Swiss football: punching above its weight or Europe’s punching bag?

As the Swiss national team goes from strength to strength in preparing for the World Cup in Russia, we dig into the numbers to explore the struggles of the domestic league. On the surface, Swiss football is enjoying something of a purple patch. The national side ‘Die Nati’ (unfortunately pronounced ‘Nazi’) has qualified for the fourth World Cup running, and will fly to Russia in summer with what’s widely acknowledged as its finest generation in years. The team currently sits eighth in the FIFA world rankings. Meanwhile, domestic powerhouse FC Basel (winners of the Swiss Super League for the past eight years) qualified in December for the last 16 of Europe’s Champions League, racking up wins along the way against Manchester United and Benfica. A “brilliant” achievement not just for the club, but for Swiss football generally, said CEO Jean-Paul Brigger at the time. But how reflective are these achievements of the state of Swiss soccer at home? How does the Super League stack up ...