Northern Ireland v Switzerland 08SEPT

FACT FILE: SWITZERLAND

them to the knockout phase of the 1994 World Cup and left for Inter Milan after guiding them to Euro 1996. • The Swiss advanced out of the group at the 2006 World Cup but were eliminated on penalties by Ukraine in the last 16. Switzerland did not concede a goal across the entire tournament . • Austria and Switzerland were co-hosts for Euro 2008, though neither nation was able to make it out of the group. The Swiss finished bottom of a group containing Czech Republic, Turkey and Portugal . Kobi Kuhn left after that tournament and was replaced by former Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich boss Ottmar Hitzfeld. • They have participated at each of the previous four World Cup finals, as well as at the last two European Championships. • Switzerland also impressed in the inaugural Nations League, finishing top of a group that featured Iceland and Belgium to make it to the finals. Haris Seferovic scored five times and was League A’s top scorer. They were beaten 3-1 by Portugal in the semi-finals though and lost to England on penalties in the third place play-off. • Switzerland came into this international window in high spirits after an excellent performance at Euro 2020. Having advanced from a group featuring Italy, Wales and Turkey, the Swiss beat world champions France in a last-16 penalty shootout to record their first knockout victory since 1938. They were subsequently beaten on penalties by Spain in the quarter-finals. • Prior to their heroics this summer, Switzerland won both of their first two Group C games in the European qualifiers for World Cup 2022 – 3-1 against Bulgaria and 1-0 against Lithuania. Their four goals across the two games were scored by four different players and all came inside the opening 13 minutes of the fixtures. • The Swiss came into this international window ranked 14th in the world, two spots above Germany. Only eight countries in Europe had a higher ranking. • Former Borussia Dortmund striker Alexander Frei is the country’s all-time leading scorer, with 42 goals in 84 games. Prior to these international games four players had been capped more than 100 times for the nation – Heinz Hermann (118) , Alain Geiger (112) , Stephan Lichtsteiner (108) and Stephane Chapuisat (103) . WORDS: LIAM BLACKBURN

INTERNATIONAL • Switzerland face Northern Ireland in back-to- back fixtures four years on from the play-off for the 2018 World Cup. A controversially awarded penalty in Belfast was converted by Ricardo Rodriguez in the first leg in November 2017, and Michael O’Neill’s side were unable to find a way through in Basel three days later. • The two nations were drawn together in the same qualification group for the 1966 World Cup. Northern Ireland won the home game when Johnny Crossan converted a 64th minute penalty. However, the Swiss emerged victorious 2-1 in Lausanne – where George Best was on target for the visitors – and Switzerland finished top of a group also featuring Netherlands to qualify for the tournament in England. • A first ever international goal from Darren Patterson earned Northern Ireland a 1-0 friendly win over Switzerland in 1998. That victory made it two wins from two for new boss Lawrie McMenemy at the time. • Lawrie Sanchez’s Northern Ireland extended their unbeaten run to six games when Switzerland were held to a 0-0 draw in August 2004. Chris Brunt won his first international cap in that contest in Zurich. • Back at the 1924 Paris Olympics Switzerland won a silver medal after reaching the final , where they were beaten by Uruguay. • They have reached three World Cup quarter- finals in their history – in 1934, 1938 and 1954. The latter of those competitions took place in Switzerland when West Germany won their first World Cup by defeating the much-fancied Hungarians – and ending their 31-match unbeaten streak in the process. Switzerland were ousted in the last eight when they lost 7-5 to Austria, which remains the highest-scoring World Cup finals game of all time. • Switzerland went 28 years without qualifying for a major international tournament after the 1966 World Cup but they had an upturn in results once Roy Hodgson arrived in 1992. At one point the Swiss were third in the world rankings under Hodgson. The Englishman led

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NIR V SUI