With a view to the 2025 European Championship at home, blue Sport is keeping a close eye on the performances of Switzerland's best female footballers at home and abroad. Here you can find out who is doing well and who is still struggling.
In the first part, blue News takes a closer look at the players playing abroad, while the second part focuses on the best female footballers in the Swiss Super League.
🏴 England
Lia Wälti (Arsenal): Wälti started her seventh season with Arsenal at the weekend. After her knee injury, which kept her out of action for months, she is back on the pitch. However, the national team captain is not yet at 100 percent. The 119-time international made two brief appearances in the Champions League qualifiers. In the league opener against runners-up Manchester City (2:2), Wälti was substituted in the 73rd minute with the score at 1:2. The 31-year-old is likely to play an important role for the Gunners again soon - and in the national team anyway.
Noelle Maritz (Aston Villa): Maritz plays the full distance in the 0:1 at champions Chelsea. The 28-year-old moved from Arsenal to Aston Villa at the start of the year to get more match practice. So far, this plan has worked out perfectly for the 118-time international.
Luana Bühler (28, Tottenham Hotspur): The 28-year-old plays in central defense for the national team. In her first season at Tottenham, she has also asserted herself and established herself as a regular. However, she did not play in the 4-0 win against Crystal Palace in the season opener. With her class, however, she should be able to reclaim her regular place at Spurs.
Seraina Piubel (West Ham): Piubel was a striker for FCZ for years and won many titles there. She has also made her mark in the national team, the biggest highlight so far being her goal in the opening game against the Philippines (2-0) at the 2023 World Cup. After that, there were rumors that she was in talks with Barcelona, arguably the world's best address in women's football.
When asked about the rumors by blue Sport a year ago, she said that she knew nothing about them. However, a move abroad was "definitely an issue" and there had also been talks, but she had decided to stay with FCZ for the time being. The move to West Ham followed at the beginning of September. The 24-year-old made her debut at the weekend, coming on as a substitute in the 60th minute against Manchester United with the score at 0-3 - the result remained the same.
🇺🇲 USA
Ramona Bachmann (Houston Dash): In April, Bachmann signs a contract in Houston after four years at PSG. The 33-year-old is getting more playing time there, but is still struggling to score goals. She has only scored one goal in ten games so far, and has scored 59 goals in 149 games for the national team. On Saturday, Bachmann missed the game against Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic's Seattle Reign. Despite the 1:0 victory, Houston Dash will in all likelihood miss out on the playoffs; after 21 match days, Bachmann and Co. are second-last in the table - eight or more points behind the playoff places.
Ana Maria Crnogorcevic (Seattle Reign): After the World Cup, the record international and record goalscorer (159 games/74 goals) was booted out of the Nati by Inka Grings, but has since become an integral part of the team again under Pia Sundhage. After a disastrous season with Atlético Madrid, Crnogorcevic moved to Seattle Reign in August, who only won two games in the first 16 rounds. With Crnogorcevic, Seattle then immediately picked up three wins in a row, with the 33-year-old providing an assist. After the two subsequent defeats, the gap to the play-off places is now five points. Before the 2023 World Cup, she also spoke to blue Sport about her desire to have children - but also said, followed by a laugh, that this would only become an issue after the home European Championships.
Anna Caterina Regazzoni (Northwestern Wildcats): The 21-year-old transferred from FCZ to college in the USA two years ago. There, the midfielder has recommended herself for higher tasks with strong performances. In July, the Wildcats' captain was called up for the national team for the first time, but did not make an appearance.
🇩🇪 Germany
Géraldine Reuteler (Eintracht Frankfurt): Reuteler is playing her seventh season for Frankfurt and is a regular. At the weekend, the 25-year-old was substituted at 3-0 in the 6-0 win over Turbine Potsdam. Frankfurt are currently first in the Bayern women's table with 7 points. Reuteler scored a goal in each of the first two league games, but failed to score in the thumping win against Turbine Potsdam. Bitter news for Reuteler and Co.: Frankfurt failed to qualify for the Champions League against Sporting. She made her international debut in 2017 and currently has 71 caps.
Nadine Riesen (Eintracht Frankfurt): In her first season, Riesen often sits on the bench; in the new season, the 24-year-old is in the starting eleven in two of the first three rounds. Against Turbine Potsdam, her sharp cross was deflected into her own goal by an opponent (video below), meaning she was credited with an assist. She has made 23 appearances for the national team so far. In April, the full-back scored her only goal in a national team shirt to date in the 4-0 win over Azerbaijan in the European Championship qualifiers.
