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No Nations League, no friendlies, only EM qualifiers. For once, the national team has to cope with the role of favourite.
The year 2023 is all about qualifying for the EM 2024 in Germany. All 10 games take place between the end of March and the end of November. A consequence of the Winter World Cup in Qatar, which also paused the Nations League for a season. Exception: The final four tournament belonging to the last edition, in which Croatia, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands fight for the Nations League title in mid-June.
Switzerland launches its campaign on March 20th. That’s when a public training session takes place in the evening at FC Basel’s youth campus. Appropriate for the slightly tapered squad. Tuesday through Thursday sessions are closed. The SFV delegation will then fly to Belgrade on Friday afternoon. On Saturday things get serious: in Serbian Novi Sad – of all places – the duel with Belarus increases. Spectators are not allowed. Only 3 days later, Switzerland welcomes Israel at the Stade de Genève.
With a mix of established players who already played important roles in Qatar, returnees like Zeki Amdouni or Cedric Itten and the newcomer Dominik Schmid, the status of the favorites should be underpinned. However, national team coach Murat Yakin also has to deal with a number of cancellations due to injuries.
The Swiss games of the European Championship qualifier at a glance
Date | Opponent | venue |
25th March | Belarus | Novi Sad (SRB) |
28th March | Israel | Geneva |
June 16th | Andorra | Andorra la Vella |
June 19th | Romania | Lucerne |
September 9th | Kosovo | Pristina |
12th September | Andorra | sion |
12th of October | Israel | Tel Aviv-Jaffa |
15th October | Belarus | St. Gallen |
November 18 | Kosovo | Switzerland (tbd) |
21st November | Romania | Romania (tbd) |
It continues on the way to the tournament in Germany from June. And one thing is certain: Anything other than a successful qualification for the event at the big neighbor would be a disgrace, especially since second place would also entitle you to participate. Switzerland is nominally the strongest team in the group, which has probably never happened before in this constellation. If you consider that the opponents could also be France and Norway instead of Israel and Romania (keyword Erling Haaland), a certain luck in the draw cannot be dismissed out of hand.
Coach Yakin knows that too, but still raises his finger: “It’s a feasible group. But we have to give 100 percent gas in every game. Only 5 percent less, then you lose duels, come a step too late. »