1948	054
21st	Stéphane Chapuisat	1989-2004	103
18th	Haris Seferović	since 2012	064

As of November 18, 2019

Note: A complete list of the record international players with 40 or more international matches and the record national shooters with 10 or more international goals can be found here or here .

Current national players

The following players have been in the squad since the beginning of 2019:

Players marked with "*" were in the squad for the EM 2020 qualifiers in November 2019. ( As of November 18, 2019 )

Surname	Date of birth	Games	Gates	society	debut
goalkeeper
Yvon Mvogo *	June 6, 1994	002	00	RB Leipzig	2018
Jonas Omlin *	January 10, 1994	000	00	FC Basel	-
Yann Summer *	17th December 1988	053	00	Borussia Monchengladbach	2012
Defense
Manuel Akanji *	July 19, 1995	022nd	00	Borussia Dortmund	2017
Loris Benito *	January 7, 1992	005	01	Girondins Bordeaux	2018
Eray Cömert *	February 4, 1998	001	00	FC Basel	2019
Nico Elvedi *	September 30, 1996	017th	01	Borussia Monchengladbach	2016
Michael Lang *	February 8, 1991	031	03	Werder Bremen	2013
Stephan Lichtsteiner *	January 16, 1984	108	08th	FC Augsburg	2006
Kevin Mbabu *	April 19, 1995	008th	00	VfL Wolfsburg	2018
François Moubandje *	June 21, 1990	021st	00	Dinamo Zagreb	2014
Ricardo Rodríguez *	August 25, 1992	071	08th	AC Milan	2011
Fabian Schär	December 20, 1991	054	08th	Newcastle United	2013
Silvan Widmer	March 5, 1993	009	00	FC Basel	2014
midfield
Michel Aebischer *	January 6, 1997	001	00	BSC Young Boys	2019
Edimilson Fernandes *	April 15, 1996	014th	00	1. FSV Mainz 05	2016
Remo Freuler	April 15, 1992	021st	01	Atalanta Bergamo	2017
Noah Okafor	May 24, 2000	001	00	FC Basel	2019
Xherdan Shaqiri	October 10, 1991	082	22nd	Liverpool FC	2010
Djibril Sow *	February 6, 1997	006th	00	Eintracht Frankfurt	2018
Renato Steffen *	3rd November 1991	010	00	VfL Wolfsburg	2015
Granite xhaka *	September 27, 1992	082	12	Arsenal FC	2011
Denis Zakaria *	November 20, 1996	028	03	Borussia Monchengladbach	2016
Steven Zuber	17th August 1991	025th	06th	TSG 1899 Hoffenheim	2017
Storm
Albian Ajeti *	February 26, 1997	010	01	West Ham United	2018
Josip Drmić	August 8, 1992	035	10	Norwich City	2012
Breel Embolo	February 14, 1997	036	04th	Borussia Monchengladbach	2015
Christian Fassnacht *	November 11, 1993	005	01	BSC Young Boys	2018
Mario Gavranović	November 24, 1989	022nd	07th	Dinamo Zagreb	2011
Cedric Itten *	December 27, 1996	002	03	FC St. Gallen	2019
Admir Mehmedi	March 16, 1991	065	09	VfL Wolfsburg	2011
Haris Seferović *	February 22, 1992	064	18th	Benfica Lisbon	2012
Ruben Vargas *	August 5, 1998	003	01	FC Augsburg	2019

List of national players

Vladimir Petković (national coach since 2014)

A complete list of all national players since 1905 and the Swiss who played for other national teams can be found under List of Swiss national football players .

Trainer

The national coach is determined by the central board of the SFV. Together with his assistants, he looks after the national team and can independently decide on player nominations. The current national coach has been Vladimir Petković since July 1, 2014 . His assistant is Antonio Manicone , as before with Lazio .

An overview of all coaches in the national team can be found under Football national coach (Switzerland) .

International match record

→ Main article : List of international matches for the Swiss national football team

The table below shows the national teams that Switzerland has faced at least five times. The Swiss national team has played a total of 805 international matches and played against 88 different teams. They won 282 games, reached 176 draws and lost 347 games.

