The Switzerland football shirt will be marking its 10th official World Cup appearance this summer in Brazil, a milestone that fans are hoping will light a fire and push the team to its best performance in years. In the early days of the World Cup, Switzerland 2014 World Cup Home JerseySwitzerland was a near-permanent fixture in the event's quarterfinals, but a dry spell in the latter part of the 20th century left the team as an also-ran as other early contenders won titles and achieved global soccer success.

Now, however, Switzerland has managed to achieve three consecutive World Cup qualifications for the first time since the 1950s, and the team seems determined to improve its fortunes at the world's biggest soccer tournament. That much is evident from the Switzerland 2014 FIFA World Cup home jersey, a stunning Puma jersey that looks plain red at first glance, but which boasts a subtle patterning of the iconic Swiss cross across the chest. You can find the jersey as well as a small selection of other Switzerland team merchandise at the Soccer Box online store.

Swiss World Cup History

While the Swiss soccer team has struggled over the past several decades to retain much traction on the global stage, the Switzerland football shirt was actually one of the most consistent presences in the early World Cup years. Though Switzerland didn't enter the first World Cup event in 1930, the team arrived fully formed in 1934 and 1938, making it to the quarterfinal stage both times.

World War II interrupted the World Cup for 12 years, but when the event returned in 1950, so did Switzerland, hosting the tournament and again reaching the quarterfinals. The team's streak seemed to come to an end after that hosting berth, however: in 1954, the Swiss missed qualification, and in 1962 and 1966, the team was eliminated in the first round. In fact, retrospective rankings have placed Switzerland in the last place slot for both of those tournaments.

It was after those two disappointing performances that Switzerland's long World Cup drought began. The team failed to qualify for a single World Cup event in either the 1970s or the 1980s, and another missed opportunity in 1990 looked like the streak would continue for another decade. It appeared that the era of prestige for the Switzerland football shirt was long past over.

An Interesting Outcome in the USA

The Swiss battled back in 1994, landing in a group with Romania, Colombia, and hosts, the United States. The distribution of wins, losses, and draws in the group was unique: Switzerland was only beaten once, by Colombia, drawing with the United States and beating Romania en route to a 1-1-1 group stage record.

Colombia, meanwhile, lost to the other two teams, while Romania beat the other two teams, leaving all of the members of the group on fairly even keel. Ultimately Colombia was eliminated and the other three teams went through to the knockout stage. The Swiss team was soon defeated, by Spain in the round of 16, but the Cup was still seen as a success by the long-suffering fan base.

Additional World Cup Success: 2006 and 2010

Switzerland missed qualification again in 1998 and 2002, but 2006 saw the team at its highest levels of performance since the glory days of the 1930s and 50s. Switzerland actually won its group, beating South Korea and Togo, and drawing with France to earn another berth in the round of 16. A close match with the Ukraine ultimately ended in a Swiss elimination over penalty kicks, but a similar performance for this year's team and the Switzerland 2014 FIFA World Cup home jersey would probably still be welcomed by fans of the squad.

2010 was not nearly as successful, with Switzerland drawing into a group with Spain, Chile, and Honduras and losing to the former two en route to elimination. Most credited the early exit more to the challenges of the group (after all, Spain went on to win the whole tournament) than to Switzerland's poor performance.

A slightly easier route awaits Switzerland this year, however. Ranked currently as one of the 10 best teams in the world by FIFA, Switzerland is the odds-on favorite to win Group E against France, Ecuador, and Honduras. Better yet, the team's first two matches will be home games, giving fans ample reason to wear the Switzerland 2014 FIFA World Cup home jersey.

Whether 2014 will see the long-awaited renaissance for the Switzerland football team remains to be seen, though many expect the team to reach the quarterfinals or better for the first time in decades. Fans hoping for such an outcome should grab a Switzerland football shirt from Soccer Box to help support their squad!