Switzerland national football team

The Swiss national football team (also known as the Schweizer Nati in German, La Nati in French and Squadra nazionale in Italian) is the national football team of Switzerland and is controlled by the Swiss Football Association.
Its best performances in the World Cup have been reaching the quarter-finals three times, in 1934, 1938 and when the country hosted the event in 1954. Switzerland also won silver at the 1924 Olympics. The youth teams have been more successful, winning the 2002 U-17 European Championship and the 2009 U-17 World Cup.
In 2006, Switzerland set a FIFA World Cup record by being eliminated from the competition despite not conceding a goal, losing to Ukraine in a penalty shootout in the last 16, by failing to score a single penalty - becoming the first national team in Cup history to do this. ^[1]
Switzerland co-hosted Euro 2008 with Austria, making their third appearance in the competition. As with the two previous appearances, they did not clear the group stages.
In October 2009, Switzerland booked their place at the 2010 World Cup finals with a goalless draw against Israel at St Jacob stadium in Basel.^[2]

Recent history

Euro 2004

Qualification: Switzerland qualified for the Euro 2004 in Portugal by finishing first in group 10 of the qualifying, ahead of Russia and Ireland.
Group stage: After a 0–0 draw against Croatia, they lost 0–3 against England and 1–3 against France, and thus ended on the last place in group B of the main tournament.
Trivia: Johann Vonlanthen became the youngest scorer ever in the Euro championships when he equalised against France, beating the record (set only four days earlier by Wayne Rooney) by three months.^[3]

World Cup 2006

The Swiss line-up against China, just before World Cup 2006

Qualification: The World Cup 2006 in Germany was the first World Cup for Switzerland since their participation at the World Cup 1994. After finishing second behind France in qualifying group 4, they defeated Turkey in the play-off round 2–0 and 4–2 to qualify for the main tournament.
Group stage: In the group stage, they played again against France. The game played in Stuttgart ended in a goalless draw. After defeating Togo 2–0 in Dortmund and South Korea also 2–0 in Hannover, they finished first in group G and qualified for the knockout stage.
Round of 16: In the second round of the tournament, they faced Ukraine in Cologne. The game had to be decided in a penalty shootout since no goal was scored after 120 minutes. Ukraine won the shootout 3–0.
Trivia: Switzerland was the only team in tournament not to have conceded a goal during regulation time in their matches. Switzerland's top scorer at the tournament was Alexander Frei with 2 goals.

Euro 2008

Qualification: Switzerland co-hosted the Euro 2008 together with Austria and was therefore automatically qualified.
Group stage: Switzerland played all matches of group A in Basel. After losing the opening game 0–1 to the Czech Republic and the second game 1–2 against Turkey, they were already eliminated from their home tournament after only two games. Consolation came from the 2–0 victory over Portugal in the final group stage game.
Trivia: All 3 goals by Switzerland were scored by Hakan Yakin.

World Cup 2010

Qualification: Switzerland played in group 2 of the UEFA qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Despite an embarrassing home loss against Luxembourg, they finished first in their group, ahead of Greece, Latvia and Israel.
Group stage

Team v • d • e Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Spain 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Switzerland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Honduras 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Chile 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Euro 2012

Qualification

Team v • d • e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
England	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Switzerland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bulgaria	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wales	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Montenegro	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Bulgaria	—	2 Sep '11	7 Sep '10	26 Mar '11	11 Oct '11
England	3 Sep '10	—	12 Oct '10	4 Jun '11	6 Sep '11
Montenegro	4 Jun '11	7 Oct '11	—	8 Oct '10	3 Sep '10
Switzerland	6 Sep '11	7 Sep '10	11 Oct '11	—	12 Oct '10
Wales	8 Oct '10	26 Mar '11	2 Sep '11	7 Oct '11	—

Competitive record

So far the Swiss have earned no major trophy. The closest they have come was the quarter finals of the World Cup on three occasions (1934, 1938 and 1954) and they won a silver medal in the 1924 Olympic games in Paris. The youth teams have been more successful, as the U-17-squad became European champions in 2002 and World champions in 2009 and the U-21 squad qualified for the semi-finals of the U-21-Euro 2002.

