switzerland

How tHey qualified: 2nd in Group E; P10 W7 L3 21pts. England (h) 0-2; Slovenia (a) 1-0; San Marino (a) 0-4; Lithuania (h) 4-0; Estonia (h) 3-0; Lithuania (a) 1-2; Slovenia (h) 3-2; England (a) 2-0; San Marino (h) 7-0; Estonia (a) 0-1.

CoaCH: Vladimir Petkovic

HE has continued Switzerland’s strong recent tradition of qualifying for tournaments after replacing Champions League winner Ottmar Hitzfeld in 2014.

Born in Bosnia, but has made his life in Switzerland after moving there as a player in the 1980s.

star man: Xherdan Shaqiri

THE one player who can give Switzerland the X Factor. Undoubtedly talented, Shaqiri comes to the finals on the back of his first season in the Premier League at Stoke.

Playing alongside Marko Arnautovic and Bojan Krkic, they produced some magical spells, even if Shaqiri struggled to do it regularly. But having been at Bayern Munich and Inter Milan before, no one can doubt the 24-year-old’s pedigree.

This could be his last tournament for the Swiss. Born in Kosovo, who have now been granted FIFA status and Shaqiri could switch.

analysis:

THE Swiss are blessed with lots of fine players in defence and midfield operating at some of the best clubs in Europe.

Right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner is a mainstay at Juventus while on the opposite flank, Wolfsburg’s Ricardo Rodriguez will again be a target for scouts.

Arsenal fans will also be fascinated to watch their new signing, Granit Xhaka, as he takes his place in the centre of midfield.

The key absentee will be Gokhan Inler, who may have a title winner’s medal from his season at Leicester, but his lack of game time resulted in him being dropped from the squad having previously been the captain.

The problem is up front where they have never replaced the goals of record scorer Alexander Frei, but there are high hopes for Cameroon-born youngster Breel Embolo.

Results in friendlies since qualification have been poor but the Swiss will expect to be group runners-up to France.