Shark tank instead of Säuliamt Lichtsteiner's rapid rise from the provinces to the limelight

Stephan Lichtsteiner is facing his baptism of fire as coach of FC Basel. The former national team captain must deliver immediately in the Europa League match against Viktoria Pilsen.

Keystone-SDA

29.01.2026, 05:00

29.01.2026, 08:30

SDA

It is an image that has burned itself into the collective Swiss football memory. When the Swiss national team won an extremely emotional clash against Serbia 2:1 in the preliminary round at the 2018 World Cup in Kaliningrad, Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri celebrated their goals with the "double eagle" gesture. Captain Stephan Lichtsteiner also crossed his hands in front of his chest to show solidarity with his two teammates, who had received various provocations and insults from the Serbian camp in the previous days due to their Kosovan roots.

In the early hours of Wednesday afternoon, Lichtsteiner and Shaqiri are back in the spotlight, albeit in a much less politically and emotionally charged setting than back in June a good seven years ago on the Baltic Sea.

The two are sitting in the media center of St. Jakob Park in Basel, Lichtsteiner on the left, Shaqiri on the right. One of them, Shaqiri, is still active as a player and once again showed his special class last Sunday with three goals and an assist against FC Zurich. The other, Lichtsteiner, hung up his football boots five and a half years ago and launched his second career as a coach.

The question of the apartment

It should have been a smooth transition from the pitch to the touchline. He gained his first experience as a head coach in men's football at FC Wettswil-Bonstetten in the 1st division from summer 2024, having previously worked exclusively at junior level with the Swiss Football Association and FC Basel.

CommentLichtsteiner increases the likelihood of Sommer and Xhaka coming to FCB

On November 22, 2025, Lichtsteiner bid farewell to his players at the Moos sports ground after a 3:1 win against Dietikon to start the long winter break. Preparations for the second half of the season should have started in those days, before the championship resumed a month later with an away game in Freienbach.

"Sometimes things happen quickly in football," says Lichtsteiner, using a phrase that every media-savvy professional footballer has in their repertoire. For the second time in two days, he is sitting on the podium in the belly of the Basel stadium, facing a crowd of media representatives who want to know all sorts of things about him.

How it came about that he is no longer coaching in the Säuliamt but rather in the much-cited shark tank of Swiss club football, for example. Or whether he, who celebrated the greatest successes of his career with Juventus Turin, won the Italian Scudetto seven times and played in two Champions League finals, wanted to play Italian-style football and whether fans would get to see catenaccio in future. Or whether he and his family will now move from Zurich to Basel.

On the latter topic, Lichtsteiner asks the counter question: "Do you want to find me an apartment?" he asks, causing laughter on the one hand, but also astonishment on the other. One member of the media says he was "shocked" when he heard the new FCB coach make a remark.

Comparisons with Guardiola and Kompany

Lichtsteiner has not made a name for himself on the scene as a sloganeer. Rather as a meticulous worker who subordinates everything to success. It is a trait that has already led to Lichtsteiner being portrayed as dogged and gnarled during his career. He knows this, but says: "I've been married for a long time now and have two children. I can't be that bad a person."

Daniel Stucki prefers to speak of a "winner's mentality" when describing his newest employee. The Basel head of sport had had Lichtsteiner on his radar for a long time; after all, he gained his first experience as a coach in the junior section of FC Basel. And Stucki actually had the idea of allowing Lichtsteiner to take over the U-21s at some point and thus introduce him to first-team duties in a relaxed manner. But after the dismissal of Ludovic Magnin on Monday, the long-serving captain of the national team was unexpectedly quick to step into what is probably the hottest coaching job in Switzerland.

Stucki knows that Lichtsteiner still has no experience at this level as a coach. And he also knows that any criticism in the event of failure would not least fall back on him, who would then have been wrong twice on the coaching issue within a short space of time. But the 44-year-old is of course also aware of the positive examples. Pep Guardiola and Vincent Kompany, who successfully took over world-class clubs without much experience with Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

The emphasis on the "long-term project"

Stephan Lichtsteiner is being compared to big names, at least indirectly. And although the sporting management speaks of a "long-term project", Lichtsteiner knows that he will only be able to conceal his lack of experience in the success-driven environment on the Rhine with good results. Unlike his predecessor Magnin, he will have the support of a trusted member of staff in Pascal Bader.

Lichtsteiner, who will complete the final exams and stages for his UEFA Pro license in the summer, says: "I have always measured myself by titles. That's why I have no problem dealing with pressure. Otherwise you don't sign for FC Basel." It shows the self-confidence with which Lichtsteiner is entering the professional business as a coach. And yet the start is steep, and a lot is at stake from the very first second.

Before the Basel team take on league leaders Thun in the championship and St. Gallen in the cup in what are likely to be landmark matches, they host Viktoria Pilsen on Thursday to conclude the Europa League phase. A win is a must if they are to retain at least a theoretical chance of progressing.

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