As of November 18, 2019 after the game against Gibraltar

country Games S. U N Gates  Italy 58 08th 22nd 28 67: 107  Germany 51 09 06th 36 65: 138  Hungary 46 11 05 30th 66: 131  Austria 42 12 05 25th 60: 105  France 38 12 10 16 60: 067  Netherlands 33 15th 03 15th 61: 068  England 30th 03 05 22nd 22: 080  Sweden 29 11 07th 11 42: 047  Belgium 29 09 06th 14th 44: 055  Czechoslovakia 27 07th 06th 14th 38: 058  Portugal 23 10 05 08th 33: 030  Spain 20th 01 04th 15th 17: 046  Norway 18th 06th 04th 08th 19: 025

country Games S. U N Gates  Ireland 18th 07th 3 8th 13:19  Scotland 16 05 3 8th 24:26  Turkey 15th 04th 3 8th 20:21  Greece 14th 08th 4th 2 18:11  Yugoslavia 13 02 5 6th 16:29  Romania 13 04th 4th 5 20:16  Luxembourg 12 10 1 1 31: 09  Denmark 12 02 6th 4th 14:17  Poland 11 01 6th 4th 12:21  Bulgaria 10 04th 4th 2 15:12  Slovenia 09 06th 1 2 17: 08  Brazil 09 02 4th 3 09:11  Cyprus 08th 05 1 2 17: 08

country Games S. U N Gates  Liechtenstein 08th 08th 0 0 21: 01  United States 08th 03 4th 1 09: 06  Iceland 08th 07th 1 0 21: 06  Albania 07th 06th 1 0 12: 04  Argentina 07th 00 2 5 03:15  Israel 07th 02 4th 1 09: 07  Malta 07th 05 2 0 17: 03  Soviet Union 07th 00 3 4th 07:16  Wales 07th 05 0 2 16: 06  Faroe Islands 06th 06th 0 0 19: 02  GDR 05 00 1 4th 03:13  Finland 05 03 0 2 07: 04  Russia 05 00 1 4th 04:13

Venues

Switzerland has a national stadium in name only, the Wankdorf Stadium (formerly Stade de Suisse) in Bern .

In line with the federal structure of the country, the larger geographical regions also have an equal role in football. Basel, Bern, Geneva and Zurich, the four largest cities in the country, established themselves as the main venues in the first few years. Another main venue, the Stade Olympique de la Pontaise in Lausanne , was added in 1923, but was used for the last time in 1999.

In the 21st century, the national team mainly played in the St. Jakob-Park in Basel , which opened in 2001 , which is partly due to the fact that this stadium has the most seats. The Stade de Genève in Lancy , which replaced the Stade des Charmilles in 2003 , is the second main venue. On the Letzigrund in Zurich , a venue for the 2008 European Championships, only friendlies have been played since 2008, and no international matches have been held in the Stade de Suisse in Bern since 2014 because artificial turf was laid there. Thus, competitive games (EM / World Cup qualifications and Nations League) are currently played primarily in St. Jakob-Park in Basel, in the Stade de Genève near Geneva, in the Swissporarena in Lucerne and in the Kybunpark in St. Gallen . In friendly matches, which are expected to attract less audience interest, other stadiums and stadiums in smaller cities are also used.

The national team's home games took place in the following stadiums:

St. Jakob-Park Basel

Stade de Suisse

Stade de Genève

city	Stadion	Games	Period
Bern	Wankdorf Stadium	72	1911-1998
Zurich	Hardturm Stadium	60	1911-2006
Basel	St. Jakob Stadium	57	1911-1998
Lausanne	Olympique de la Pontaise stadium	36	1923-1999
Geneva	Stade des Charmilles	31	1908-2001
Basel	St. Jakob Park	33	since 2001
Lancy	Stade de Genève	17th	since 2003
St. Gallen	Aspen moss	12	1912-2002
Lucerne	Allmend stadium	10	1971-1997
St. Gallen	Kybunpark	11	since 2008
Lugano	Cornaredo Stadium	09	since 1951
Lucerne	Swissporarena	08th	since 2012
Bern	Wankdorf Stadium (Stade de Suisse)	06th	since 2005
Zurich	Letzigrund (new)	05	since 2007
Neuchâtel	Stade de la Maladière (old)	04th	1983-1989
Manners	Tourbillon Stadium	04th	since 1985
Suhr	Brügglifeld Stadium	01	1987
Basel	Country yard	01	1908
Bellinzona	Stadio Comunale	01	1987
La Chaux-de-Fonds	Stade de la Charriere	01	1911
Neuchâtel	Stade de la Maladière (new)	01	2017
Tuna	Stockhorn Arena	01	2015
Zurich	Letzigrund (old)	01	1999

As of November 15, 2019

Records

• Longest run of matches without a goal: 5 matches. 4 games of which at the 2006 World Cup and one game at the 2010 World Cup . *
• Most consecutive World Cup game minutes without conceding a goal: 559 minutes (July 2, 1994 to June 21, 2010). The series began with Txiki Begiristain's 3-0 penalty in the round of 16 against Spain at the 1994 World Cup in the USA and ended at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa in the second group game against Chile, when Mark González in 75th place .Minutes of the game to make it 1-0.

