Switzerland
- Alexander Frei – Goals: 42
- Kubilay Turkyilmaz – Goals: 34
- Max Abegglan – Goals: 34
- Andre Abegglan – Goals: 29
- Jacques Fatton – Goals: 28
Josef Hugi played in just one World Cup but he remains Switzerland’s all time leading World Cup scorer to this day. Hugi, a striker, scored six goals at the 1954 World Cup, which was second best at the tournament. In the 7-5 loss to Austria, he scored a hat trick and managed 22 goals in just 34 appearances for the national team.
Alexander Frei is Switzerland’s all time leading scorer, with 42 goals. Frei played in four major tournaments for the Nati and made 84 appearances. He scored two of Switzerland’s three goals in their 2006 Group G topping performance.
Granit Xhaka is a polarizing figure at club level but he’s been nothing but consistent for the Swiss national team. A midfielder with excellent distribution and a rocket of a left foot, Xhaka has made over 100 appearances for Switzerland. Xhaka captained Switzerland to their first quarterfinals appearance in the European Championship and has helped them qualify for three World Cups.
Stephan Lichtsteiner won six straight Serie A titles with Juventus from 2012-2018 and made over 100 appearances for the Swiss national team. The right back, who never seemed to get tired, played in three World Cups and was the Swiss footballer of the year in 2015.
Stephane Chapuisat was nominated for the Ballon d’Or three times in the 1990s and won Swiss footballer of the year four times. He scored 21 goals in 103 appearances for the Swiss national team and represented his country at the 1994 World Cup.
Xherdan Shaqiri played at three World Cups for Switzerland before the age of 30 and is closing in on being a top five scorer. The winger has made over 100 appearances for Switzerland and won the UEFA Champions League, Premier League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup with Liverpool.
Heading into the 2006 World Cup, Switzerland had never kept a clean sheet in a World Cup match. In their first match at Germany ‘06, the Nati managed to shut out Thierry Henry, Zinedine Zidane and France in a scoreless draw.
Alexander Frei and Tranquillo Barnetta were on target in Switzerland’s next match vs. Togo. With a 2-0 win, Switzerland were on top of the group with a match remaining. Frei scored again in the group stage finale, a 2-0 win over South Korea that sent Switzerland to the knockout stage for the first time since 1994.
It was also the first time Switzerland won their group at a World Cup and they did it with three consecutive clean sheets. With a match vs. Andriy Shevchenko’s Ukraine looming in the round of 16, hopes were high for Switzerland.
The match ended scoreless at the end of 90 minutes and neither side found the back of the net in extra time. That sent the match into penalties and Switzerland failed to convert any of their spot kicks, losing 3-0.
Switzerland became the only team in World Cup history not to concede a goal at the tournament and get eliminated.
The Swiss defense 40 years earlier, at England 1966, was a completely different story. The Nati fell 5-0 to West Germany in their opening match and were completely outclassed. Then, Switzerland lost 2-1 to Spain and 2-0 to Argentina in their next two matches.
Switzerland lost all three matches in the group stage for a second consecutive World Cup and conceded the most goals of any team through three matches.
Team Information
Switzerland National Football Team History
Switzerland’s first international match was a 1-0 loss to neighbors France in 1905. The Switzerland national football team made their tournament debut at the 1924 Olympics and finished with a silver medal.
The first Switzerland FIFA World Cup appearance was in 1934 and they made the quarterfinals in the single elimination tournament. The Swiss defeated the Netherlands 3-2 in the round of 16 but lost to Czechoslovakia in their next match. The “Nati” also reached the quarterfinals in 1938, but there they lost 2-0 to Hungary.
Qualifying & Hosting After WWII
Following World War II, Switzerland national football team qualified for four of the next five FIFA World Cups. In 1950, in FIFA World Cup group stage format, they won one, drew one and lost one and finished third in their group. Hosting the World Cup for the first time in 1954, Switzerland made another quarterfinals appearance.
The Nati scored 11 goals in just four games but also conceded 11 goals, which remain World Cup records for them. In a twelve-goal quarterfinals match, Switzerland were knocked out by Austria 7-5.
In both 1962 and 1966, Switzerland lost all three of their matches at the World Cup. After England 1966, Switzerland failed to qualify for a major tournament again until World Cup 1994.
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Highest-Ever FIFA Ranking
Prior to the tournament, Switzerland national football team were ranked third in the FIFA World Rankings, their highest ever. Under English boss Roy Hodgson, Switzerland made it to the round of 16 in 1994. They drew with hosts USA 1-1, beat Romania 4-1 and lost to Colombia 2-0 in the group stage.
In their first knockout stage match for 40 years, Switzerland fell 3-0 to a superior Spain side. Two years later, the Nati qualified for the European Championship for the first time but were eliminated in the group stage.
Switzerland next qualified for the FIFA World Cup in 2006 and exceeded expectations. They won a group with France, Togo and South Korea but fell to Ukraine in penalties in the round of 16.
World Cup Record Without a Goal Conceded
The Nati were the only team to defeat Spain at the 2010 World Cup as Gelson Fernandes scored the winner in Switzerland’s opener. Switzerland set a World Cup record of 559 minutes without a goal conceded, including the 2006 World Cup, but the lone goal in their match against Chile broke the streak. With a scoreless draw versus Honduras in their next match, Switzerland were eliminated in the group stage.
Switzerland made the round of 16 in 2014, losing to eventual finalists Argentina in extra time. They also made it out of the group in their next three major tournaments: Euro 2016, World Cup 2018 and Euro 2020. Their best result was a quarterfinals appearance at Euro 2020 after knocking defending World Cup champions France out on penalties.
As the winners of the UEFA Group C, Switzerland qualified directly for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
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