Murat Yakin has led Switzerland to another major tournament – their sixth consecutive World Cup
The Swiss will face Bosnia and Herzegovina, co-hosts Canada and Qatar in Group B
Yakin emphasises the importance of teamwork, discipline and respect
It does not take long to notice Murat Yakin’s unwavering belief in his team. The coach speaks with real conviction, confident his side have what it takes to go far at the .
Once again, the Nati eased to qualification – without any drama, without much fuss – to reach a sixth consecutive World Cup.
“We’re a close-knit team and have been together for some time now,” Yakin, 51, told FIFA. “We have a lot of experienced players who play for big clubs and know what’s at stake. It’s obviously fantastic to be here. We’re a tight group, and we enjoy playing football. We earned our place at the World Cup with our performances in every stage and every match.”
Switzerland have not missed a World Cup since 2002 and have built a reputation for troubling more fancied opponents. Yakin's charges came agonisingly close to upsetting the apple cart at UEFA EURO 2024, pushing England all the way in the quarter-finals before suffering a heartbreaking 5-3 defeat on penalties.
“Yes, we did go quite far in Germany. We not only held our own against the mighty England, but we were actually the better side,” recalled Yakin confidently. “But in the end, luck was not on our side, unfortunately.”
That run nevertheless reinforced the belief that the Swiss can compete with the very best. blends experience, leadership and quality, with several key players operating in Europe’s top leagues. Figures such as Manuel Akanji, Gregor Kobel and captain Granit Xhaka provide a strong backbone both on and off the pitch.
“As a coach, it’s great to have players of such calibre – in terms of their character, mentality and experience – who also take on a lot of responsibility and play a key role at their clubs,” Yakin explained. “You really can see the difference in their quality, intensity and training standards; the way they make their team-mates better, the way they make them stronger, the way they set an example for the young lads day in, day out.”
If Switzerland can once again present a united front in , a maiden semi-final berth could well be within reach.
Murat Yakin: We play with joy but also seriously, and the fact that we’ve now qualified for the last six World Cups speaks volumes about how we train and the quality we have in the team. That’s great; it’s not to be taken for granted that a smaller footballing nation like Switzerland will always qualify. And when it comes to tournaments too, we now have so much experience in the team that we can go toe to toe with anyone. Our opponents respect us as well. They know the way we play and the results we’ve achieved. We’ve worked hard for that.
We’ve done a lot of good work in the past to ensure that we can focus entirely on football. There were always little issues that repeatedly held us back – that was evident in our results. But we worked hard on that as a team. We’ve spoken at length – with the staff and the players – about how we’ve developed our football. It also helped to build trust within the team.
It’s important that it’s not just me, the coach, who sets the tone. It’s great, of course, that we have players like Xhaka, Akanji and Kobel, who embody that spirit week in, week out. I’m growing alongside them too, through this challenge, and I’m delighted to have such players in my team because they push me too – I can learn a lot from them but they can also learn a lot from me. It’s all about working as a group; we’re all in this together.
Perhaps the expectations aren’t quite as high, and maybe the pressure isn’t quite as intense as it is for the major nations. We can always hold our own against the big guns and give them a run for their money. As we’ve shown in qualifiers in the past, we can beat major teams like Italy and we can keep up with Germany and even beat them. We can keep springing surprises on our opponents and beat even the biggest teams.
In my view, a great team is one in which everyone puts the group first, bringing the necessary dedication as well as enthusiasm and enjoyment to the team. That’s very important to me.
Sources: FIFA Official
