Murat Yakin's assistants in the background

Where does Tajon Buchanan run when launching an attack? What positioning mistakes is Tarik Muharemovic prone to? And what move does Yusuf Abdurisag particularly like to use? Kevin Ehmes, Adnan Alicajic, and Julian Lauer have been grappling intensively with questions like these over the past weeks and months. They have analyzed data, researched background information, and watched countless videos to prepare the Swiss national team for its World Cup opponents.

For each of the 26 players on the rosters of Qatar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Canada, they have created videos highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. Even for the third-string goalies. Even if a player is unlikely to see much action, the Swiss match analysts gather information about him and summarize it. The videos tend to be one to two minutes long for bench players and three to four minutes for key players.

“Whether the players actually watch all of it is another question,” says Kevin Ehmes. Some of them grab the tablets with the relevant videos and watch them on the spinning bike. “Sometimes, when it seems particularly important to us, we also specifically approach certain players and point out our observations to them.”

The less familiar the opponent, the more in demand the analyses are. Especially now, with the match against Qatar coming up, the Swiss national team players are showing particular interest.

Less Travel Required

Kevin Ehmes has been working at the Swiss Football Association (SFV) since 2016. Under coach Murat Yakin, the now 34-year-old rose to the position of chief analyst with his own staff role. Adnan Alicajic and Julian Lauer joined the team for this World Cup. Alicajic had previously worked at the SFV and was responsible, among other things, for match analysis at the 2025 Women’s European Championship. Lauer had previously worked with Ehmes and was most recently an assistant to Sandro Wagner at FC Augsburg.

They divided up the work for the World Cup: Ehmes took on the analysis of the Qatari national team, Alicajic focused on Bosnia—in part due to his roots there—and Lauer concentrated on Canada. One analyst per group opponent. It’s hard to put a number on the time required for this, Ehmes notes. “During the qualifiers, we decided to set aside five to seven days per opponent.”

For the most part, they work on their own in the office. Due to the now vast amount of available data and video footage, there is no longer a need for as many time-consuming trips as there were in Ehmes’ early days, when he flew to the Faroe Islands twice just for opponent analysis. However, for unfamiliar opponents like Qatar, they still attended friendly matches on site.

Always present at training

During the final tournament, however, Ehmes, Alicajic, and Lauer remain with the Swiss national team at all times. This is because their work revolves not only around analyzing the opponent but also their own team. They film the training sessions and make the footage available to the players as well.

The players are often even more interested in these videos than in those about the opponent, explains Lauer. “They first receive theoretical suggestions on how to play against the opponent. Then, during training, they are put into exactly those situations.” By being able to review the footage afterward, they essentially receive additional feedback.

At the same time, the three analysts are gathering data on potential opponents in the round of 32. Due to the tournament’s expansion and the new format, this amounts to no fewer than 28 potential teams. It’s a massive undertaking. That’s why Ehmes and his team also rely on help from their colleagues back at the federation.

Aware of their own limits

Murat Yakin greatly appreciates the analysts’ work. Unlike under his predecessor Vladimir Petkovic, Ehmes even sits on the bench with the coaches during the games. He remains in contact with Alicajic and Lauer, who provide their input from the stands. At times, he is so engrossed in analyzing a particular game situation that he even forgets to celebrate a goal.

However, such in-depth evaluations aren’t always in demand. Critics like to point out that in soccer, chance—or what’s known in sports as “momentum”—still plays a central role. After all, a deflected shot, an early red card, or a moment of individual brilliance can throw even the most meticulous preparation into disarray in a matter of seconds.

Ehmes, Alicajic, and Lauer, too, are constantly grappling with the question of their influence on success. They are aware of the limits of their efforts, says Ehmes. “We try to prepare things as best as possible to maximize the probability of success. But in the end, it all comes down to the players on the field.”

They work behind the scenes to ensure the Swiss face as few surprises as possible in Saturday’s World Cup opener.