Switzerland have plodded along unspectacularly since their first international fixture in 1905 but are currently enjoying a productive period, regularly ranking inside the FIFA rankings' top ten.

Switzerland's national football team have performed fairly steadily for the most part throughout their history, though in recent years they have become a regular fixture in the latter stages of international tournaments.

Switzerland have given fans some moments to remember, particularly through legends such as Alexander Frei, Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri.

They reached the Round of 16 at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 World Cups and the quarter-finals of the 2020 and 2024 European Championships.

 

Formation and early years

Switzerland played their first international fixture in 1905, losing 1-0 to France. In 1924, they earned the silver medal at the Paris Olympics, losing to Uruguay in the final of the soccer tournament.

Switzerland participated in their first World Cup tournament and the second ever held in 1934, where they beat the Netherlands 3-2 in the round-of-16 before eventually suffering elimination at the hands of Czechoslovakia in the quarter-finals.

In 1938, Switzerland once again made the World Cup quarter-finals, seeing off West Germany 4-2 in the last 16 via a replay only to be beaten 2-0 by Hungary.

After finishing third in their group at the 1950 World Cup, Switzerland hosted the tournament in 1954. Once again, they reached the quarter-finals, beating Italy in a play-off to qualify. However, in the quarter-finals, they were beaten 7-5 by Austria. 

After group-stage exits at the 1962 and 1966 World Cups, Switzerland did not qualify again until 1994. They also did not feature in the European Championships until 1996.

 

The Roy Hodgson era

Roy Hodgson was appointed in 1992 and by August 1993, he had helped them climb to third in the FIFA Rankings. Hodgson led Switzerland to the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA, losing only one match in qualifying.

Switzerland drew 1-1 to the USA in the opening match of the tournament before going on to beat Romania 4-1 and lose 2-0 to Colombia in their other group stage matches. Despite the defeat to Colombia, the qualified for the last 16, where they were beaten 3-0 by Spain.

Hodgson went on to guide Switzerland to qualification for Euro 1996, but the team struggled at the tournament itself, exiting in the group stage.

 

The introduction of Kobi Kuhn

Switzerland went into freefall in the late 1990s, failing to qualify for the 1998 World Cup or Euro 2000. From an all-time high of third in the world rankings in August 1993, they had dropped to an all-time low of 83rd by December 1998.

Jakob 'Kobi' Kuhn took over as head coach in 2001. He had plenty of work to do in transforming a team which once again failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.

Kuhn led Switzerland to Euro 2004 ahead of Russia and the Republic of Ireland - a promising start to the new era. However, they were eliminated in the group stage, finishing bottom after defeats to England and France followed a 0-0 draw to Croatia. There was, at least, one bright moment as Johan Vonlanthen became the youngest player ever to score at the Euros.

Switzerland qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany by beating Turkey via the away goals rule in Istanbul. At the tournament, they finished first in a group featuring France, South Korea and Togo. This qualified them for the round-of-16, where they were beaten on penalties by Ukraine, becoming the only team to be eliminated from the tournament without conceding a goal.

Switzerland co-hosted Euro 2008 along with Austria. In the build-up to the tournament, their preparations were disrupted as Kuhn's wife was hospitalised due to an epileptic attack.

The team's fortunes worsened in the opening match against the Czech Republic. They suffered a 1-0 defeat, hitting the bar at the other end and seeing Alexander Frei ruled out of the tournament after suffering an injury.

A 2-1 defeat to Turkey followed in Switzerland's next match, but prior to the game, Kuhn had been informed his wife had woken up from a nine-day coma.

He told the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper: "I had two feelings inside me on Wednesday, one of huge disappointment because we had gone out of the tournament and a great joy because of the surprise news from the hospital."

Switzerland rounded off their Euro 2008 campaign in style, picking up a 2-0 win over Portugal, who neverthetheless topped the group.

 

Time under Hitzfield

Ottmar Hitzfeld took over from Kuhn following Euro 2008 and led the team into the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. They started off with a 1-0 win over eventual champions Spain courtesy of a goal from Gelson Fernandes. However, Switzerland were still eliminated at the group stage.

Mark Gonzalez of Chile ended Switzerland's record 559-minute run without conceding a goal at the FIFA World Cup.

Switzerland missed out on qualifying for Euro 2012, but were back in action at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, where they advanced to the round-of-16 along with France, from a group which also contained Honduras and Ecuador. There, Switzerland were beaten 1-0 by Argentina due to a late winner in extra time scored by Angel di Maria.

 

Success in recent years

Switzerland made the round-of-16 at Euro 2016 in France, but were eliminated following a penalty shootout defeat to Poland.

At the 2018 World Cup in Russia, they once again were eliminated in the round-of-16.

Switzerland made the semi-finals of the inaugural UEFA Nations League in 2018/19, losing to eventual champions Portugal and then to England in the third-place play-off.

The Swiss then went on to shock favourites France at Euro 2020.

The delayed 2020 Euros saw Switzerland qualify for the round of 16 after finishing as one of the best third-placed teams in their group. They surprised World champions France by dumping them out of the tournament on penalties and finally picked up their first knockout phase win in a major tournament since 1938.

However, the penalty gods were not on their side in the quarter-finals, with Spain knocking them out.

Under head coach Murat Yakin, Switzerland won their World Cup qualifying group for the Qatar 2022 tournament, keeping European Champions Italy in second place. They didn't lose a game throughout the qualification run.

In the opening game of the World Cup in Qatar, Switzerland beat Cameroon 1-0, then lost to Brazil in the second game.

They booked their place in the last 16 after edging a heated 3-2 contest with Serbia, but then they came truly unstuck in the knockout round losing 6-1 to Portugal.

Switzerland qualified for Euro 2024 and were one of the more impressive teams at the tournament.

They finished second in Group A with 5 points, after beating Hungary 3-1, and drawing with Germany and Scotland 1-1.

The Swiss then stunned the defending champions Italy in the Round of 16, comfortably beating them 2-0 with goals from Remo Freuler and Ruben Vargas.

In the quarter-final, England's Bukayo Saka cancelled out Breel Embolo’s opener to take the last-eight tie to extra time and onto penalties.

Saka, Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham and Ivan Toney were successful from 12 yards before Trent Alexander-Arnold wrapped up a 5-3 triumph for England after Jordan Pickford had saved Manuel Akanji’s first spot-kick.

 

Switzerland legends

Alexander Frei, Granit Xhaka, Xherdan Shaqiri, Heinz Hermann, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Johann Vogel and Stephane Chapuisat are among the highest-profile players to have donned the Swiss national team jersey.

 

Frei is their all-time top goalscorer with 42 goals and Xhaka holds the caps record.

 

Rivalries

Switzerland has a rivalrous but respectful relationship with Germany. They took the position after World War II that soccer should be a bridge-builder between nations and that Germany should not be shunned.

 

Fanbase

Switzerland has a population of approximately 8.5 million, with the cities of Basel and Zurich enjoying a fierce football rivalry within the country.