The countries of Switzerland and Serbia are more than 600 miles (roughly 1,000 kilometres) apart in central Europe, but when the two soccer teams go head-to-head in Group G to try to seal a spot in the 2022 World Cup round of 16 on Friday, they will also be reigniting an unlikely rivalry that boiled over at the last World Cup in 2018.
When Switzerland’s Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri scored in the 2-1 victory back in 2018, they both celebrated their goals by putting their hands together to make a two-headed eagle sign — the thumbs represent the heads of the two eagles, while the fingers look like the feathers — a reference to the flag of Albania. It was a controversial act and polarised opinion. FIFA fined the pair 10,000 Swiss Francs each (around $10,000) for political provocation, alongside a fine of 54,000 Swiss Francs (roughly $57,000) to Serbia’s federation for discriminatory banners and chants.
Asked about his controversial celebration after the game in 2018, Shaqiri, who now plays for MLS side Chicago Fire, replied: “It’s all about the excitement. … People could give different interpretations to my jubilation. If this gesture could hurt the sensitivity of the people who watched the game … I’m sorry.”
Xhaka was also remorseful, saying: “I’m sorry for what happened and I would be stupid if I said I’d do it again. It will never happen again.”
Hundreds of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, including a government minister, raised enough money to pay their fines. But Xhaka and Shaqiri are just a couple of several international players with Kosovo-Albanian heritage playing for other international teams. Adnan Januzaj, the Belgium international, has his roots there, as does former Switzerland international Valon Behrami.
Kosovo has its own young national team, hoping to qualify for major tournaments in the future, but for now the country’s fans will be full behind Switzerland on Friday.
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After scoring the winner against PSV back in October, he said: “I’m much more experienced, much more, not clever, because I don’t want to label myself stupid before, but with the games, with the age, with everything else around, you become a different player, a different person. I’m so happy that everything is going how I always dreamed.”
Xhaka has been the measured voice of Switzerland in Qatar; diplomatic in news conferences and a calm presence on the field. Ahead of Switzerland’s opening game against Cameroon, Xhaka was asked about his father again, but he deflected the question to a Swiss spokesperson. Asked later whether he was expecting Serbia to hand out some rough justice, he answered: “We are all professionals — every team wants to win and this is the most important thing — we are here to play football and we are not here to educate anybody.”
Xhaka was again asked about Serbia after the Cameroon match. “Serbia is a good team, they have great players,” he replied. “Maybe that match will be decisive, maybe not, we will see what happens against Brazil, then we will turn to Serbia.”
Meanwhile, after Serbia’s match with Brazil, photos emerged of their changing room. There was a Serbia flag with an outline of the country including the independent Kosovo within its borders, containing the slogan: “We do not surrender.”
Hajrulla Ceku, Kosovo’s Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport wrote on Twitter in response: “Disgraceful images from Serbia locker room, displaying hateful, xenophobic and genocidal messages towards Kosova, while exploiting FIFA World Cup platform. We expect concrete actions from FIFA considering that the Kosovo Football Federation (FFK) is a full FIFA and UEFA member.” FIFA has since opened disciplinary proceedings against Serbia.
