Best Swiss Footballers of All Time

Switzerland is famous for a lot of things but football is not one of them. It might be a little odd since the country shares border with Italy, Germany, and

which all of them are considred as power houses in world football. Switzerland took part in the early editions of the FIFA World Cup on five occasions from 1934 to 1966. But then the country missed out on the most prestigious football tournament for almost three decades.

In recent years though, Switzerland showed some promising performances in two consecutive World Cups as they progressed from their group and even were close to eliminating Argentina in 2014. So, it is not an exaggeration to suggest that Switzerland is having its golden generation so far and given to some high quality young Swiss talents, they have an exciting future ahead of them. But even years before now, Switzerland had some brilliant football players that graced the pitch with their skills. So, without any further ado let’s get down to business and meet

best Swiss footballers of all time

.

The Top 10 Best Swiss Footballers of All Time

We created a 10-men list of the best Switzerland players of all time and we are going to have a career review of each of them later on. As mentioned above, Swiss football had a relatively successful era during the past decade. So, you are about to come across a few familiar names since some of the best Swiss footballers of all time are still playing at the professional level. Here is our shortlist for Switzerland’s finest football players up to this day:

• Massimo Ceccaroni

• Josef Hügi

• Gökhan Inler

• Kubilay Türkyilmaz

• Granit Xhaka

• Yann Sommer

• Stephan Lichtsteiner

• Alexander Frei

• Xherdan Shaqiri

• Stéphane Chapuisat 

Massimo Ceccaroni

club has only retired two shirt numbers in its history. One of those is the number 12 that is dedicated to the fans as they are the 12th man, and the other one is the number 2 that was retired out of respect for Massimo Ceccaroni. That should give you the idea of what a legendary career the Swiss defender had. As you would guess from his name, Ceccaroni was a Swiss-Italian defender who spent 14 years at FC Basel until in 2002 he said his farewell to the club.

There are a lot of reasons why Massimo Ceccaroni is one of the most beloved players amongst Basel fans. He joined the club youth academy when he was nine, ten years later he made his senior level debut. Basel was going through a rough patch back then and they got relegated in the same season that 19 years old Ceccaroni joined the first team. But he stayed loyal to the club and helped them to make their way back to the top level.

Since then, he became a fan favorite player and his solid performances during more than a decade made him one of the

Swiss league best players

ever. Ceccaroni also is famous for something that no footballer wants to be known for! During his 398 apparencies for Basel, Massimo Ceccaroni didn’t score a single goal at the professional level; he even once had the chance to score form the spot but the goalkeeper blocked his shot. Therefore, Ceccaroni ended up his legendary career without performing a goal celebration even for once.

Josef Hügi

Yet another FC Basel legend who wore the club colors from 1948 to 1962. Josef Seppe Hügi didn’t kicked off his professional football career until in 1940s when he was a student at the University of Basel, he joined the city’s well-known football club. It turned out that Hügi is a high-caliber striker who can score goals just for fun. In 320 matches for Basel, Hügi managed to score 244 goals which is an incredible stat.

Josef Hügi was also delivering it at the national level as well. He represented the

on 34 occasions and scored 22 goals in them. Including six goals in 1954 World Cup which was held in Switzerland and the hosts managed to make it to the quarter-finals thanks to Josef Hügi’s goals. He is still one of Switzerland’s all-time top scorers and that’s surely enough to consider him as one of best Swiss footballers of all time. 

Gökhan Inler

As a decent midfielder who played for Udinese, Napoli, Leicester City, and Besiktas, Gökhan Inler is one of the

Switzerland famous football players

. Inler spent three years at Basel youth academy but he never played for the first team. At 2005, his journey as a professional footballer started at Aarau and two years later, Udinese signed him where he found the chance to play at one of the best leagues in the world. Four successful seasons at Udinese was rewarded with a move to Napoli in 2011 where he became a key part of an exciting Napoli squad that went on to win two Coppa Italia and a Supercup titles.

