Switzerland qualified for the World Cup for the ninth time in their history from a qualifying group including Greece, Israel and Latvia.

One of the teams never to have won an international trophy, the Swiss have reached the last eight of the World Cup on three occasions - in 1934, 1938 and as host in 1954.

The 'La Nati ' - as they are referred to in French - set a unique record in the 2006 event in Germany when they were knocked out during the second round without conceding a single goal in the tournament. In the process they set a much less amicable record as well, becoming the first nation in World Cup history to fail to score a single penalty during their penalty shoot-out loss to the Ukraine.

Coach: Ottmar Hitzfeld

Rated the best Bundesliga coach of all time, legendary German manager Ottmar Hitzfeld is the only manager to have taken different teams to Champions League glory - Borussia Dortmund in 1996-97 and Bayern Munich in 2000-01.

Captain: Alexander Frei

'Schweizer Nati's' all-time leading scorer Alexander Frei boasts a record of 40 goals in 70 appearances for the Swiss national team.

Star players: Alexander Frei, Hakan Yakin, Gokhan Inler