TheSwitzerland national football team (German:Schweizer Fussballnationalmannschaft,Italian:Nazionale di calcio della Svizzera,French:Équipe nationale suisse de football,Romansh:Squadra naziunala da ballape da la Svizra,Latin:Turma Pediludica Nationalis Helvetica) representsSwitzerland in men's internationalfootball. The national team is controlled by theSwiss Football Association.
Switzerland's best performances at theFIFA World Cup have been three quarter-finals appearances, in1934,1938 and1954. They hosted the competitions in 1954, where they played againstAustria in the quarter-finals match, losing7–5, which still stands as the highest scoring World Cup match ever.[3] At the2006 FIFA World Cup, Switzerland set a FIFA World Cup record by being eliminated from the tournament despite not conceding a single goal, being eliminated byUkraine after penalties in theround of sixteen. They did not concede a goal until a match againstChile at the2010 FIFA World Cup, conceding in the75th minute, setting a World Cup tournament record for consecutive minutes without conceding a goal.[4]
Switzerland andAustria were the co-hosts ofUEFA Euro 2008, where the Swiss made their third appearance in the competitions, but failed for a third time to progress from the group stage.[5][6] However, since then, the Swiss made it to the round of 16 duringEuro 2016, and achieved a record-best quarter-finals showing atEuro 2020 after eliminating world championsFrance.[7][8]
Overall, Switzerland's best ever result at an official football competition was thesilver medal they earned in1924, after losing toUruguay 3–0 in the finals of the1924 Olympic Games.[9]
In 1992, Switzerland appointed English managerRoy Hodgson as head coach of the national team; at the time of his appointment, the Swiss had not qualified for any major tournament since 1966.[22] Under his guidance, Switzerland rose to 3rd in theFIFA World Ranking in August 1993, which still remains their highest FIFA ranking to this day.[23] Hodgson led Switzerland to the1994 FIFA World Cup, losing just one game during qualifying, in agroup that includedItaly,Portugal, andScotland.[24] The Swiss won their home tie with Italy, and in the away game, took a 2–0 lead before being pegged back to a 2–2 draw, and also took four points from Scotland, winning 3–1 at home and drawing 1–1 away.[25][26][27] Against the Portuguese, Switzerland drew 1–1 at home and lost 1–0 in the away fixture in Porto, their only defeat of the qualifying campaign.[28][29] Their opening match against hostsUnited States, on 18 June 1994, was played indoors at thePontiac Silverdome inDetroit, and the two teams drew 1–1 in the opening match of the World Cup.[30] In the next match, they won 4–1 over Romania, and in their final game against Colombia, the Swiss lost 2–0.[31][32] Nevertheless, Switzerland still qualified fromthe group, but were knocked out bySpain, losing 3–0.[33]
At UEFA Euro 1996, Switzerland once again easily qualified for the tournament hosted inEngland, as they topped their qualifying group, losing just once, which was a 1–2 defeat to Turkey.[34][35] They were drawn inGroup A, but their tournament was disappointing overall; as they finished bottom of the group.[36] Their opening match was against hostsEngland, and the two sides drew 1–1.[37] In their second match, they lost 2–0 to the Netherlands, and in their final group game, lost 1–0 to Scotland.[38][39] Switzerland failed to qualify for the1998 FIFA World Cup, hosted inFrance, as they finishedfourth in their qualifying group, winning three games; 3–2 againstFinland, 1–0 againstHungary and 5–0 againstAzerbaijan, drawing one game against Hungary (1–1), and losing three games; 1–0 against Azerbaijan and losing both games againstNorway, losing 1–0 at home and 5–0 away.[40]
Inqualifying for UEFA Euro 2004, Switzerland finished top of a group that featuredRussia, theRepublic of Ireland,Albania andGeorgia.[41] The Swiss finished with 21 points and qualified for thefinals in Portugal, where they were drawn inGroup B withdefending championsFrance,England andCroatia. They began the tournament with a0–0 draw with Croatia before succumbing to a3–0 defeat to England in the next match.[42][43] They lost their final match against France; losing3–1 and finishing bottom of the group.[44][45] Their only goal of the entire tournament was scored byJohan Vonlanthen, who became the youngest ever goalscorer at theEuros when he scored the equalizing goal against France; surpassing the previous record set only four days earlier byWayne Rooney by three months.[46]
