Switzerland Team

1995-2004

On the 30^th of June 1995, Switzerland counted 204,274 licensed players, with a majority of 31,256 in the canton of Zurich.

January 20^th 1996 marked a historical day. The ZUS section (Grouping of the lower leagues) changes name. As we approached the turn of the 21st century, football of the masses gave itself a new name: “the Amateur League”. It provided a clear definition to football as played by the real amateur, with at its head, the president Urs Saladin.

England 1996. Switzerland earned its ticket for the Euro with ease by finishing top of the group ahead of Turkey. After a promising start to the tournament, with a draw against England, Switzerland went on to lose against Holland and Scotland, and in doing so is eliminated.

Kubilay Türkyilmaz. (KEYSTONE)

During the 1997-1998 season, which now counts 214,595 licensed players in Switzerland, a new cup is introduced to Swiss football’s junior elite, known as the M16/M18.

During the 1999-2000 season, Swiss referees once again showed their value not only at a national but at an international level, by participating in some of the most important football events: Urs Meier at Euro 2000, Didi Schoch in the final stages of the Under 21 European Championship, Nicole Pétignat after the final of the Women’s World Cup, would go on to officiate the Olympic games in Sydney.

June 2001, Jakob “Köbi” Kuhn succeeds Enzo Trossero by taking command of the Swiss national team. Prior to taking over the senior team, he had a successful spell as the coach of the Under 21s.

On the 11^th of October 2003 Switzerland overcame Ireland in Basel, during a decisive qualification match for the Euro. Portugal 2004. After a no score draw against Croatia, Switzerland lost the next 2 encounters against England and France.

Johan Vonlanthen. (KEYSTONE)

2005-2009

The journey for qualification for the Germany 2006 World Cup began on the 9^th of September 2004 by a victory over the Faroe Islands. With some very good results, like the draws obtained against France and the in extremis victory against Cyprus, Switzerland obtained the second place of the group, and proceeds to the play-offs.

On the 16^th of November 2005, Switzerland overcame a difficult and heated play-off match against Turkey to book their ticket for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

During the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany, the Swiss came top of the group with a goalless draw against France and by beating Togo and South Korea 2-0. In the Round of Sixteen, the Swiss were eliminated by the Ukraine after a penalty shoot-out.

However, the Swiss broke a record by being the first team to have been eliminated without conceding a single goal. The valiant attempt made by Kuhn and his players received an enormous popular support on a scale never seen before.

UEFA EURO 2008 Austria-Switzerland
The Euro 2008 is the 13^th edition of the European Championship took place between the 7^th and 29^th of June 2008 in Austria and Switzerland.

The previous champions, Greece, vied to defend their title against fifteen other nations, including the two hosts. It was eventually won by Spain, by beating Germany in the final with a score of one goal to nil. Switzerland did not manage to qualify for the quarter finals.

(KEYSTONE)