* Italy also did not concede in 5 games at the 1990 World Cup .

Other selection teams

Junior selections

As the first Swiss junior selection, a U-19 team played an international match against the Netherlands on August 1, 1949 , which ended in a 3-1 defeat. To date, the U-19s have played over 460 games and were able to reach the semifinals of the 2004 European Championship as their biggest success to date . There the team finally lost to Turkey 2: 3 after extra time. The U-21s as the last selection before the national team was founded in 1990 and also reached the semi-finals at the European Championships in their own country in 2002 , where they were eliminated 2-0 against France. The Swiss Football Association last established a U-15 team in 1997 and has since had a total of seven junior teams from U-15 to U-21.

The most successful junior selection so far was the U-17 . In 2002 she qualified for a European Championship for the first time and was able to win the tournament straight away. In the final, France was defeated 4-2 on penalties, after it was 0-0 after regular time and overtime. In 2009 the first qualification for a U-17 World Cup followed, as well as the first Swiss World Cup title. Again the selection won all games and defeated the host and defending champion from Nigeria 1-0 in the final . As another success of a junior selection, the U-20s qualified for the 2005 World Cup. Of the seven national teams, the U-15, U-17 and U-21 teams have a positive international match record.

National team of women

→ Main article : Swiss national football team for women

The women's national team's first official international match was played against France in Basel in 1972 and ended 2-2. While Switzerland has a positive game record against Austria of six wins, one draw and two defeats in official games, they have not won against Germany of 17 games so far. In 2014 she qualified for the first time for the 2015 World Cup and in 2016 she qualified for a European Championship for the first time .

For the juniors there are selected teams in the age groups U-19 , U-17 and U-16 . In 2009, the U-19s in Belarus were the first Swiss women's team to reach the European Championship semi-finals, thereby qualifying for the U-20 World Cup , which took place in Germany in 2010. There, however, the team lost all three preliminary round games and was eliminated without their own goal.

Amateur national team

In 1958, at the suggestion of President Gustav Wiederkehr, the delegates' assembly of the SFV decided to set up a national team for amateurs . This step was in line with the zeitgeist of the time, which rejected professional sport and viewed financial compensation as a corruption of the ideals of football. The team consisted almost exclusively of players from the first division , the third highest division. The first game took place on November 3, 1959 in Enschede against the Netherlands (1: 1). The attempts to qualify for the Olympic tournaments of 1960, 1964, 1968 and 1972 all failed.

After the qualifying game on November 5, 1971 in Copenhagen against Denmark (0: 4), the SFV decided to dissolve the team. Several reasons were decisive for this: firstly, the interest of the audience was always very modest, secondly, the competition between the state amateurs of the Eastern Bloc countries turned out to be far too strong and thirdly, the top performers opted for semi-professionalism after a short time, so that the team never clashed could form a coordinated team.

Country selection of workers' footballers

In addition to the official national team of the SFV, another selection sporadically played country games for over half a century. It was the association selection of the social democratic Swiss Workers 'Gymnastics and Sports Association (SATUS) , which organized workers' sport in Switzerland and deliberately distinguished itself from "bourgeois" sport.

The selection of the association, founded in 1917, made its debut against France in 1922, the game in Geneva ended in a 3-1 defeat. At the first Workers' Olympiad in Frankfurt am Main in 1925 , the SATUS representatives won against France, but lost against Belgium and Germany and were eliminated in the preliminary round. At the second Workers' Olympiad in Vienna in 1931, the Swiss won against Latvia, but their defeat against the eventual tournament winner Austria meant they were eliminated early. The third and final Workers' Olympiad took place in Antwerp in 1937 . The Swiss beat Finland and were eliminated in the semifinals against Norway. From 1932 to 1934 the SATUS national selection also took part in the first European Workers' Football Championship and in 1928 an unofficial SATUS selection took part in the international Spartakiad in Moscow. For the 1936 People's Olympiad in Barcelona, ​​which wanted to protest against the abuse of the Olympic Games by National Socialist propaganda, the SATUS registered the national football selection as well as the regional selection of Basel and Geneva. The tournament could not take place because of the outbreak of the Spanish civil war.