The Swiss managed to qualify for the2006 FIFA World Cup, overcomingTurkey by theaway goals rule inIstanbul, the country's first World Cup since 1994.[47] In the tournament, Switzerland was drawn inGroup G with former world championsFrance, 2002 World Cup's fourth-place finisherSouth Korea and debutantTogo. In their first encounter, Switzerland bravely held the mighty France andZinedine Zidane 0–0,[48] before overcoming the Togolese 2–0 in the second match, tied with the South Koreans four points, however the Swiss were inferior to the Koreans by number of goals scored, meaning that the last game a must-win.[49] The Swiss then managed to beat South Korea 2–0 in the final match, occupying first place in their group while knocking the Asians out of the tournament.[50] In the round of sixteen, Switzerland facedUkraine, but lost on penalty shootout in a match that has been criticized as the worst game in World Cup history.[51] Yet, Switzerland was the only team to be eliminated without conceding a single goal.
Switzerland, along with Austria, were chosen as co-hosts ofUEFA Euro 2008.[52] The Swiss were drawn inGroup A withPortugal,Turkey and theCzech Republic.[5] Their opening match was a 1–0 loss to the Czech Republic, followed by a 1–2 defeat to Turkey.[53][6] Their third match was against Portugal, with Switzerland winning 2–0 to ensure that Portugal would top their group with a defeat.[54]
In their first match at the2010 FIFA World Cup, the team defeated eventual championsSpain 1–0 with a goal byGelson Fernandes, but they were still eliminated in thegroup stage.[55] In the second match, a goal scored byMark González in the 75th minute of the game againstChile ended a 559-minute streak without conceding a goal in World Cup matches, beating the record previously held byItaly by nine minutes.[56][57][58] Switzerland did not advance further than the group after a 0–0 draw withHonduras in the third and final group match.[59]
The Switzerland national team line-up before afriendly match againstArgentina, 29 February 2012. Switzerland lost 1–3.[60]
Switzerland did not qualify forUEFA Euro 2012; missing out on the tournament for the first time in a decade, as they finished third in the qualifying group, a group featuringEngland,Montenegro,Wales andBulgaria.[61] Switzerland's initial start in qualifying was overall poor; losing 1–3 to England in the first game played, in whichXherdan Shaqiri scored his first goal for the national team, followed by a 1–0 defeat to Montenegro.[62][63] Switzerland then recorded a 4–1 win over Wales before consecutive draws against Bulgaria (0–0) and England (2–2).[64][65][66] Switzerland's hopes of qualifying were restored with a 3–1 win over Bulgaria, with ahat-trick from Xherdan Shaqiri.[67] However, following a 2–0 loss to Wales (in whichReto Ziegler earned ared card) and Montenegro's surprising last-minute equalizer against England in a 2–2 draw, Switzerland's hopes of qualifying were mathematically made impossible.[68][69] In the final game, Switzerland earned redemption against Montenegro as they came out with a 2–0 win.[70] Switzerland's top goalscorer during the qualifying period was Xherdan Shaqiri, with 4 goals.[71]
AtEuro 2016, Switzerland were selected to play inGroup A of the tournament; alongside hostsFrance,Albania andRomania.[75] In the first game, Switzerland won1–0 over Albania, with the only goal being scored byFabian Schär in the fifth minute of the game.[76] The next match was a1–1 draw with Romania, with Switzerland initially conceding from apenalty but equalizing in the second half following a goal fromAdmir Mehmedi.[77] The final group game was against France, drawing0–0. However, the game spread notoriety for several Swiss players' jerseys being ripped during challenges with the French players, and also for the ball bursting during a challenge betweenAntoine Griezmann andValon Behrami when they both converged on the ball, with the game also attracting attention for its poor surface, which was criticised by both coaches and players of the two teams; after the game, Switzerland's kit manufacturer had blamed "faulty material" for the incidents regarding the jerseys being ripped.