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Swiss football fans have never had it so good. Switzerland reached the FIFA World Cup six times between 1934 and 1966, but it is really in the modern era that the national team has come into its own. uefa.com looks back at the memorable moments, matches and men that have shaped Switzerland’s footballing history.

Swiss legends

Roy Hodgson will always have a place in the heart of Swiss fans after guiding Switzerland to the World Cup finals for the first time in 28 years in 1994. Striker Stéphane Chapuisat is remembered just as fondly, helping his side reach the last 16 in the United States, before going on to win the UEFA Champions League with BV Borussia Dortmund in 1997. Chapuisat retired from international football having scored 21 goals in 103 appearances, 14 behind Switzerland’s new all-time leading scorer Alexander Frei. He broke Kubilay Türkyilmaz’s record on 30 May and is fast eclipsing even Chapuisat’s popularity.

Sea of red

The Swiss have a strong affinity with the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund. It is where Chapuisat made his name and where Frei now plays. It also became a small corner of Switzerland for one glorious afternoon during the 2006 World Cup. On 19 June, Swiss supporters counted for over 40,000 of the 65,000 in attendance for their Group G game against Togo, turning the stands into a sea of red. To make their day Switzerland won 2-0 – the nation’s first World Cup win in 12 years.

Romania defeated

Switzerland have only appeared in two previous UEFA European Championships, in 1996 and 2004, so it is no surprise that perhaps their greatest game came at a World Cup. Memories of Switzerland’s 4-1 win against Romania at the Silverdome in Detroit still send shivers down the spines of Swiss fans. This was the Romania of Hagi, Petrescu, Popescu and Belodedici but Hodgson’s side were far from overawed, goals from Alain Sutter, Chapuisat and two from Adrian Knup recording a memorable victory. The result, though, should not have come as a surprise. Switzerland had qualified for the 1994 World Cup from a group that included Italy, Portugal and Scotland and by August 1993 had climbed as high as third in the FIFA World rankings.

Hosts

UEFA EURO 2008™ is not the first time Switzerland have hosted a major tournament, though they will look back on the 1954 World Cup with mixed emotions. They competed at the 1934 and 1938 World Cups, and were also a force in the 1950s under Austrian coach Karl Rappan whose zonal defensive system, the ‘Swiss Lock’, would prove to be a forerunner to the Catenaccio system later adopted in Italy. After a respectable appearance at the 1950 World Cup optimism was high ahead of the 1954 event on home soil and Switzerland duly reached the quarter-finals. There, though, the wheels fell off. In soaring heat in Lausanne, Rappan’s lock was well and truly picked as the Swiss threw away a 3-0 goal lead before crashing 7-5.

Turning point

Swiss fans were given a glimpse of the future in 2002 when Switzerland won the UEFA European Under-17 Championship and reached the semi-finals of U21 Championship. Tranquillo Barnetta and Philippe Senderos led the way for the U17s and now form the bedrock of the national side, as do Frei and Ludovic Magnin who soon graduated from that U21 side. The seeds of today’s success had been sewn. Switzerland are competing in their third consecutive major tournament for the first time.

Austria’s footballing heyday came in the 1930s when Hugo Meisl’s Wunderteam swept all before them. They thumped Germany 6-0 in Berlin, Switzerland 8-1 and Hungary 8-2 during a run of just two defeats in 28 matches leading up to the 1934 FIFA World Cup. Austria, who reached the semi-finals that year, have participated in seven World Cups but before co-hosting UEFA EURO 2008™ had never reached a UEFA European Championship. The star of Austria’s Wunderteam was striker Matthias Sindelar, nicknamed ‘Der Papierene’ – The Man of Paper – because he was so thin. Sindelar scored 27 times in 43 games for Austria between 1926 and 1937 before famously refusing to play for Germany at the 1938 World Cup following the Anschluss.

Miracle of Córdoba

“Tor, Tor, Tor, Tor, Tor, Tor, I wer’ narrisch” – “Goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, I’m going crazy,” screamed Austrian commentator Edi Finger Sr after Hans Krankl’s 88th-minute strike knocked rivals West Germany out of the 1978 World Cup. At the final whistle Finger sent goose bumps down the spines of his compatriots when he screamed: “Now it’s over! The end! Finished! After 47 years, Austria have finally beaten Germany again.” When West Germany and Austria met again in 1982 the contrast could not have been greater. A 1-0 West German victory would take both sides into the second round and after Horst Hrubesch scored on ten minutes the contest was over. The two teams passed the ball around at a snail’s pace thereafter, earning the match the moniker ‘Der Nichtangriffspakt von Gijon’ – “The non-aggression pact of Gijon”.

Polster magic

“For me there is only either or – either all the way or completely.” This quote from Toni Polster sums up Austria’s record scorer who between 1982 and 2000 scored 44 goals in 95 games. Polster was as popular off the pitch as on it, most famously as lead singer of the band Die Fabulösen Thekenschlampen (The Fabulous Barsluts). Singing obviously comes naturally to retired Austrian footballers: Hans Krankl reached No2 in the Austrian charts with Lonely Boy in 1985.

Wembley Toni

Few moments truly touch a country’s sporting consciousness. For Austrians, skier Franz Klammer winning Olympic gold in 1976, Niki Lauda surviving his crash at the Nürburgring, Krankl’s winner against West Germany and Toni Fritsch’s two goals at Wembley in 1965. England would win the World Cup nine months later, but that October night it was Austria that played like champions. Fritsch scored twice in a 3-2 triumph and the legend of Wembley Toni was born. One of those goals, a long-range screamer, set Fritsch up for future success in another sport. When the Dallas Cowboys toured Europe looking for a place-kicker in 1971, former Austria coach Leopold Stastny put Fritsch’s name forward. Fritsch’s Wembley goal had put him on the path to Super Bowl glory.

History makers

Austria’s 7-5 defeat of Switzerland in the quarter-finals of the 1954 World Cup is still the highest-scoring game in that tournament’s history. In 35C heat in Lausanne, Switzerland raced into a 3-0 lead within 20 minutes. With no substitutes allowed, Austria goalkeeper Kurt Schmied played on despite suffering sunstroke, however, Austria battled back, scoring five times in the next 15 minutes to run away with the game. After losing to eventual champions West Germany in the semi-finals, Austria would beat Uruguay in the third-place play-off, their best ever finish.

Heroes

Andreas Herzog, known affectionately as ‘Herzilein’ (Sweetheart), is Austria’s most capped player with 103 appearances. The country’s most famous footballing figure, though, is the late, great Ernst Happel. Happel was capped 51 times and was the star of the team that finished third at the 1954 World Cup. He is best remembered, though, for his success as a coach, lifting the European Champion Clubs’ Cup with Feyenoord in 1970 and Hamburger SV in 1983 and taking the Netherlands to the 1978 World Cup final.

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The 2006 FIFA World Cup Germanyâ„¢ kept billions entranced around the globe. The first FIFA World Cup in a reunited Germany, it proved a resounding success, revealing the host nation as a vibrant, colourful and cosmopolitan place.

Final: Italy - France 5-3 P.S.O.

Auf Wiedersehen Germany - Wamkelekele eMzansi Africa!

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