The leader and favorite of the group against the outsider. What is the intrigue here? But in the Switzerland-Kosovo match it is there. Although it is not sports, but geopolitical. The partially recognized status has been in the FIFA system since 2012. But today for the first time they will play an official match against Switzerland, a team in which several key players at family level are directly linked to Kosovo. As a result, they are constantly in conflict with Serbia. And in general they have a difficult reputation.
At least four Kosovars can play in Switzerland. But in reality there are many more.
Switzerland is known to be the most international country in Europe. This has its own historical reasons, which we will not go into. Just one fact: 25% of the country’s population are immigrants or their descendants from various countries. The majority are German, Portuguese and Italian.
And a little more than 100,000 Kosovar Albanians. Or, for short, Kosovars are people who were born on the territory of modern Kosovo into Albanian families. But for one reason or another (and there were many, for example, war, lack of work) they moved to the so-called Switzerland. There an entire ethnic group of Kosovars was formed and later expanded. After all, Switzerland was one of the first countries to recognize Kosovo’s independence from Serbia in 2008. And it allowed unhindered entry into the country.
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An important point is the football integration of foreigners. In Switzerland it is developed at a high level. For example, there are several professional clubs where mainly immigrants perform. Overall, according to 2021 data, 40% of the 250,000 registered footballers do not have Swiss citizenship.
If in the 2010s a popular trend in the national team was to attract descendants of Turkish and Italian immigrants, now everything has changed. And it is the Kosovars who give the results.
The Swiss squad for the next match includes at least four players associated with Kosovo: Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka, Ardon Yasari and Uran Bislimi; all of them can play against the national team of their historic homeland. And there is also Haris Seferovic, Admir Mehmedi, Valon Behrami, Andi Zeqiri, but they are now out of the lineup.
Bislimi in general has a wonderful story: the Lugano player waited a long time for the call to the Swiss national team, but at some point he got tired and agreed to go to a friendly match in Kosovo. He played for them, but the Swiss still needed him. He denied Kosovo its debut in an official match and now plays in Switzerland.
At the same time, Kosovo fans tend to adore players who have historical roots in their territory. And he is mutual. This was stated by Shaqiri on the official website of the Swiss Football Federation before the match.
Xherdan Shaqiri
Swiss national team midfielder
“It will be a special game. The anticipation is great. I can’t wait to be on the field in the place where I was born. This has always been my dream and it is fantastic to be able to live it with the Swiss team.”
Kosovars are often involved in political scandals. With a Serbian theme
Just at the moment when the descendants of Kosovar immigrants became an important part of the national team, the political issue became relevant. It so happened that Switzerland often faced Serbia in the final stages of major tournaments. And there was no football background there.
In the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the teams met in the group stage. And the Kosovars scored twice: Xhaka and Shaqiri. Both celebrated the occasion with a gesture representing the wings of a bird, in clear reference to the Albanian coat of arms with an eagle. Also, Shaqiri played the match wearing Kosovo flag boots. This outraged the Serbian fans in the stands. The country, as you know, does not recognize the independence of Kosovo and considers this land its territory. For this reason, various objects and chants calling for dealing with the Albanians, including the Kosovars, were thrown onto the field. FIFA ended up fining the players, the national teams and everyone involved. But, of course, this did not stop anyone.
Fight in the Serbia-Switzerland match at the 2022 World Cup
Photo: Francois Nel/Getty Images
After 4.5 years, the teams were again in the same group and played in Qatar. Again Xhaka and Shaqiri, but this time without such obvious provocations. They were innumerable in the stands, but not on the field. Although there was tension, in the end the players even started a fight.
But there were hidden provocations. After the final whistle, Xhaka came out to celebrate the victory wearing a T-shirt with the name Jasari, the same name as one of the founders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which fought for the secession of Yugoslavia. You can already imagine the reaction of the Serbs on social networks.
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So in Kosovo, Xhaka, Shaqiri and the rest will certainly be welcome back home. And they certainly won’t be upset by even a major loss.
