The fairytale of 2009 will not be repeated for the Swiss junior footballers. The U17s were eliminated from the World Cup in Qatar after losing 2-0 to Portugal in the quarter-finals.
21.11.2025, 17:48
21.11.2025, 17:58
SDA
From Granit Xhaka, who played in the World Cup title in Nigeria 16 years ago, to Pascal Zuberbühler, they all sent their congratulations and good wishes to the current U17 national team. However, they did not come to fruition against the favorites Portugal.
A goal from Mide shortly before the break and one from Neto seven minutes after the break were enough for the reigning European champions to progress to the semi-finals without too much trepidation. Both times, FC Basel full-back Marco Correia did not look very advantageous.
Overall, however, the Portuguese were clearly the better team. The Swiss had their best phase in Al Rayyan's Aspire Zone complex at the start of the game, but overall they were not dangerous enough going forward. Coach Luigi Pisino made one last attempt to turn the game around ten minutes before the end. After a slight push in the penalty area against Giacomo Koloto, he took a challenge, but the South Korean referee Choi rightly decided not to award a penalty.
Despite the defeat in the quarter-finals, the Swiss can look back on a strong tournament in Qatar. After a preliminary round with two wins and a draw, they beat Egypt and Ireland twice 3:1 in the knockout round before Portugal proved to be too big for them. Mexico were outclassed 5-0 by the southern Europeans in the round of 16.
