Pure heartbreak The 7 worst moments in Swiss sporting history

The European Championship dream was abruptly shattered for the Swiss national team on Saturday evening. Akanji's missed penalty will live long in the national memory and unfortunately adds to the list of Switzerland's biggest sporting failures.

Manuel Akanji, one of the best players at the European Championships, got caught out by goalkeeper Jordan Pickford with his first penalty attempt and thus sealed Switzerland's quarter-final exit against England. The Man City star knows the feeling. Three years ago, the defensive boss failed to beat the Spanish goalkeeper with his shot in the penalty shoot-out. At least Akanji was able to share the suffering back then - Schär and Vargas also lost their nerve in the European Championship quarter-final.

The tournament grades of our Nati starsXhaka rocks injured ++ Sommer virtually unemployed ++ Shaqiri works his magic for a short time and sits for a long time

The spectacular final lasted five sets before the newly introduced tie-break in the last game at 12:12 decided the match in Djokovic's favour. When the score was 8:7, Federer missed two match points. The Serbian world number 1 is not impressed by the crowd, which is overwhelmingly behind Federer. On the contrary: Djokovic says he received the many "Roger shouts" in his head as "Novak shouts". "I missed an incredible opportunity," said Federer after what was probably the bitterest defeat of his career. The maestro never managed to win a Grand Slam tournament again afterwards.

Thanks to spirited team performances and a strong goalie in Leonardo Genoni, the two ice hockey superpowers Finland and Canada surprisingly won the quarter-finals and semi-finals. Sweden awaits in the final: The national team managed to take the lead twice against the defending champions, but the Swedes were able to equalize the deficit both times. Genoni was a reliable back-up for the ice comrades against the strong Scandinavians. In overtime, Kevin Fiala then has a great chance to seal the deal with four minutes remaining. But the NHL star lacks the cold-bloodedness. In the penalty shootout, only Sven Andrighetto scores, while the Swedes manage to beat Genoni twice.

Just like in 2013, the Swedes won gold and the Swiss fans were left with nothing but the clouded joy of a silver medal.

The SFA team has not advanced to the quarter-finals of a World Cup since 1954. In 2006, the team under Köbi Kuhn came very close and at the same time was very far away. The penalty shoot-out against Ukraine provoked a lot of head-shaking.

From a Swiss perspective, nothing positive came out of this game in Cologne. The 120 minutes up to the penalty shoot-out were of such poor quality that afterwards it was described as the worst World Cup match in history. No Swiss player cut a good figure, not national coach Kuhn, who took his best marksman Alex Frei off the pitch three minutes before the penalty shoot-out, and not the three players who had a go from the penalty spot and all failed.

Pascal Zuberbühler, who had not conceded a goal from the spot in the entire tournament, saved Andrei Shevchenko's first penalty. Then, however, the visibly nervous Marco Streller, Tranquillo Barnetta and Ricardo Cabanas failed in turn. It was an inglorious end to what had been a strong tournament up to that point, with secure victories against South Korea and Togo and a draw against eventual finalists France.

It was a duel between the young, up-and-coming talent and the old tennis queen. The German dominated the competition in 1995 and 1996, winning 3 out of 4 Grand Slams. In 1997, the teenager from Trübbach seized the opportunity - Graf was increasingly plagued by injury worries - and climbed to the top of the tennis rankings at breakneck speed. The "Swiss Miss" also won 3 out of 4 majors in 1997 with her multi-faceted game, and started 1998 and 1999 with triumphs at the Australian Open.

No wonder she is self-confident ahead of the French Open final against Steffi Graf. In an interview, she spoke of a generational change and said that Graf's time was over. In the end, it was her biggest defeat.

When she committed the no-go after a rally and stormed to the other side of the court to check a shot, the French crowd booed her mercilessly. She never recovered from this blow and lost the match in three sets. It is the only major title that will be missing from her tennis CV. Another Grand Slam triumph eluded her.

At the 1994 Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Franz Heinzer wanted to close the only remaining gap in his palmarès. Otherwise, Heinzer would probably have ended his career after the 1992 Olympic season. But now he is eager for this chance: "I've done badly three times at the Olympic Games, hopefully I can win a medal at my fourth attempt."

The 1991 World Champion and winner of three downhill crystal globes has a clear race tactic: "Win or crash was clearly my motto," says Heinzer. When the big show was about to begin, it was over after just a few seconds. A few meters after the start, he was eliminated due to a binding defect.

While the US American Tommy Moe was able to celebrate Olympic gold in the downhill, the Swiss experienced the biggest Olympic debacle in their history: Daniel Mahrer finished 14th as the best Swiss skier.

It would have been one of the greatest exploits in Swiss World Cup history, perhaps even the greatest ever. Up until the 118th minute, Ottmar Hitzfeld's team held on to a 0-0 draw in the round of 16 against Argentina in São Paulo in his debut as national coach. "In the last three minutes, I experienced everything that can happen to you in a coach's entire life," said the German, describing the final phase in the Corinthians Arena.

Lionel Messi with a sprint across half the pitch and Angel di Maria shattered the Swiss dream with a brilliant move - one of very few that the national team's defense allowed against the eventual finalists on that early afternoon in Brazil. However, the determination of Hitzfeld's squad was particularly evident in the seconds after the setback: Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka, Stefan Lichtsteiner, Gökhan Inler and Co. vehemently sought the equalizer.

It almost happened. Centimeters decided against it. In the wild final phase, Blerim Dzemaili, who had just come on as a substitute, hit the post with a header from close range. In his last media conference as coach, Hitzfeld spoke of a "shock" and compared the defeat to that of 1999, when he and Bayern Munich lost the Champions League final against Manchester United in stoppage time.