Xhaka, Sommer, Okafor: Who are Switzerland's top Champions League performers?

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Which Swiss players have the most appearances and goals in Europe's leading club competition?

Granit Xhaka, Yann Sommer and Noah Okafor ©Getty Images

Basel and Young Boys have flown the flag for Switzerland in the UEFA Champions League in the 21st century, but Swiss players of previous generations tended to have to move abroad to play top-level international club football. Stéphane Chapuisat and Ciriaco Sforza both enjoyed success with German sides, while modern greats like Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka have has successful spells in England.

Most appearances by Swiss players in the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League (including qualifying)

59: Johann Vogel (Grasshoppers, PSV, AC Milan)
49: Yann Sommer (Basel, Mönchengladbach, Bayern)
42: Valentin Stocker (Basel)
40: Stephan Lichtsteiner (Grasshoppers, LOSC, Juventus)
40: Xherdan Shaqiri (Basel, Bayern, Liverpool)
40: Pascal Zuberbühler (Grasshoppers, Leverkusen, Basel)
38: Fabian Frei (Basel)
37: Manuel Akanji (Basel, Dortmund, Manchester City)
37: Patrick Müller (Lyon, Basel)
36: Roman Bürki (Young Boys, Grasshoppers, Dortmund)
36: Marco Streller (Basel)

Top-scoring Swiss players in the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League (including qualifying)

Kübilay Türkyilmaz in action for Grasshoppers in 1996©Getty Images

13: Kübilay Türkyilmaz (Galatasaray, Grasshoppers)
12: Alexander Frei (Basel)
11: Claudio Sulser (Grasshoppers)
9: Stéphane Chapuisat (Dortmund, Grasshoppers, Young Boys)
8: Admir Mehmedi (Zürich, Dynamo Kyiv, Leverkusen)
7: Eugen Meier (Young Boys)
7: Walter Balmer (Basel)
6: Valentin Stocker (Basel)
6: Marco Streller (Basel)
6: Eren Derdiyok (Basel, Leverkusen, Galatasaray)
6: Noah Okafor (Basel, Salzburg)
6: Raimondo Ponte (Grasshoppers)
6: Peter Risi (Zürich)

Most appearances by Swiss players in UEFA club competition*

Basel stalwart Fabian Frei©AFP/Getty Images

112: Fabian Frei (Basel, Mainz)
100: Valentin Stocker (Basel)
93: Yann Sommer (Basel, Mönchengladbach, Bayern)
91: Pascal Zuberbühler (Grasshoppers, Basel, Leverkusen, Fulham)
81: Johann Vogel (Grasshoppers, PSV, AC Milan)
80: Benjamin Huggel (Basel, Frankfurt)
80: Granit Xhaka (Basel, Mönchengladbach, Arsenal)
73: Marco Streller (Basel)
69: David Degen (Basel, Young Boys)
68: Gökhan Inler (Zürich, Udinese, Napoli, Beşiktaş, Başakşehir)

Top-scoring Swiss players in UEFA club competition*

Alexander Frei celebrates a Champions League goal for Basel in 2010©Getty Images

32: Alexander Frei (Luzern, Servette, Rennes, Dortmund, Basel)
25: Stéphane Chapuisat (Lausanne, Dortmund, Grasshoppers, Young Boys)
24: Marco Streller (Basel)
18: Valentin Stocker (Basel)
18: Hakan Yakin (Basel, Grasshoppers, St. Gallen, Young Boys, Luzern)
17: Claudio Sulser (Grasshoppers)
17: Kübilay Türkyilmaz (Bologna, Galatasaray, Grasshoppers)
16: Raimondo Ponte (Grasshoppers)
14: Jean-Paul Brigger (Sion, Servette)
13: Fabian Frei (Basel, Mainz)
13: Admir Mehmedi (Zürich, Dynamo Kyiv, Freiburg, Leverkusen, Wolfsburg)

Notable firsts

Stéphane Chapuisat with the Champions League trophy in 1997

First Swiss player to appear in a European Cup Winners' Cup final
René Botteron (Barcelona 2-1 Standard Liège, 1981/82)

First Swiss player to appear in a UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League final
Stéphane Chapuisat (Dortmund 1-6 agg Juventus, 1992/93)

First Swiss player to win the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League
Ciriaco Sforza (Bayern 5-1 agg Bordeaux, 1995/96)

First Swiss player to win the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League
Stéphane Chapuisat (Dortmund 3-1 Juventus, 1996/97)

No Swiss players ever appeared in a European Cup Winners' Cup final win, though Guerino Gottardi was an unused substitute as Lazio beat Mallorca 2-1 in the 1999 final.

More like this?

*UEFA club competitions means European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League, Europa Conference League, European/South American Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Super Cup and UEFA Intertoto Cup

Xhaka, Sommer, Okafor: Who are Switzerland's top Champions League performers?

Article summary

Article top media content

Article body

Most appearances by Swiss players in the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League (including qualifying)

Top-scoring Swiss players in the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League (including qualifying)

Most appearances by Swiss players in UEFA club competition*

Top-scoring Swiss players in UEFA club competition*

Notable firsts