Switzerland World Cup 2018

Switzerland World Cup 2018

Switzerland compete at a fourth consecutive World Cup finals tournament, and will be hoping to get further than the last 16 round they haven’t advanced past since 1958.

History at the World Cup

switzerlandSwitzerland appeared in six of the first seven World Cup finals tournaments, reaching the Quarter Finals on three separate occasions. After an absence of twenty-eight years, having not reached the finals since 1966, they qualified for the 1994 finals in USA. There, they reached the last 16, but it was to be the only finals they played at between 1966 and 2006.

Having failed to qualify in 1998 and 2002, they appeared in the 2006 finals in Germany. Again, they reached the last 16. It was a group stage exit in 2010, and another last-16 defeat in Brazil 2014. Switzerland have been on the verge of something special many times at World Cup finals, but they ultimately fall in the early knock-out rounds.

  • World Cup Finals Appearances – 10
  • Previous Best Performance – Quarter Finals (3 times)

How they qualified

Switzerland were drawn in a tough UEFA qualifying group alongside European champions Portugal, as well as Hungary, Latvia, Andorra, and Faroe Islands. They got off to the perfect start, with a 2-0 win over Portugal, and went on a run of nine wins from nine matches. Heading into the final qualifier, they just needed to hold Portugal to a draw to book their place in Russia. Unfortunately, the Portuguese proved to be a bit too strong and the Swiss finished second on goal-difference after a 2-0 defeat.

Switzerland team in football
Switzerland team in football / Marco Iacobucci EPP / Shutterstock.com

They did finish top in the bets runners-up list, meaning they moved on to a play-off against Northern Ireland. It was a hard-fought affair, played over two legs, that was settled by a controversial penalty in the first meeting. That penalty gave Switzerland a 1-0 away victory, and a goalless home draw was enough to qualify for the finals.

Coach/Manager

Former Lazio manager Vladimir Petkovic has been head coach of the Switzerland national team since July 2014.

Under Petkovic, Switzerland have climbed back up the FIFA rankings and currently sit in eighth place, above the likes of France and England.

At the time of writing this, Petkovic has been in charge for thirty-six matches, winning twenty-two at a percentage of over 61%.

Star Players

The undoubted star of the Switzerland team is Xherdan Shaqiri, the Stoke City winger/attacking midfielder who has netted twenty goals in sixty-eight games for his country.

Shaqiri has won domestic honours at two different clubs, including FC Basel in Switzerland and Bayern Munich in Germany, and played in Serie A with Inter Milan before he moved to the Premier League.

He is a Swiss FA Golden Player award winner, and has played at two previous World Cups.

Another stand-out player familiar to English football fans is Granit Xhaka, the Arsenal midfielder who some consider to be the most talented Swiss player in the game.

Switzerland World Cup 2018: Assessing Their Chances & Odds

Switzerland have been drawn in a group with Brazil, who are the number two ranked nation in the world and second favourites to lift the trophy.

Alongside Brazil and Switzerland in Group E are Costa Rica and Serbia, in what looks like this World Cup’s “Group of Death”.

In all honesty, Brazil should top the group, but any of the other three teams could realistically snatch the runners-up spot and a place in the last 16.

The bookmakers believe Switzerland have the best chance of going through with Brazil, with Ladbrokes pricing them at 11/2 to win the group and 1/1 to advance.

If they do manage to go through, they would face the winners or runners-up of Group F. So, if they finish second, as expected, the chances are extremely high that they will go on to meet Germany in the last 16.

That will probably be the end of the tournament for them, as they have lost five of their last seven meetings with Germany. Although they did win the most recent meeting, 5-3 in a 2012 friendly international.

Our Switzerland World Cup Prediction

We believe that Group E is far too close to predict, so we are sitting on the fence and saying Brazil will top the group and any of the three have a chance of going through with them.

One thing we are more certain of is that Switzerland will go out of the competition in the last 16 if they go through to play Germany.