[78][79][80] Switzerland, due to the draw, finished second inthe group to set up a tie againstPoland in theround of sixteen; initially the Swiss conceded but managed to find a late equalizer fromXherdan Shaqiri, who scored abicycle-kick to send the game into extra-time, but the Swiss were knocked out asGranit Xhaka had missed the second penalty during thepenalty shootout, as all other players managed to convert their penalties, withPoland winning 5–4 on penalties to go through and knock out the Swiss.[81][82][83] Inqualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Switzerland were drawn withPortugal,Hungary,Faroe Islands,Latvia andAndorra.[84] The Swiss began theirqualifying group with a shock 2–0 win overEuropean champions Portugal, who had won the tournament less than two months prior to playing with them on 6 September.[85] Afterwards, they beat Hungary 2–3, Andorra 2–1, Faroe Islands 2–0, Latvia 1–0 in the first five games, leading the group on maximum points.[86][87][88][89] In the reverse fixtures, they beat Faroe Islands 2–0, Andorra 3–0, Latvia 3–0 and Hungary 5–2,[90][91][92][93] before facing Portugal in the final group game, where they lost 2–0,[94] meaning they would have to play in theplay-offs; where they were ranked as thebest second-placed team,[84][95] and were drawn to playNorthern Ireland. In thefirst leg, played on 9 November, they won 1–0 through a controversial penalty scored byRicardo Rodríguez, and three days later played in thesecond leg, drawing 0–0 and advancing to theWorld Cup finals in Russia with a 1–0 aggregate win.[96][97][98] Before theWorld Cup, Switzerland were ranked 6th in theworld ranking, even ranking higher than eventualWorld Cup winnersFrance.[99]
The Switzerland national team line-up before the game againstSweden, on 3 July 2018, inSaint Petersburg[100]
AtEuro 2020, postponed to 2021 due toCOVID-19, Switzerland finished third inGroup A which contained Italy, Wales and Turkey; however, they managed to qualify to the knockout stage as one of the best third-placed teams. In theround of 16, they defeated World Cup champions France on penalties, after finishing 3–3 and overcoming a 1–3 second half deficit, to have their first knockout phase win in a major tournament since the 1938 World Cup.[112][113] In the subsequent quarter-final game againstSpain, they once again took the game to penalties, after trailing 1–0. However, after converting only one of their four penalties, they exited the tournament at this stage.[114]
On 9 August 2021, Yakin became the manager of the Swiss national team.[115] During the2022 World Cup qualification, Switzerland finished in the first place ahead of Italy inGroup C, which granted them a spot in the2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.[116] During the World Cup, Switzerland finished second inGroup G to qualify the round of 16, where they lost 6–1 to Portugal.[117] In 2023, Switzerland played against Romania,Israel,Belarus,Kosovo, and Andorra toqualify forEuro 2024. The Swiss finished second behind Romania.[118]
TheEuro 2024 tournament was a major success for Switzerland, as they finished second in their group with 5 points, moving onto the Round of 16. During the Round of 16, Switzerland caused a major upset by defeating defending championsItaly and reaching the Quarter-Finals for the second time in their history.[119]
The Switzerland national team's traditional home kit is red shirts, white shorts and red socks, with the away kit being reverse with white shirts, red shorts and white socks, although all-red and all-white kits are not uncommon. Switzerland, since being established in 1895, have always had the same colour code, as tradition and homage to the national colours which are derived from theSwiss flag. The current kit manufacturer isPuma, who have made their kits since 1998.
The best result Switzerland have achieved thus far is the quarter-finals of theWorld Cup on three occasions, in1934,1938 and1954, while they also reached the same stage atEuro 2020 and2024. They earned a silver medal at the1924 Olympic Games, held inParis, where they lost 3–0 toUruguay in thefinal. This edition along with the 1928 are considered by FIFA as World Cup finals[123]
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