Former Switzerland player Murat Yakin has been named as the Swiss national football team’s new manager, replacing Vladimir Petkovic, who left the team after the European Championship in July. 

Murat Yakin is a familiar face in Swiss football 

The country’s new manager Yakin will be a familiar face to many in Swiss football, having managed many football teams across Switzerland, including FC Basel 1893, FC Luzern and more recently, FC Schaffhausen. 

Yakin is also a successful football player in his own right. The 46-year-old played as a centre-back for football teams internationally and at home, including VfB Stuttgart in Germany, Fenerbahçe S.K. in Turkey, and Switzerland’s very own FC Basel 1893. 

Yakin hopes to take team to the 2022 World Cup

As a top professional player, he won 49 caps and as a football manager, he has used his knowledge of the game to work with clubs in Switzerland and Russia, and is now keen to take on the national team. His first game in charge will see the country play against Greece in Basel on September 1, 2021. 

According to the Swiss Football Association, Yakin has signed a contract that will see him in charge until the end of World Cup qualification in November 2022, with the possibility of an extension. 

The former Swiss manager Petkovic stepped down in July in order to join the French team FC Girondins de Bordeaux. It is hoped that Yakin can build on Petkovic’s efforts and take Switzerland one step further to the semi-finals of the 2022 Football World Cup in Qatar.