His next stop was at Leicester in England Premier League under coach

. Although he didn’t play much on his single season with The Foxes, Gökhan Inler won a Premier League gold medal in a seasoned campaign that had nothing short of a fairytale. The capable box-to-box midfielder also played 89 matches for Swiss national team and at the time of publishing this article, he is the ninth most capped player for the

Rossocrociati

 (Red Crosses - Swiss national team ’s nickname).

Kubilay Türkyilmaz

Kubilay Türkyilmaz is not the most decorated player in our list, but he was an exeptional goal scorer both on club and national level. Türkyilmaz was born in Bellinzona, Switzerland and he started his football career in the local side

in 1986 when he was 18 years old. 46 goals in 79 matches were a spectacular performance for a striker of his age. Then he moved abroad to play for Bologna and Galatasaray and won a league title with the latter. On his return to Switzerland, Kubilay Türkyilmaz proved himself as one of the Swiss league best players by scoring 51 goals in only 84 matches and leading Grasshopper to two league titles.

His numbers on the international level were also quite remarkable. On his last 8 marches for the Swiss national team, Kubilay Türkyilmaz scored 14 goals including two hat tricks against Azerbaijan and Faroe Islands. Finally, in 2001 Kubilay Türkyilmaz ended up his career with scoring 34 goals in just 64 matches to become the second top scorer of the Swiss national team. He also won the Swiss Footballer of the Year award for three straight years from 1995 to 1998.

Granit Xhaka

He might not be the most consistent player in our

best Swiss footballers of all time

list, but it’s hard to deny that on his good days, Granit Xhaka is one of the best midfielders out there. Just like many other of best Switzerland players, Xhaka is a Basel academy product and he made his debut for the first team in 2010 when he had 18 years old. A move to Borussia Mönchengladbach was his next step where he managed to make a name for himself as a creative central midfielder who also has some top-notch defensive skills.

In 2016, Arsenal paid £35m to land the Swiss international in London. Although his career at Arsenal had its ups and downs,

has always been a reliable player for his national side. In the EURO 2016 he played every single minute throughout the campaign until they got knocked out in the round of 16. He also was leading the Switzerland midfield in their delightful 2018 World Cup run and scored a screamer in a comeback win against Serbia at group stage. Granit Xhaka is still 29 years old and has a plenty of time ahead of him to cement his name as one of the best Swiss footballers of all time.

Yann Sommer

The one and only goalkeeper in out best Swiss footballers of all time list; Yann Sommer. As one of the Switzerland famous football players, Sommer started playing competitive football when he was only eight years old at the FC Herrilberg youth academy. Then during a six-year spell at Concordia his talents were recognized by Basel scouts and he joined the club’s academy back in 2003 when he was 15. At the same time, Yann Sommer has always been a reliable shot stopper for Swiss national team on various age groups. His first taste of competitive football at senior level came during a loan spell at Vaduz.

Thanks to his brilliant performances, Vaduz managed to gain a promotion to the Swiss top flight. After a couple of seasons, Sommer returned to Basel and had a key role in winning four consecutive league titles from 2010 to 2014. As one of the Swiss league best players, many clubs from abroad approached him and finally it was

that managed to sign the capable goalkeeper. He is now spending his eighth season with the German side and has the vice-captain role in the squad. Yann Sommer is the only goalkeeper that has won the Credit Suisse Player of the Year award more than once. This award is given to the best player of the Swiss national team and Sommer was awarded it in 2016 and 2018. 

Stephan Lichtsteiner

He is one of the few from the

best Switzerland players

that has never played for Basel during his career. Stephan Lichtsteiner made his debut with Grasshoper when he had 17 years old as a right-back. After four years, he left Switzerland for France as he was signed by Lille and had three decent seasons in Lille colors. From 2008 to 2011 Stephan Lichtsteiner made 100 apparencies for Lazio and won a Coppa Italian and a Supercup title with The Eagles. As one of the best right-backs in the league, the Swiss international was signed by Juventus in 2011.

Juventus nine-year dominance on Italian football started since 2011, the same year that Lichtsteiner moved to the Turin club. He had his best years as a player in that Juve side under coaches Antonio Conte and Massimiliano Allegri. Apart from seven back-to-back league championships, Lichtsteiner had a key role in reaching to UCL finals in 2015 and 2017 but unfortunately for him, Juve lost both of the finals. After seven wonderful seasons at the club, Lichtsteiner left Italy and had a couple of short spells at Arsenal and

before he hanged up his boots in 2020. He is also one of the five Swiss players that have more than 100 national caps to their names.

