May the Swiss football team free itself from the past

On the steep path to a 2026 “United” World Cup organized jointly in the United States, Canada and Mexico, it is not really a hellish draw but it is nevertheless the one that Switzerland could fear. Because he will confront her with a reunion that the Swiss internationals would have preferred to postpone. The fault lies with this rascal of fate who strives to play with thwarted destinies.

First of all, out of hat No. 2, there is of course this Sweden which still does not succeed for us – let us remember the round of 16 lost 0-1 in Saint Petersburg on July 3, 2018. Without being a scarecrow, the executioner of Switzerland in Russia has everything it takes to once again afford the training of Murat Yakin, now an orphan of Giorgio Contini. With Alexander Isak (Newcastle) and Viktor Gyökeres (Sporting), Sweden has two world-class attackers.

To the extent that the qualifying matches, a consequence of being in a group of 4, will not begin before next autumn, Switzerland has nine months to give birth to something other than the infamous mush served during the recent and disappointing League of Nations, a competition which ended for them with relegation to League B. We know that it cannot be worse but it will take a real improvement to dominate the Stockholm selection. Switzerland’s enchanting journey to the German Euro was a short-lived improvement.

But for the national team, there is above all the prospect of returning to Kosovo for a new “derby” on a continental scale against what many consider to be the 27th Swiss canton. This shows the strong links existing, sometimes against a backdrop of divisions, between Bern and Pristina. We know that footballing Switzerland would never have been able to experience the same trajectory or therefore the same success if it had not been able to count on the decisive contribution of its talents of Balkan origin.

At the time when Kosovo was only an Albanian-speaking province of Serbia, thousands of its inhabitants, notably Shaqiri’s parents, Behrami and Xhaka, had fled the fighting to find refuge in Switzerland. If Xherdan and Valon are no longer there for various reasons, Granit is preparing to begin a new battle in which Andi Zeqiri, also long torn between two countries, will undoubtedly participate.

On both sides, we can count on existing antagonisms – and often also the media – to awaken these identity questions likely to parasitize an already sufficiently complex reality. This is a trap that must be avoided. Often nauseating, these eternal debates on belonging no longer have any reason to exist.

The Swiss have already suffered the consequences of the extra-sporting context during their “explosive” matches against Serbia, when Granit Xhaka was a designated target. The double-headed eagle controversy during the 2018 World Cup must be history.

To avoid thinking again, Switzerland will have to free itself from a cumbersome past. It is not normal that his first three matches against the Pristina footballers ended in so many draws. On the road to Euro 2024, Murat Yakin’s selection was held each time (2-2 away, 1-1 in Zurich).

Rather than revisiting its common history and the sometimes ambiguous relations it maintains with Kosovo, Switzerland would do better to write its own. Both against Sweden and against the representatives of the 27th Swiss canton, it is high time to move on.

Beyond the men, it is their attitude that we will judge.