How did Switzerland qualify for the 2010 World Cup

In recent years, Switzerland have become a familiar face in the early rounds of major competitions. Their appearance in the 1994 World Cup was their first since England had won the tournament back in 1966. However, although the team missed out on the next two World Cups, they have been present in three of the four European Championships since and reached the knock out stages of Germany 2006.

With former legendary Bayern Munich manager Ottmar Hitzfeld at the helm, expectations were high for qualifying for South Africa 2010. The group draw for qualifying raised the optimism as the Swiss were placed with no footballing giants. The six team group certainly looked the most open with Greece, Latvia and Israel all realistically looking at being in the top two. Luxembourg and Moldova were there to most probably make up the numbers.

However, the Swiss suffered a slightly disappointing opening to their campaign away to Israel. The team’s 2-0 lead was pegged back with a goal from Yossi Benayoun in the 73rd minute and a Ben Sahar 92nd minute equaliser. The result fuelled the notion that the group was going to be incredibly tight and unpredictable.

Unpredictable was certainly the word for the next match as Switzerland hosted Luxembourg. A shock early goal for the visitors was pegged back by the Swiss. However, with the game nearing a close, an 87th minute winner from Luxembourg gave them one of their biggest victories ever leaving the group wide open.

A home defeat to Luxembourg heaped the pressure on Hitzfeld to turn it around. They began the revival in the next match with a fairly unconvincing 2-1 victory against Latvia. Next up was a key game away to group leaders Greece. A defeat would have put Switzerland eight points behind and leaving them with 2nd place as the only realistic ambition left. Nevertheless, a good performance from Hitzfeld’s side saw them beat the Euro 2004 Champions 2-1 in their own back yard to leave the group wide open again.

A 2-0 win away to Moldova was met with more jubilation after it was heard that Greece had been held 1-1 away in Israel. The reverse fixture saw the Swiss secure another comfortable 2-0 win although this time Greece managed to beat Israel at home. This left Switzerland and Greece joint top of the group with 13 points a piece. Latvia and Israel were also only a couple of point behind meaning that the next set of fixtures, which saw the Swiss host Greece and Israel take on Latvia, were crucial.

Two goals in the final six minutes secured an important 2-0 home victory for Switzerland over Greece whilst Latvia kept their hopes alive with an away win against Israel. The next match saw the team travel to Latvia for a tricky away game. A first half goal for Alexander Frei looked to have the Swiss on their way to a crucial win. However, two second half goals put Latvia in pole position before an 80th minute equaliser rescued a point. Nevertheless, the news that Moldova had secured a 90th minute equaliser against Greece kept the crucial three point margain between the teams and signalled a real missed opportunity for the Greeks.

A 3-0 away win away to Luxembourg ensured no repeat of an upset against the group minnows. With one match remaining, Switzerland just needed a point at home to Israel to guarantee qualification. With Greece unimpressively beating Luxembourg 2-1 at home, a tense match was played out in Basel that saw Switzerland gain the much needed point with a 0-0 draw. The result meant that Switzerland had booked their place in South Africa although they will need to perform better if they are to make an impact in the competition.