Alexander Frei

With 42 goals in 84 matches, Alexander Frei is the all-time leading top scorer of the Swiss national team and it seems like his record is not going to be bettered anytime soon. It all started back in 1997 for Alexander Frei as he made his debut with Basel. As a prospect, he needed more playing time so he left Basel to play for likes of Thun and FC Luzern in Swiss top flight. Finally, he settled in Servette and managed to score 36 goals in 64 games for the Swiss side. In 2003, the French club

bought him and trusted him as their number nine.

Winning the Ligue 1 golden boot in 2005 was Frei's career’s highlight in France and then he left for Germany in 2006 to play for Borussia Dortmund. Although he suffered from a long-term injury during his time at Dortmund, Alexander Frei was still a popular figure amongst the fans. Especially after scoring a brace against the rivals Schalke 04 in a memorable derby. In 2009 Frei reunited with Basel to enjoy his last years as a professional football player. During his four years at the club, Alexander Frei won the Swiss golden boot on two seasons and helped his side to win seven trophies. Frei was performing week in and week out and even scored a long-range freekick in his farewell match; a perfect ending for one of the

best Swiss footballers of all time

.

Xherdan Shaqiri

After Stéphane Chapuisat and Ciriaco Sforza, Xherdan Shaqiri is the third Swiss player that lifted the famous big ear trophy of UEFA Champions League. And, he is the only one amongst the three that won it on two occasions. Just like Granit Xhaka, Xherdan Shaqiri is also from an Albanian ascent but he chose to play for Swiss national team since he was a teenager. The left footed winger was developing his football skills at Basel youth academy for eight years until he got promoted to

team in 2007 when he was 15 years old.  Two years later he earned his place at Basel’s first team squad and helped them to win five domestic titles.

His talent and potential were recognized by Bayer Munich and he joined the German giant in 2012. Obviously, with Arjen Robben being at the peak of his career Xherdan Shaqiri wasn’t a regular starter for Bayern but he played his part in winning nine titles including a UCL in 2013. In 2018 Shaqiri joined Liverpool from Stoke City and won another UCL gold medal in 2019 with the Merseyside club. Xherdan Shaqiri had an important role in winging the club’s sixth UCL trophy as he was one of the best players on the pitch in that famous Liverpool comeback against Barcelona in the semi-finals.

Although he has often been a squad player in the clubs that he played for, Xherdan Shaqiri has been one of the most important players of Swiss national team during the last decade. He is currently the team’s captain with 100 apparencies and scored some of the most crucial goals of his side. A delightful bicycle kick goal from edge of the box against Poland in EURO 2016, the match winner goal against Serbia in 2018 World Cup, and three goals during the EURO 2020 campaign has made Xherdan Shaqiri not only one of the best Swiss footballers of all time, but also a national hero.

Stéphane Chapuisat

There are many Switzerland famous football players that played in German Bundesliga, but none of them has achieved what Stéphane Chapuisat achieved during his time at Dortmund from 1991 to 1999. From the very beginning, Chapuisat showed that he has the potential to make it to the top level in European football. He started his career with Malley and then had a successful stint at Lausanne. At the age of 22, Dortmund signed the Swiss striker who already was playing for the national team as well. Chapuisat  turned out to be one of the

. The 1990s were Dortmund’s most prosperous era as they won two Bundesliga, two Supercup, and a Champions League titles.

Stéphane Chapuisat had a key role in all of those championships as he scored 102 goals in 218 for The BVB. In addition to making his way on the Bundesliga Team of the Season list in 1992, Stéphane Chapuisat was placed at ninth place on Ballon d'Or ranking on two consecutive years in 1992 and 1993. He also was named as the Greatest Swiss Footballer of the last 50 Years by UEFA Jublilee Awards in 2003. Given to his achievements throughout his marvelous career, we could say that Stéphane Chapuisat is one of the

best Swiss players ever

, it not the very best.

Read More:

Follow 

for the