The Swiss national team suffered their first loss in World Cup qualifying. In Slovenia, coach Murat Yakin's team were held to a 0-0 draw.
13.10.2025, 22:42
13.10.2025, 22:50
SDA
It was the 86th minute when the ball suddenly landed with Miro Muheim. The substitute defender sees his chance to become the unexpected hero of the match and takes a shot from close range. However, the ball is too central on goal and the Slovenian captain Jan Oblak defends. The subsequent corner poses no further danger.
However, it would have been a generous reward for an offensively unimaginative performance by the Swiss for a long time. Over the course of the 90 minutes, they hardly ever found a solution against the strong Slovenians. In the end, the statisticians counted three shots on goal for the Slovenians. The last came from captain Granit Xhaka, with Oblak again on the spot. The performance in Ljubljana was not enough to celebrate the fourth win in the fourth game.
As a result, they failed to qualify for the World Cup at an early stage. Instead, Kosovo, who won 1:0 in Sweden, moved closer to the Swiss. Three points separate the two teams ahead of the final third of qualifying.
Few highlights
In front of a good 15,000 fans in the Stozice stadium, the Swiss were slow to get into the game. The Slovenians, who lined up with five defenders, cleverly closed down the spaces and disrupted the Swiss early on in their attacks. They consistently intercepted long balls and Breel Embolo had a difficult time as a striker. And when the Swiss did play their way down the flanks, the cross never found the desired recipient.
The home team, who were in need of points after three games without a win, tried their luck with quick counter-attacks. These mostly followed the same pattern: overcoming the midfield at high speed and then looking for star striker Benjamin Sesko. However, their deep passes rarely found their target. It was therefore only logical that the two teams went into the break goalless.
Yakin changes the system
The fact that they had a better grip on the Swiss, against whom they had lost 3-0 in Basel a month earlier, in their home stadium seemed to spur the Slovenians on. They had their strongest phase at the start of the second half. The home team did not concede anything at the back and increasingly got into the dangerous zone up front. There were still no clear-cut opportunities, but the development of the game did not please the Swiss national team coach.
After an hour, Yakin decided to switch to the system that had brought him success at last year's European Championship. He took Silvan Widmer off and switched to a three-man defense. Substitute Miro Muheim came in on the left flank and Dan Ndoye had to drop back slightly on the right. Johan Manzambi, who also came into the game for the first time, was brought on as an additional attacking player to generate more pressure on the Slovenian goal.
Showdown in Pristina?
However, the measure initially had little effect. Probably also because the players first had to get to grips with their new tasks. Nevertheless, the Slovenians' attacks became less frequent again. And in the end, the Swiss were closer to a goal.
The national team will continue in November. Switzerland will first meet Sweden in Geneva before finally playing Kosovo in Pristina. It will then be decided which team will qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup in North America as group winners.
Telegram:
Slovenia - Switzerland 0:0
Ljubljana. - 14,637 spectators. - Referee Zwayer (GER).
Slovenia: Oblak; Karnicnik, Brekalo, Bijol, Drkusic, Janza (88. Seslar); Horvat (70. Vipotnik), Cerin, Elsnik, Sturm (57. Stojanovic); Sesko.
Switzerland: Kobel; Widmer (63. Muheim), Elvedi, Akanji, Rodriguez (77. Bajrami); Freuler, Xhaka; Vargas (77. Rieder), Sow (62. Manzambi), Ndoye; Embolo.
Remarks: Switzerland without Schmidt (injured). Caution: 88. Cerin.
