Swiss President Guy Parmelin on Wednesday hailed Switzerland’s “historic” achievement in reaching the football World Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1954.
Switzerland beat Colombia 4-3 on penalties after a goalless draw in Vancouver on Tuesday, setting up a last-eight clash with defending champions Argentina on Saturday in Kansas City.
For viewers in the Alpine nation, the last-16 match in Canada finished shortly before 1:00am on Wednesday, it triggering car horns, cowbells and fireworks long into the night.
“Congratulations to the entire team and all the staff for this historic result!” Parmelin said on X, in a video from Mexico City, wearing a Switzerland scarf and his red “Switzerland: Great since 1291” baseball cap.
“I enjoyed it; it was tense. And now it’s the first step towards the final.
“All the best for the last two matches before the final!”
Sports minister Martin Pfister added on X: “Incredible! The team is inspiring the whole country and setting an example for the next generation of athletes. Bravo!”.
Newspapers hailed the achievement, with the Tribune de Geneve calling the win simply “Magic”.
Le Temps said: “This Swiss team is ready to go even further,” adding that “this milestone will strengthen the unity and confidence of a group that continues to improve”.
The Neue Zurcher Zeitung said the national team had defied the odds and was “having the best World Cup in its history — because it has an answer to every eventuality”.
“The generation of players centred around Granit Xhaka and Ricardo Rodriguez has shown a tenacity unlike any before them.”
– ‘It was awesome!’ –
Blick newspaper said the team had overcome setbacks and criticism and matured into a cohesive unit.
“That’s precisely what makes a great team,” it said.
“This generation is finally no longer being judged by what it could have achieved, but by the goals it has achieved, goals that for decades seemed unattainable for tiny Switzerland.”
Supporters erupted at a fanzone in Nyon, in western Switzerland, where European football’s governing body UEFA has its headquarters.
“I thought I was going to have a heart attack several times,” one woman in a Switzerland jersey told AFP amid the raucous scenes.
“It was tense from start to finish, but still it was awesome!” said one male supporter.
Another added: “We were stressed the whole time… we’ve lost our voices, but it was historic! Incredible!”
Switzerland’s only other World Cup quarter-final came when they hosted the tournament in 1954 — and produced what still stands as an all-time record match.
The Swiss lost 7-5 to neighbours Austria in the highest-scoring World Cup match ever. The game is known in German as the “Hitzeschlacht von Lausanne” (“the heat battle of Lausanne”), because temperatures hit 40C.