World Cup record Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA 1930 Did Not Enter - - - - - - - 1934 Quarter-finals 7/16 2 1 0 1 5 5 1938 Quarter-finals 7/15 3 1 1 1 4 6 1950 Round 1 6/13 3 1 1 1 4 6 1954 Quarter-finals 8/16 4 2 0 4 11 11 1958 Did not Qualify - - - - - - - 1962 Round 1 16/16 3 0 0 3 2 8 1966 Round 1 16/16 3 0 0 3 1 9 1970 Did not Qualify - - - - - - - 1974 Did not Qualify - - - - - - - 1978 Did not Qualify - - - - - - - 1982 Did not Qualify - - - - - - - 1986 Did not Qualify - - - - - - - 1990 Did not Qualify - - - - - - - 1994 Round 2 16/24 4 1 1 2 5 7 1998 Did not Qualify - - - - - - - 2002 Did not Qualify - - - - - - - 2006 Round 2 10/32 4 2 2 0 4 0 2010 Qualified - - - - - - - Total 8/18 26 8 5 13 37 51

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

European Championship record

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1960	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1964	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1968	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1972	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1976	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1980	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1984	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1988	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1992	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1996	Round 1	3	0	1	2	1	4
2000	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
2004	Round 1	3	0	1	2	1	6
2008	Round 1	3	1	0	2	3	3
2012		-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	3/13	9	1	2	6	5	13

Match kits

The Swiss kit consists of two different outfits. The red shirt and white shorts are for home play, and the white shirt and red shorts are for away. The jersey is manufactured by Puma.

Current squad

The following 23 players have been nominated on 11 May 2010 for the World Cup in South Africa.

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Diego Benaglio September 8, 1983 (1983-09-08) (age 26) 25 0 Wolfsburg 12 GK Marco Wölfli August 22, 1982 (1982-08-22) (age 27) 4 0 Young Boys 21 GK Johnny Leoni June 30, 1984 (1984-06-30) (age 25) 0 0 Zürich 2 DF Stephan Lichtsteiner January 16, 1984 (1984-01-16) (age 26) 26 0 Lazio 3 DF Reto Ziegler January 16, 1986 (1986-01-16) (age 24) 10 1 Sampdoria 4 DF Philippe Senderos February 14, 1985 (1985-02-14) (age 25) 38 5 Arsenal 5 DF Steve von Bergen June 10, 1983 (1983-06-10) (age 26) 10 0 Hertha BSC 13 DF Stéphane Grichting March 30, 1979 (1979-03-30) (age 31) 33 1 Auxerre 17 DF Ludovic Magnin April 20, 1979 (1979-04-20) (age 31) 62 3 Zürich 22 DF Mario Eggimann January 24, 1981 (1981-01-24) (age 29) 8 0 Hannover 96 6 MF Benjamin Huggel July 7, 1977 (1977-07-07) (age 32) 36 2 Basel 7 MF Tranquillo Barnetta May 22, 1985 (1985-05-22) (age 25) 50 6 Bayer Leverkusen 8 MF Gökhan Inler June 27, 1984 (1984-06-27) (age 25) 34 2 Udinese 11 MF Valon Behrami April 19, 1985 (1985-04-19) (age 25) 26 2 West Ham United 14 MF Marco Padalino December 8, 1983 (1983-12-08) (age 26) 7 1 Sampdoria 15 MF Hakan Yakin February 22, 1977 (1977-02-22) (age 33) 80 20 Luzern 16 MF Gelson Fernandes September 2, 1986 (1986-09-02) (age 23) 22 1 Saint-Étienne 20 MF Pirmin Schwegler March 9, 1987 (1987-03-09) (age 23) 3 0 Eintracht Frankfurt 23 MF Xherdan Shaqiri October 10, 1991 (1991-10-10) (age 18) 1 0 Basel 9 FW Alexander Frei July 15, 1979 (1979-07-15) (age 30) 73 40 Basel 10 FW Blaise Nkufo May 25, 1975 (1975-05-25) (age 35) 29 7 Seattle Sounders FC 19 FW Eren Derdiyok June 12, 1988 (1988-06-12) (age 21) 19 2 Bayer Leverkusen 18 FW Albert Bunjaku November 29, 1983 (1983-11-29) (age 26) 2 0 Nürnberg

