The good performances at the European Championship have been rewarded: the Swiss Football Association (SFA) has extended the contracts with national team coach Murat Yakin and his assistant Giorgio Contini.
This means that the duo will remain at the helm of the team, which has recently reunited after a difficult qualifying campaign. The Swiss national team remained unbeaten at the European Championship in Germany and only lost to finalists England on penalties. The Swiss had previously given Italy no chance in the round of 16 (2:0) and also challenged hosts Germany in the group stage (1:1) until the last second.
Accordingly, national team director Pierluigi Tami confirmed after the elimination: "We are very happy with both Murat and Giorgio. And we very much hope that we can continue with both of them as a team." Yakin had also stated that the national team was his priority. Several talks took place this week, during which the parties were able to reach an agreement. The association intends to announce details of the new contracts at the beginning of next week.
Contract situation uncertain for a long time
The new contract is a particular success for Yakin. After the European Championship qualifiers, in which Switzerland finished second in their group and secured a place in the European Championship, he was not only counted out by the media. Tami had also said in November that "the negative development should not be underestimated" and therefore announced an in-depth analysis. Less than a week later, the association decided to tackle the European Championship with Yakin on the sidelines.
In the spring, the SFA even made a U-turn and offered Yakin an early contract extension, which he rejected at the time. Yakin explained his decision by saying that he wanted to concentrate on the European Championships and then resume talks. With the team's good performances, he now has strong arguments for an extension and presumably also a pay rise.
Third major tournament now in focus
Yakin, who succeeded Vladimir Petkovic as national team coach in August 2021, will lead the team into the qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico after successfully qualifying for the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 European Championship. First up is the Nations League in the fall, in which Switzerland will face Spain, Denmark and Serbia.
Giorgio Contini joined the national team in February after the previous assistant coach Vincent Cavin left the association. The 50-year-old, who had already worked alongside Yakin at FC Lucerne, quickly integrated himself into the team, earned the players' respect after a short time and was regarded as one of the success factors at the European Championships.
