Portugal play Switzerland on Tuesday for a place in the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The two nations know each other well having met on five occasions in recent years, when the home team has always come out on top: Portugal 3 victories, Switzerland 2.
The historical head-to-head record also points to evenly matched teams. In 25 matches Switzerland have won 11, Portugal 9 and there have been 5 draws. But what is the current version of Switzerland all about? Swiss football expert Craig King has the answer.
Ones to watch - Who are Switzerland’s star players?
Much of this core group has stayed the same for the last few meetings between Switzerland and Portugal, but also since the 2014 World Cup when this really successful run began for the national team. Xherdan Shaqiri is, alongside Granit Xhaka and Yann Sommer, the one that always pops off the page for the neutral. His influence simply can’t be overstated. He made a brief cameo at the 2010 World Cup as an 18-year-old and in his five major tournaments since, he has contributed massively and always has his say on proceedings. As we head into the knockout stage in 2022, he has now scored or assisted 13 of Switzerland’s last 27 goals at major tournaments and was at his best again in the match against Serbia. His opener continued a run of scoring at the last five major tournaments for the Swiss.
Xhaka and Sommer are two other experienced heads. Xhaka has always been excellent for the national team despite usually dividing opinion at club level. Ahead of this tournament, he is delivering consistently for Arsenal and he remains the glue in this midfield. Our captain, our leader and just so instrumental. In my opinion, Sommer remains one of the best goalkeepers in the world and will hopefully be fit after illness kept him out of the Serbia match. He has produced big saves for us time and time again and he will very probably be needed on Tuesday.
Breel Embolo is making his mark. He has had a career blighted by injury but seems to have finally emerged from that period and is showing all of us the player we knew he could be. He’s in the form of his life for Monaco and has been outstanding for Switzerland, replacing Haris Seferovic as the main striker in the team. Delivered a top performance in the 2-1 Nations League win away in Spain and has been great against Cameroon and Serbia. A real handful, has lots of pace and a clear eye for goal now too. He also scored the opener in the 2-0 win over Portugal in WC 2018 qualifying.
Ruben Vargas continues to excite and will have made people sit up and take notice with his display against Serbia and the beautiful backheel for the third goal. Manuel Akanji is proving himself to be a top defender too, the new Manchester City player is crucial at the back alongside Elvedi.
Strong points/weak points – what must Portugal beware of and what can they exploit?
Although the game against Serbia may paint a different story, Switzerland don’t concede many goals under Murat Yakin. The two that were conceded on Friday and the erratic nature of that first half were very uncharacteristic. Under Yakin, Switzerland have conceded more than one goal just two other times in fifteen games. There does seem to be a theme developing though as Switzerland’s usual centre-back pairing of Manuel Akanji and Nico Elvedi didn’t play on Friday, nor did they play in the 2-1 and 4-0 losses to Czechia and Portugal respectively in the Nations League either. A concern for Switzerland is if Elvedi isn’t passed fit against Portugal as a lot of their solidity seems to disappear when either of that duo is taken out.
That being said, Switzerland have only conceded 13 goals under Yakin and held Italy to draws to qualify for this tournament automatically. They have shown they can be stubborn and patient by keeping a clean sheet against Cameroon and only being undone by a piece of magic from Casemiro against Brazil. Portugal has an array of exciting attacking players but they’ll need to be at their best to unlock this defence.
Finally, this is a team with such fantastic spirit and experience and I believe that is their strongest asset. There’s a real togetherness and they just don’t give up. The best example was against France at EURO 2020, they didn’t know when they were beaten.
Formation and playing style – what system do Switzerland usually play? Would you describe them generically as an attacking or a defensive team?
Yakin has tinkered with formations in the past but he has settled on 4-2-3-1 which has shown to be the most suited formation for this group. He has changed it up when his hand has been forced with absences or when experimenting, such as in the pre-World Cup warm-up with Ghana where we lost 2-0 and had three at the back. It is also what he has used in the three previous games at this tournament and I’d be surprised to see it change now.
It depends on the opposition and the story of the game. We can be attack-minded and positive in our play against teams like Cameroon or Serbia but we also showed at points in those games that we are happy to try and see out the result or absorb attacks and then go forward. The game management against Serbia after the third goal we scored was a good example of this and we saw out the game expertly well.
Against Brazil, we let them have the ball and tried to get forward but we mostly tried to contain and take the point. This match against Portugal will be interesting as it is Yakin’s first knockout game and you can’t really play for a draw unless you want to risk penalties. We are good enough to cause Portugal problems so I hope he doesn’t go too far one way or the other in our approach. We are generally a patient side and always build our attacks up from the back even under intense pressure, I don’t see that changing, I just think we’ll pick our moments in a game that I would assume will be controlled on the possession by Portugal.
Mood in the camp – do you think Switzerland come into the last-16 tie in a confident frame of mind?
Yes, very much so. I think everyone recognises what a difficult match this is against Portugal and the Swiss aren’t favourites, but this group of players have achieved many, many great things together over the last almost decade. They have 100% belief in themselves and each other, something that only increased in that remarkable win over France, and they will see themselves as able to compete with and beat anyone on their day.
We are familiar with Portugal too which helps. It is a mixed bag generally, but that we’ve managed to win a couple of those games will boost the belief of getting a result further.
What was the reaction in the Swiss media and among the fans when it was known the opponents would be Portugal in the next match?
Not so much “here we go again” but a recognition of another meeting between these two nations. We pretty much knew before a ball was kicked on Friday that, if we won, we’d be in a really difficult side of the draw. We were one goal away from usurping Brazil in the end but there was little surprise that it ended up being a Last 16 meeting with Portugal.
As I mentioned, we’ve had a mixed bag against Portugal so there is trepidation but also confidence too. The most important thing to add is that there is a lot of trust in this group from players to management. They’ve come through big moments in big games together over the last few years and even recently under Yakin, such as those draws with Italy and the win vs. Serbia. We know that regardless of the opposition, this team will give everything and leave it all out on the pitch.
Of course, we all know it is a very difficult match and the quality Portugal possesses, but there is also a big opportunity to make history here.
Prediction time! Who will make the quarter-finals?
I think this will be a very different match to the two recent games in the Nations League. While we shared a win each there, one emphatically for Portugal, I do think there were a lot of overriding factors to that, including the four matches in ten days and multiple personnel changes. This should be a tight, very competitive contest.
I do have much trust in this team, I’m always fearing the worst, but they show why they have gained that trust time and again. I definitely believe they can get the job done here, especially as Portugal haven’t looked fantastic so far. That being said, the knockouts can bring out a different animal. I will go for Switzerland to edge it in a very tight game and make the quarter-finals for the first time since 1954.
Our thanks to Craig. For all things Swiss football be sure to follow Craig on Twitter @FootballSwissEN.
