Football in Switzerland

Football, the most popular sport in Switzerland.[1][2][3][4] The Swiss Football Association was formed in 1895 and was a founder member of the sport's international governing body FIFA in 1904. The Swiss cities of Zurich and Nyon are home to FIFA and the European governing body UEFA respectively. The country played host to the 1954 World Cup and 2008 European Championship.

Switzerland has an extensive league system, with the Swiss Super League as the country's premier men's competition. There are also several cup competitions, most notably the national Swiss Cup.[5][6]

With a very young squad, the Swiss national team participated in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and were narrowly beaten by Ukraine in penalties. Switzerland co-hosted the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament together with Austria. They did not make further than the preliminary stage, although they did record one win against Portugal, a game in which Portugal played their B squad as they already secured the division. The best international result was probably in 1954 when Switzerland as the host reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup. They also reached the World Cup quarter-finals in 1934 as well as 1938.[7]

Swiss football competitions

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Switzerland's unlikely World Cup heroes". BBC News. 1 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "CIES: Publication of the first Swiss Football Study". Cies.ch. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  3. ↑ Moore, Glenn (2011-06-04). "Hitzfeld puts trust in cosmopolitan youth to revive struggling Swiss - World Cup 2014 - Football". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  4. ↑ Renat Kuenzi (2013-10-14). "2014 World Cup : Brazilian sun shines on Swiss football". swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  5. ↑ "When Saturday Comes - A bright future for Switzerland?". Wsc.co.uk. 2009-11-20. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  6. ↑ - 08:34 (2006-07-19). "Football season puts focus on grassroots level". swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  7. ↑ Amy Lawrence. "Switzerland put faith in youthful blend | Football | The Observer". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
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