After the official commitment of the SATUS to social democracy in 1929, the communist associations were excluded, which thereupon founded the "Kampfgemeinschaft für Rote Sporteinheit". In 1930 she made a tour of the Soviet Union , took part in a banned Spartakiade in Berlin in 1931 and in a "Workers' Football World Cup" in Paris in 1934 . In the same year, a game against the Soviet Union had to be relocated to St. Louis, France, because the Federal Council refused a visa. The Swiss selection consisted of 7 red athletes, three SATUS footballers and one SFV player. In 1936, the communist athletes rejoined the SATUS. After the Second World War, the SATUS selection took part only sporadically in international events, for example in 1948 and 1958 in the anniversary tournaments of the French and in 1960 and 1970 those of the Belgian Workers' Sports Association. After a tournament in Italy in 1979, international gaming was stopped due to a lack of interest from the athletes.

Football selection from Makkabi Switzerland

The Jewish sports umbrella organization also had a selection of football. The association was founded in 1918 and was called Makkabi Switzerland from 1938 . A selection of Swiss Jews also took part in the third Maccabiade , which took place in Tel Aviv in 1950 . They lost their first game against the Israeli national team with 1: 9. This was followed by a defeat against England, a draw against South Africa and a victory against France, which put the Swiss in fourth place.

When they played for the second time in 1953, the Swiss had to play five games within eight days. They won two games against Finland, while losing to England, Israel and the USA. In 1961, Swiss Jews took part in the Maccabiade football tournament for the last time. They won the first game against Argentina, while the second game against England could not be played due to organizational problems. Both teams then qualified for the final round at the green table. After significant defeats against England and South Africa, the fourth place resulted.

Makkabi Switzerland has been playing with a futsal team since the 1980s . The best placement at the World Maccabiade was seventh place in 1993. At the European Maccabi Games in 1987, the bronze medal was won, followed by fourth places in 1991 and 1995.

See also

• Swiss national football team (U-17 juniors)
• Swiss national football team (U-20 men)
• Swiss national football team (U-21 men)

literature

• Beat Jung (Hrsg.): The Nati - The History of the Swiss National Football Team. Verlag Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2006, ISBN 3-89533-532-0 .
• Christian Koller (Ed.): Great moments of Swiss football (= history of football, vol. 2). Lit-Verlag, Münster / Vienna 2008.
• Fabian Brändle / Christian Koller: 4 to 2: The golden age of Swiss football 1918–1939 . Publishing house Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2014.
• Bernard Thurnheer : Having a say in the national team . Zytglogge Verlag, Oberhofen 2008, ISBN 978-3-7296-0769-9 .
• Peter Birrer, Albert Staudenmann: Köbi Kuhn - The Swiss national soccer team pays homage to their coach . Wörterseh Verlag, Gockhausen 2006, ISBN 3-033-00689-2 .
• Daniel Schaub: The big Swiss book of the 2006 World Cup. Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, Basel 2006, ISBN 3-7245-1432-8 .
• Gottfried Schmid (Ed.): The Golden Book of Swiss Football. Publishing house Domprobstei, Basel 1953.

Web links

Commons : Swiss national football team  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website of the Swiss Football Association
• Game statistics of the national team
• Video contribution to the international match between Switzerland and Germany April 24, 1941 in Bern

