A completely failed end to the campaign and the possibility of taking part in a third Euro in a row which took place in the Romanian capital. The Swiss hopefuls can, however, blame themselves for having stupidly lost 2-1 against Albania on September 6 in Lausanne. With one or three more points, the Helvetii would certainly have been entitled to at least one play-off place.
However, this play-off place ultimately fell to Finland, which beat Montenegro 2-1 at home, while Switzerland lost in Bucharest. In this last part of qualifying, the Helvetians conceded the opening score in the 16th minute by Stoica. The Romanian striker doubled the lead in the 35th minute. Except that between these two goals, Lucerne player Luca Jaquez had prematurely joined the locker room in the 28th minute following a deserved red card.
Ten against eleven, Stauch’s players did what they could. They believed in it in the 65th after Hajdari’s score was reduced, but they had to be disillusioned in the 68th with Akdag’s 3-1. Switzerland will therefore not travel to Slovakia next summer with a strong taste of bitterness in the mouth.