Elvira Herzog (Leipzig): Herzog is the clear number one at Leipzig, and the 24-year-old has also been ahead in the national team of late, although she has Livia Peng breathing down her neck, who is also keen to make further appearances in the national team shirt. Herzog celebrated a clean sheet with Leipzig at the weekend after having to fish the ball out of her own goal six times against Bayern Munich the previous week. With two wins from the first three rounds, the league opener has nevertheless been a success, but Herzog and Co. have already been eliminated from the Cup.
Lara Marti (Leipzig): After three and a half years at Bayer Leverkusen, the 25-year-old moved to Leipzig at the start of the year. The 15-time international is currently out injured. She has not yet played under Pia Sundhage. The full-back has not yet been a permanent fixture in the national team; at the 2023 World Cup, for example, she only made a brief seven-minute appearance in the round of 16 against Spain (1:5).
Lydia Andrade (Leipzig): Andrade is the third Swiss woman to play for Leipzig. The 25-year-old made her debut for the national team in April and has since made four appearances for them. At the weekend, she scored in the 8th minute of the 2-0 win against Werder Bremen to make it 1-0, with the tall attacking player making excellent use of her speed.
Livia Peng (Bremen): The 22-year-old is Werder Bremen's clear number one. They lost 2-0 at the weekend, which was particularly bitter because Elvira Herzog, a rival for the national team, was in goal and Peng did not cut the best figure. At 0:1, she rushed far too far out of goal and was easily beaten by Andrade outside her own penalty area.
Amira Arfaoui (Bremen): The 25-year-old from Bern has to start at the back for Werder Bremen. The striker came on as a substitute in the first two games, but was left on the bench against Leipzig at the weekend.
Julia Stierli (Freiburg): The trained physiotherapist took the plunge abroad in the summer at the age of 27 and signed a contract with Freiburg. There, the long-time FCZ player immediately earned herself a regular place. After one defeat and one win, she will play in a draw on Saturday. The central defender has already made 41 appearances for the national team.
Leela Egli (Fribourg): Leela Egli moved from FCZ (9 goals and 6 assists in 33 games) to Fribourg at the beginning of the year. This season, she has made one substitute appearance in the league and one in the DFB Cup. The 17-year-old made her debut for the national team in February in the 1-0 friendly defeat against Poland. She has not made any further appearances, but is certainly on the radar of national team coach Pia Sundhage.
Svenja Fölmli (Freiburg): The 22-year-old has already played 22 international matches (4 goals), but is currently fighting her way back from her second cruciate ligament rupture in two years. If she is spared further serious injuries after her return, the talented striker could still achieve great things.
Alena Bienz (Cologne): The 21-year-old moved from Lucerne to Cologne in the summer of 2022 and alternates between starting eleven and wild card appearances. She made her debut for the national team in February, but has not been called up recently. That could change if she earns a regular place at Cologne.
Mia Schmid (Turbine Potsdam): Schmid was promoted to the Bundesliga with Turbine Potsdam. The 19-year-old is a mainstay in defense, but like the rest of the team, she still has a lot to learn. The first three Bundesliga games were all lost, with a total score of 0:10.
Flavia Lüscher (Turbine Potsdam): The 20-year-old moved from Basel to Turbine Potsdam at the beginning of the year, but often presses the bench there. In each of the last two rounds, she has made wild card appearances. On September 1, she appeared in one game for the 2nd team, played through and scored a goal. At the moment, she is probably not yet an issue for the national team, although she is certainly under observation.
🇮🇹 Italy
Alisha Lehmann (Juventus Turin): Like her boyfriend Douglas Luiz, the social media queen moved from Aston Villa to Juventus Turin in the summer. She played in all three games in the league, scoring a goal in the 6-3 win in the first round - with the kind help of her opponent (Insta post below). In the 2-1 win against Lazio Rome at the weekend, she was substituted in the 62nd minute with the score at 1-1. Three days earlier, she was on the bench for the 3-1 Champions League qualifying win over PSG.
In a recent interview with La Repubblica, she complained about pay inequality: "After training, I often say to Douglas that it's unfair. We do the same work, but he earns a hundred thousand times more than me." It is not known how much the two earn, but it is known how much Juve paid for their services. The Turin club paid a transfer fee of 50,000 euros for Lehmann, while Aston Villa paid 50 million for their friend, i.e. a thousand times more.
