The Swiss Football Association has surprisingly parted ways with women’s national coach Pia Sundhage. The SFV announced this on Monday. It is still unclear who will succeed the Swedish coaching icon – but two former Hamburger SV players play a major role in the planning.
“Pia Sundhage took over the team in 2024 during a difficult phase and led it through an unforgettable European Championship in our country,” said SFV President Peter Knäbel: “In doing so, together with the players and staff, she laid the foundation for a promising future in Swiss women’s football.”
Knäbel, who was born in Witten, was the unfortunate sports director of the HSV men from 2014 to 2016 and has been head of the SFV since August 2025. Under Knäbel, former Swiss national player Johan Djourou, who played for Hannover in the Bundesliga and for HSV in the Knäbel era, will now take over the technical management of the senior national team and the junior national teams in the “Women’s Football Directorate”.
Sundhage led the USA to two Olympic victories, and the 65-year-old also coached the national teams of Sweden and Brazil. At the home European Championships last summer, Switzerland failed in the quarter-finals against eventual champions Spain.