Switzerland

Get the latest Switzerland team news here

Switzerland squeezed through qualifying to gain a place at their first World Cup finals for 12 years. Having finished second behind France in one of UEFA's closest groups, the Swiss overcame 2002 semi-finalists Turkey in an ill-tempered playoff, the repercussions of which may still come back to haunt them. They looked nervous at times during the preliminaries, none more so than when star striker Alexander Frei saved his nation's blushes with a last gasp winner against minnows Cyprus in March. In the playoffs with Turkey, Switzerland stuttered to an away goals victory despite being 3-0 up on aggregate at one point.

Frei has sported plenty of controversy during his career but is the one Swiss player who can grace the world stage. The 26-year-old Rennes striker was the leading scorer in France last season with 22 goals in 40 games for his club, sparking interest from Bundesliga side Stuttgart. Watch out too for Colombia-born striker Johan Vonlanthen. Still only 19-years-old, the promising forward is currently on loan at NAC Breda from PSV after spending last season loaned to Serie A side Brescia. AC Milan's Johann Vogel captains the side while the experienced Yakin brothers are also still influential.

Coach: Jakob 'Kobi' Kuhn (SUI)
FIFA Ranking: 36

Switzerland Matches

Match #	Date & Time	Group	Teams		Result	Venue
13	Tue 13th Jun 18:00	G	FRA	SUI	0 - 0	Stuttgart
30	Mon 19th Jun 15:00	G	TOG	SUI	0 - 2	Dortmund
46	Fri 23rd Jun 21:00	G	SUI	KOR	2 - 0	Hanover
54	Mon 26th Jun 21:00	R2	SUI	UKR	0 - 0 aet 0 - 3 pen	Cologne

Match times shown are local times for Germany (CEST/GMT+0200). Click on match date/time to view match statistics.

Past World Cup performance

First Round: 1950, 1962, 1966
Second Round: 1994
Quarter Finals: 1934, 1938

Key Players

Alexander Frei
Philippe Senderos

World Cup 2006 Qualification

Second place in European Qualifying Group 4 behind France. Although they lost the second leg of their play-off match against Turkey 4-2, the tie ended 4-4 on aggregate with Switzerland qualifying on the away goals rule. By the luck of the draw, France and Switzerland will be meeting each other again in Group G at the 2006 World Cup finals.

Squad

						Total		World Cup 2006
#	Posn	Name	DOB	Club		Caps	Goals	Pld	Goals	OG	YC	RC
1	GK	Zuberbuehler Pascal	08-01-1971	Basel	SUI	45	0	4	0	0	0	0
2	DF	Djourou Johan	18-01-1987	Arsenal	ENG	6	0	3	0	0	1	0
3	DF	Magnin Ludovic	20-04-1979	VfB Stuttgart	GER	34	2	3	0	0	1	0
4	DF	Senderos Philippe	14-02-1985	Arsenal	ENG	16	3	3	1	0	1	0
5	MF	Margairaz Xavier	07-01-1984	FC Zurich	SUI	6	0	2	0	0	0	0
6	MF	Vogel Johann	08-03-1977	AC Milan	ITA	90	2	4	0	0	1	0
7	MF	Cabanas Ricardo	17-01-1979	FC Cologne	GER	42	4	4	0	0	1	0
8	MF	Wicky Raphael	26-04-1977	Hamburger SV	GER	72	1	4	0	0	1	0
9	FW	Frei Alexander	15-07-1979	Rennes	FRA	50	27	4	2	0	1	0
10	FW	Gygax Daniel	28-08-1981	Lille	FRA	25	5	2	0	0	0	0
11	FW	Streller Marco	18-06-1981	FC Cologne	GER	14	3	3	0	0	1	0
12	GK	Benaglio Diego	08-09-1983	Nacional Madeira	POR	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
13	DF	Grichting Stephane	30-03-1979	Auxerre	FRA	7	0	1	0	0	0	0
14	FW	Degen David	15-02-1983	Basel	SUI	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
15	MF	Dzemaili Blerim	12-04-1986	FC Zurich	SUI	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	MF	Barnetta Tranquillo	22-05-1985	Bayer Leverkusen	GER	18	3	4	1	0	1	0
17	DF	Spycher Christoph	30-03-1978	Eintracht Frankfurt	GER	22	0	1	0	0	1	0
18	FW	Lustrinelli Mauro	26-02-1976	Sparta Prague	CZE	7	0	2	0	0	0	0
19	MF	Behrami Valon	19-04-1985	Lazio	ITA	7	1	1	0	0	0	0
20	DF	Mueller Patrick	17-12-1976	Lyon	FRA	69	3	4	0	0	0	0
21	GK	Coltorti Fabio	03-12-1980	Grasshopper-Club	SUI	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	MF	Yakin Hakan	22-02-1977	Young Boys	SUI	49	14	3	0	0	1	0
23	DF	Degen Philipp	15-02-1983	Borussia Dortmund	GER	20	0	4	0	0	1	0