Switzerland

Switzerland have qualified for five consecutive FIFA World Cups and reached the quarter-finals at Qatar 2022, a consistency that makes them one of the most reliably present mid-tier European nations in world football despite a population of 8.7 million.

The Nati play a well-organised, technically capable 4-2-3-1 that presses intelligently and makes excellent use of the structural discipline Granit Xhaka has provided from deep midfield across a decade of international football. Xhaka, now at Bayer Leverkusen after leaving Arsenal, is the team’s controlling intelligence: reading the game early, distributing economically, and setting the pressing triggers the forwards follow. Xherdan Shaqiri, among the most underrated creators of his generation, has brought decisive contributions in major tournaments out of proportion to his relatively modest club career. Breel Embolo, from Monaco and Borussia Monchengladbach, provides the physical striker profile that Xhaka and Shaqiri’s creativity serves.

Switzerland’s 2022 quarter-final run included a round of sixteen victory over France on penalties, a result of exceptional significance. Yann Sommer saved Kylian Mbappe’s penalty in the shootout. It was the first time Switzerland had beaten France in a major tournament, and the manner of it, controlled until the 90th minute and clinical in the shootout, illustrated everything that makes the Swiss team difficult to beat.

Switzerland hosted the 1954 World Cup and reached the quarter-finals on home soil, losing 7-5 to Austria in a match still discussed as one of the most chaotic in tournament history.

Switzerland operates on Central European Time, UTC+1 in winter and UTC+2 in summer. A 20:45 kickoff in Zurich or Bern is 19:45 in London and 14:45 in New York. Check Switzerland time for your local conversion.