Viola Calligaris (Juventus Turin): Calligaris was on the bench in the first two league games, but is now back in the starting eleven. During the week she played in central defense against PSG, just as she did at the weekend in the win against Lazio. Juventus Turin lead the table after three rounds with maximum points and are hot title contenders. Calligaris is a permanent fixture in the national team. In the European Championship qualifiers, which are no more than a test run for Switzerland as qualified hosts, Calligaris has scored three goals - and that as a defender.
Alayah Pilgrim (AS Roma): The striker is still out due to cartilage damage. When she is fit again, the 21-year-old could be worth her weight in gold for the club and the national team. She recently posted a video from training that is encouraging - Pilgrim is on her way back.
Eseosa Aigbogun (AS Roma): Last summer, the 99-time international moved from Paris to Rome. She immediately became a regular there. However, she tore her cruciate ligament in December and has been out of action ever since. However, like Pilgrim, the full-back is on her way back.
🇫🇷 France
Meriame Terchoun (Dijon): Terchoun plays through in the season opener against Racing Strasbourg. The all-rounder, who plays on the right wing, failed to score in the 1-1 draw. The 28-year-old made her debut for the national team back in 2015, but was repeatedly set back by serious injuries and therefore has "only" 37 caps to her name. If she stays healthy, more appearances are likely to follow.
Leila Wandeler (Olympique Lyon B): The 18-year-old made her debut in the Olympique Lyon starting squad on April 24, 2024, and even played the full distance for the French champions on May 8. She has not made any further appearances for the first team since then, but was nevertheless rewarded with a call-up to the national team in July. However, Wandeler had to pull out injured due to hip problems that are still keeping her out of action.
🇪🇸 Spain
Sydney Schertenleib (Barcelona): In the summer, the exceptional 17-year-old transferred from GC to Barcelona, where she will initially gain a foothold in the 2nd team. She has already played over the full distance three times there, scoring one goal. On September 13, she sat on the bench in the 1st team and watched from close range as the Barça star team won 3:1. Schertenleib made her senior international debut on February 12, 2024 and has already scored one goal in her three appearances so far. If she continues to develop so well, she is at the start of a great career.
🇳🇱 Netherlands
Riola Xhemaili (PSV Eindhoven): There was a huge outcry when Riola Xhemaili was not called up for the 2023 World Cup, as she was long regarded as arguably the greatest talent in Swiss women's football. It was not without reason that she was signed by Wolfsburg, one of the top names in international football, last summer. However, she was unable to establish herself with the Wolves and only played a total of 243 minutes. This summer, she therefore moved to PSV Eindhoven on loan. The championship begins in the Netherlands next weekend. In the last preparation match, she scored the 2:0 on the way to a 7:0 win against Lens. She is repeatedly bombarded with hate comments online, as she recently revealed in an Instagram post that made headlines.
🇸🇪 Sweden
Smilla Vallotto (Hammarby): In February, former national team coach Inka Grings called up the then little-known 20-year-old Smilla Vallotto. And the Geneva-born dual national, who also holds a Norwegian passport, made a lasting impression straight away. She now has 12 international caps under her belt. Under Pia Sundhage, she always played at least 45 minutes in the six European Championship qualifiers and contributed one goal and six assists.
She won the league title with Hammarby IF last season. It was her team's first since 1985 - around 19 years before Vallotto was born. However, they are unlikely to defend their title; after 23 rounds, they are 12 points behind league leaders Malmö FF, with Hammarby having played one game less. Vallotto has started the majority of the matches and has scored four goals and set up eight in 20 league games. In the Cup, she has scored three goals in four games, one of them in the semi-final, which her team lost on penalties.
🇦🇹 Austria
Ella Touon (St. Pölten): The 21-year-old full-back is set for St. Pölten. After four games, the reigning champions are already back at the top of the table with maximum points and a goal difference of 15:0. Touon is also fighting for a place in the Champions League with St. Pölten. Before the 2022 European Championships, Touon tore her syndesmosis ligament in training and had to withdraw from the finals. Although she made her debut for the national team in September 2021, she has since only made one five-minute appearance in December 2023 under the then interim coach Reto Gertschen.
Rebecca Villena y Scheffler (Sturm Graz): The Lucerne-trained midfielder moved to Sturm Graz this summer after a year and a half with Ingolstadt 94. She scored in her very first game and was also in the starting eleven in the second round. At the weekend, she came off the bench in the 3-0 defeat against St. Pölten. The 21-year-old has played a few games for the junior national teams, but has not yet featured in the senior squad.
