With the pandemic year 2024 out of the way, Lia Wälti is looking ahead. And the 31-year-old has big goals and dreams for 2025, both with Arsenal and with the Swiss national team.
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- Lia Wälti dreams of a "summer fairytale" with the Swiss national team, but is pursuing big goals with Arsenal first.
- "We are an ambitious club that wants to win titles," says Wälti, who has high hopes for Arsenal in the league, the two national cup competitions and the Champions League.
- The big highlight will come in the summer with the European Championship at home. "I think this is a year that will probably be the icing on the cake of my career," says Wälti in an interview with blue Sport.
As a footballer, Lia Wälti has long since joined the ranks of the greats. In the summer of 2018, she moved from the then top club Turbine Potsdam to the big FC Arsenal. She won the championship with the Gunners in her very first season. Since then, she has won two more League Cup titles and her journey in the 2023 Champions League only ends in the semi-finals.
This season, Arsenal have a say in all competitions - Championship, FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League. When asked about their goals, Wälti says: "We are an ambitious club that wants to win titles." In recent years, that hasn't worked out quite as well as they would have liked. "But I think things are looking good in many competitions this year."
In the Champions League, Arsenal have progressed to the quarter-finals as group winners and will face a group runner-up. The draw for the quarter-final pairings will take place on February 7 in Nyon. In the League Cup, Arsenal will face Brighton in the quarter-finals and in the FA Cup, Arsenal can secure a place in the last 16 with a win against Bristol City.
The title hunt is likely to be most difficult in the league, where the gap to Chelsea, champions six times in a row recently, is already 7 points after 10 of 22 rounds. "We are behind in the championship, but anything is still possible. I believe we have a team with incredible potential and it's only a matter of time before the club can win titles on a regular basis again. And we want to start doing that this year," says Wälti.
The dream of a "summer fairytale"
Due to her busy schedule with Arsenal, the home European Championship is not yet omnipresent for the 122-time international. Nevertheless, the anticipation is huge. "2025 is a special year for the national team. I think it's a year that will probably be the icing on the cake of my career. A home tournament ... A dream come true!"
She will do everything she can to be in top shape in July. "And that we can write a summer fairytale together for ourselves, for the Swiss fans and the nation. And that we can inspire lots and lots of young children with what we do."
A brief portrait of Lia Wälti
- In 2013, Lia Wälti moved from YB to FFC Turbine Potsdam, a club with a glorious history. She gained experience in the Champions League with the Bundesliga club and played for the league title, although the crowning glory in the form of a title never came. The move to Arsenal followed in 2018. Enthusiastic about the infrastructure and the project, she listens to her gut feeling. "After three minutes, I knew I wanted to move to Arsenal," she says in an interview with blue Sport. She won the league title with the Gunners in her very first season. Wälti made her debut for the national team on May 24, 2012. She now has over 120 international caps to her name, is captain of the national team and has been an undisputed regular at every major event for which Switzerland has qualified (World Cup 2015, European Championship 2017, European Championship 2022, World Cup 2023). The two-time Swiss Footballer of the Year (2021 and 2023) is still indispensable for the national team.
What's next for Lia Wälti
As the FA Cup match against Bristol City last Sunday had to be postponed due to the unplayable pitch, the first competitive match of the year is yet to come. Arsenal host Crystal Palace in the league on Sunday, followed by the League Cup tie against Brighton three days later, before the crunch clash against Chelsea on January 26.
The first international match of the year is scheduled for February 21. In the Nations League, the Swiss will then host Iceland, who they will also face in their second group match at the European Championship on July 6.
The matches in the Nations League
- February 21: Switzerland - Iceland
- February 25: Norway - Switzerland
- April 4: Switzerland - France
- April 8: Iceland - Switzerland
- May 30: France - Switzerland
- June 3: Switzerland - Norway