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The FIFA / Coca-Cola World Ranking. In: fifa.com. July 16, 2020, accessed July 21, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. Pp. 15-18.
3. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Fabian Brändle: The Nati. Pp. 23-24.
4. ↑ Gergana Ghanbarian-Baleva: An English sport from Switzerland . In: Dittmar Dahlmann, Anke Hilbrenner (Eds.): The ball is round everywhere - on the past and present of football in Eastern and Southeastern Europe . Essen 2006, ISBN 3-89861-509-X , p. 155-182 .
5. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. Pp. 19-21.
6. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. Pp. 25-26.
7. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. Pp. 25-29.
8. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. Pp. 29-30.
9. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. Pp. 33-34.
10. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. Pp. 35-36.
11. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. Pp. 36-38.
12. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. P. 40.
13. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. Pp. 41-43.
14. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. Pp. 44-50.
15. ↑ Beat Jung: The Nati. Pp. 119-121.
16. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. Pp. 63-66.
17. ^ Gazette de Lausanne, June 10, 1938 edition.
18. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. Pp. 70-73.
19. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. P. 79.
20. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. Pp. 81-83.
21. ↑ Gerhard Fischer, Ulrich Lindner, Werner Skrentny: The defeat on Hitler's birthday . In: Striker for Hitler. On the interplay between football and National Socialism . Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 1999, ISBN 3-89533-241-0 , p. 119 .
22. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Fabian Brändle: The Nati. Pp. 105-106.
23. ↑ Werner Skrentny: Post-war premiere: A breach in the wall . In: Dietrich Schulze-Marmeling (Hrsg.): The history of the national soccer team . Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-89533-443-X , p. 130 .
24. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Fabian Brändle: The Nati. Pp. 102-104.
25. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Fabian Brändle: The Nati. Pp. 111-118.
26. ↑ Beat Jung: The Nati. P. 129.
27. ↑ Beat Jung: The Nati. Pp. 134-138.
28. ↑ Beat Jung: The Nati. P. 142.
29. ↑ Beat Jung: The Nati. Pp. 144-152.
30. ^ "Sport", edition of July 12, 1962.
31. ↑ Beat Jung: The Nati. P. 140.
32. ↑ Beat Jung: The Nati. Pp. 132-134.
33. ↑ Beat Jung: The Nati. Pp. 175-176, 180-181.
34. ↑ Beat Jung: The Nati. Pp. 189-199.
35. ↑ ^{a b} Beat Jung (Ed.), Jürg Ackermann: The Nati. Pp. 206-208.
36. ↑ Beat Jung: The Nati. P. 188.
37. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Jürg Ackermann: The Nati. P. 214.
38. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Jürg Ackermann: The Nati. Pp. 208-213.
39. ↑ National football team against nuclear tests. (No longer available online.) Swiss television , September 6, 1995, archived from the original on September 13, 2014 ; Retrieved August 11, 2011 . 
40. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Jürg Ackermann: The Nati. Pp. 216-217.
41. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Jürg Ackermann: The Nati. Pp. 218-221.
42. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Jürg Ackermann: The Nati. Pp. 222-224.
43. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Thomas Knellwolf: The Nati. Pp. 225-236.
44. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Thomas Knellwolf: The Nati. Pp. 247-250.
45. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Thomas Knellwolf: The Nati. Pp. 251-255.
46. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Thomas Knellwolf: The Nati. Pp. 264-272.
47. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Thomas Knellwolf: The Nati. Pp. 275-286.
48. ↑ FIFA world ranking statistics of the Swiss national football team
49. ↑ Ottmar Hitzfeld succeeds Köbi Kuhn. swissinfo , February 4, 2008, accessed February 6, 2008 . 
50. ↑ Hitzfeld extends Switzerland until 2012. Focus , August 14, 2009, accessed on August 16, 2009 . 
51. ↑ The Swiss national team beat Germany 5: 3. Swiss television, May 26, 2012, accessed on October 17, 2012 . 
52. ↑ German defensive degenerate into a shooting gallery. In: fussball-em-total.de. FOOTBALL EM-total, May 26, 2012, accessed on October 12, 2013 . 
53. ↑ Switzerland beats Iceland and winters as a sovereign group leader. Aargauer Zeitung, October 16, 2012, accessed on October 17, 2012 . 
54. ↑ Belgium and Switzerland celebrate participation in the World Cup. In: fussball-wm-total.de. FOOTBALL WM-Total, October 12, 2013, accessed on October 12, 2013 . 
55. ↑ At the home World Cup in 1954, Switzerland was not seeded and had to play against the seeded teams England and Italy.
56. ↑ fifa.com: "A lot of movement in the top 10"
57. ↑ fifa.com "Group E: European favorites"
58. ↑ fifa.com: "Hitzfeld stops as national coach after World Cup" ( Memento from October 22, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
59. ↑ ^{a b} Thank you Ottmar! A tribute to the best coach in the world. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on July 14, 2014 ; Retrieved July 1, 2014 . 
60. ↑ Spain and Switzerland qualified for EM. In: fussball-em-total.de. FUSSBALL-EM-total, October 10, 2015, accessed on June 30, 2016 . 
61. ↑ Penalty thriller goes to Poland. In: fussball-em-total.de. FUSSBALL-EM-total, June 25, 2016, accessed on June 30, 2016 . 
62. ^ Spiegel-Verlag Rudolf Augstein GmbH & Co. KG (ed.): Xhaka and Shaqiri get off lightly. In: Spiegel Online. June 26, 2018, accessed July 8, 2018 . 
63. ↑ How was the 1000th goal? , 20 minutes, October 12, 2009.
64. ^ A-Team , Football.ch
65. ↑ The last four games took place against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia .
66. ↑ Bern has to do without major football events. In: derbund.ch. September 29, 2014, accessed December 2, 2015 . 
67. ↑ ^{a b} Beat Jung: The Nati. Pp. 341-342.
68. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. P. 324.
69. ↑ ^{a b} Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. Pp. 327-331.
70. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. P. 332.
71. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. P. 334.
72. ↑ ^{a b} Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. Pp. 337-339.
73. ↑ Beat Jung (Ed.), Christian Koller: The Nati. Pp. 339-340.

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on February 11, 2007 in this version .