World Cup History: Switzerland

Date: 11th June 2014 at 2:45am
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For a country that not only brags being the homeland of FIFA President Sepp Blatter, but also headquarters the organization’s head office, Switzerland has never really left any other mark on international football.

Hopefully, that will all change this year; as they enter the tournament as a dark horse, they are not to be taken lightly. However, before they get a chance to dominate Group E, let us look back on the history of Switzerland in the World Cup.

Spoiler:  it’s not particularly good.

Early Achievements and the Reign of Rappan

Switzerland began well in the early years of the World Cup. Never quite the favourite to win, the Swiss did see their fair share of success during their early participation in the tournament.

Qualifying for their first World Cup in 1934, Switzerland respectably went out at the quarter-final stage, losing 3 – 2 to Czechoslovakia, who went on to be losing finalists as Italy won their first Jules Rimet trophy in extra time.

Switzerland would see the quarter-finals again in the following tournament, France 1938.  Losing 2 – 0 to Hungary that year, the Hungarians would also go on to become runners up to Italy, almost a complete replay of the Switzerland’s outcome the previous tournament.

Much of the team’s early success during the 1930s to the 1950s can be tribute their coach, technical football legend, Karl Rappan.

Austrian born Rappen managed the team on four separate occasions over a 26 year period (1937 to 1938, 1942-1949, 1953-1954, and 1960-1963) is remembered for his tactical innovation: he engineered “the bolt” system which would later act as a foundation to the catenaccio style of defending.

Additionally, he holds the record for most international games managing Switzerland (77), most matches won (29), and comes in second to most matches lost (36).

However,  the quarter-finals would be — and remain — the furthest the Swiss have managed to achieve during all their cup campaigns.

The 1954 World Cup and the Swiss Decline

Under Rappen, Swiss football thrived and in 1954, Switzerland hosted the World Cup for the first and—so far—only time.

Once again, the Swiss made it to the last eight before exiting the tournament in third spot. They lost 7 – 5 to Austria, the highest combined score in World Cup history. The national team though had represented the host country well and appeared to be ready to emerge as a European force.

But then, the Swiss began to deteriorate.

After failing to qualify for Sweden 1958, the Rossocrociati made brief appearance in Chile 1962 and England 1966; however, they failed to progress past the Group Stages on both occasions.

1966 would also prove to be a pivotal point in Swiss World Cup history. Not only would it be the last time the country would qualify for a tournament until 1994, but it saw the disgraceful exit of Jacob “Kobi” Kuhn, who was sent home from the tournament and banned for a year from the national team for sneaking out to go “sightseeing” and breaking curfew.

Kuhn would later on go on to coach the Schweizer Nati, from 2001 until his retirement in 2008.

Hodgson SwitzThe 90s and the Hodgson Years

Switzerland became virtually non-existent on the world’s stage after 1966 and would not qualify for another World Cup for almost three decades, until USA 1994, where they made the tournament under current English coach, Roy Hodgson.

At the time of his hiring in 1992, Hodgson was no stranger to Swiss football; he had just finished a coaching stint at the Swiss club Neuchatel Xamax. He rapidly turned the Swiss team around, securing their 1994 World Cup spot with only one loss during the qualification stage.

The tournament in America would bring Switzerland right back into the spotlight, when they faced the hosts in the opening match. Despite the 1-1 draw, the Swiss still managed to progress to the Round of 16.

Under Hodgson, the Swiss would also qualify for their first European Championship and receive their highest FIFA Ranking of all time: 3rd place in 1993.

However, in 1995 Hodgson left for Inter and the Swiss returned to their subpar ranking on the world stage; not only missing out on the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, but also not qualifying for the 2000 European Championship.

The New Millennium and a Bunch of (Weird) FIFA Records

Switzerland would not appear in another World Cup until Germany 2006, when under the leadership of former Swiss badboy Kuhn, La Nati progressed to the Round of 16 before being knocked out on penalties.

However, Switzerland making it to their first World Cup in over a decade was not what made the tournament memorable. What made their 2006 campaign memorable — and arguably heartbreaking — was the amount of new (and weird) FIFA records set during it.

During the Group Stage, Switzerland became the only team to not have conceded a single goal in regulation time, but still failed to progress to the next round. To add to that, Switzerland also became record holders for being the first team in World Cup history to not score a single goal during a shootout, losing 3 – 0 on penalties to the Ukraine.

Additionally, that match is unofficially considered one of—if not the—worst games in World Cup history. Another thing the Swiss can regretfully lay claim to.

Switzerland would go on to continue to make headlines during the 2010 World Cup, but this time for the right reasons.

GonvSPFirst, the Schweizer Nati stunned the entire world when, against European Champions Spain, defensive midfielder Gelson Fernandes scored the winning goal. Spain of course went on to become the first nation to lose their opening game and still win the entire tournament.

Secondly, they broke another FIFA record, this time surpassing Italy for number of consecutive minutes played without conceding a goal.  The Swiss beat their southern neighbours by 9 minutes, setting the new record to 559 minutes.

However, a good defense was not good enough and Switzerland’s inability to find the net against anyone other than the Spanish meant they failed to progress out of the Group Stage.

 The Next Era of Swiss Soccer

But, rejoice! A new era is dawning on Swiss soccer and the entire (small) country is rallying around their team. Having breezed through the qualifications for this year’s tournament and currently being ranked 6th in FIFA Rankings, the Swiss need to use this World Cup to begin a new chapter in their legacy.

Or, you know, just begin a new one.

 

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