Recent call ups

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club GK Eldin Jakupović October 2, 1984 (1984-10-02) (age 25) 1 0 Lokomotiv Moscow DF Patrick Müller December 17, 1976 (1976-12-17) (age 33) 81 3 Monaco DF Johan Djourou January 18, 1987 (1987-01-18) (age 23) 24 1 Arsenal DF Heinz Barmettler July 21, 1987 (1987-07-21) (age 22) 1 0 Zürich DF Jonathan Rossini April 5, 1989 (1989-04-05) (age 21) 1 0 Sassuolo DF Alain Nef February 6, 1982 (1982-02-06) (age 28) 3 1 Triestina MF Almen Abdi October 21, 1986 (1986-10-21) (age 23) 6 0 Le Mans MF Blerim Džemaili April 12, 1986 (1986-04-12) (age 24) 10 0 Parma MF Valentin Stocker April 12, 1989 (1989-04-12) (age 21) 3 1 Basel MF Johan Vonlanthen February 1, 1986 (1986-02-01) (age 24) 40 7 Zürich MF Alberto Regazzoni April 5, 1983 (1983-04-05) (age 27) 3 0 Young Boys MF Davide Chiumento November 22, 1984 (1984-11-22) (age 25) 1 0 Luzern DF Christoph Spycher March 30, 1978 (1978-03-30) (age 32) 47 0 Young Boys FW Marco Streller June 18, 1981 (1981-06-18) (age 28) 32 11 Basel

Most appearances and goals

Most number of appearances and goals for the Swiss national team. Players in bold are still playing for the national team. Last updated after Switzerland vs. Norway, 14 November 2009.^[4]
Most appearances

Name	Years	Caps
Heinz Hermann	1978–1991	117
Alain Geiger	1980–1996	112
Stéphane Chapuisat	1989–2004	103
Johann Vogel	1995–2007	94
Patrick Müller	1998–2008	81

Most goals

Name	Years	Goals
Alexander Frei	2001–now	40
Kubilay Türkyilmaz	1988–2001	34
Max Abegglen	1922–1937	34
André Abegglen	1927–1943	29
Jacques Fatton	1946–1955	29

Coaches

• Karl Rappan 1960 to November 11, 1963
• Alfredo Foni - July 1, 1964 to 3 May 1967
• Erwin Ballabio - May 24, 1967 to November 2, 1969
• Louis Maurer - October 17, 1970 to October 10, 1971
• René Hussy - June 22, 1973 to September 8, 1976
• Miroslav Blažević - September 8, 1976 to March 30, 1977
• Roger Vonlanthen - March 30, 1977 to March 28, 1979
• Leo Walker - May 5, 1979 to December 21, 1980
• Paul Wolfisberg - March 24, 1981 to November 10, 1985
• Daniel Jeandupeux - March 12, 1986 to 26 April 1989
• Uli Stielike - June 21, 1989 to November 13, 1991
• Roy Hodgson - January 26, 1992 to November 15, 1995
• Artur Jorge - March 13, 1996 to June 18, 1996
• Rolf Fringer - August 1, 1996 to October 11, 1997
• Gilbert Gress - March 25, 1998 to October 9, 1999
• Enzo Trossero - August 16, 2000 to June 6, 2001
• Jakob "Köbi" Kuhn - August 15, 2001 - June 30, 2008
• Ottmar Hitzfeld - July 1, 2008 -

Schedule and recent results

Recent results and future matches.^[5] Blue background color indicates competitive matches.

Date	Competition	Opponent	Venue	Score	Swiss scorers (International goal)
10 October 2009	WC2010-Q	Luxembourg	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg	3 – 0	Senderos (4), Senderos (5), Huggel (2)
14 October 2009	WC2010-Q	Israel	St. Jakob-Park, Basel	0 – 0
14 November 2009	Friendly	Norway	Stade de Genève, Geneva	0 – 1
3 March 2010	Friendly	Uruguay	AFG Arena, St. Gallen	1 – 3	Inler (1)
1 June 2010	Friendly	Costa Rica	Stade Tourbillon, Sion	0 – 1
5 June 2010	Friendly	Italy	Stade de Genève, Geneva
16 June 2010	WC2010	Spain	M. Mabhida, Durban
21 June 2010	WC2010	Chile	N. Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth
25 June 2010	WC2010	Honduras	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein

References

1. ^ "Switzerland 0-0 Ukraine (aet)". BBC Sport. 26 June 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/4991532.stm. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
2. ^ "Draw seals Swiss place". ESPN. 2009-10-14. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=236560&cc=5739. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
3. ^ Euro 2008 team preview No1: Switzerland | Football | guardian.co.uk
4. ^ "Switzerland - Record International Players". RSSSF. http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/zwit-recintlp.html.
5. ^ "FIFA.com – Switzerland: Fixtures and Results". http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=sui/fixturesresults/gender=m/index.html.

From Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia