Murat Yakin facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Murat Yakin

Yakin in 2014
Personal information
Date of birth	(1974-09-15) 15 September 1974 (age 49)
Place of birth	Basel, Switzerland
Height	1.83 m
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Switzerland (manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1992–1997	Grasshoppers	101	(17)
1997–1998	VfB Stuttgart	23	(2)
1998–2000	Fenerbahçe	26	(3)
2000	Basel	23	(2)
2000–2001	1. FC Kaiserslautern	9	(0)
2001–2006	Basel	91	(24)
Total		273	(48)
National team
1994–2004	Switzerland	49	(4)
Teams managed
2006–2007	Concordia Basel (assistant)
2007	Grasshoppers (assistant)
2008	FC Frauenfeld
2008–2009	Grasshoppers (B team)
2009–2011	Thun
2011–2012	Luzern
2012–2014	Basel
2014–2015	Spartak Moscow
2016–2017	Schaffhausen
2017–2018	Grasshoppers
2018–2019	Sion
2019–2021	Schaffhausen
2021–	Switzerland
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Murat Yakin (Turkish: Yakın; born 15 September 1974) is a Swiss football coach and former player. He is the manager of the Switzerland national football team.

In 2021, following stints as manager at Swiss clubs including Basel, Grasshoppers and Sion, he was appointed as coach of the Swiss national team, guiding them to qualification for 2022 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2024.

Playing career

Yakin spent the longest spell of his career playing for his hometown club FC Basel, where he was the defensive linchpin, captain and libero of a team which enjoyed domestic and relative European success. He won the Swiss Super League on five occasions (1995, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2005), and the Swiss Cup three times (1994, 2002, 2003). He recalls the 2002–03 Champions League second leg qualifying match on 28 August 2002 against Celtic in St. Jakob-Park as the "match of his life". Basel won the game 2–0, with Yakin scoring the second goal in the 22-minute as Basel qualified 3–3 on the away goals rule for the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League group stage.

In 2003, he played in the FIFA "Match against Poverty" in Basel, on Ronaldo's team which won 4–3 against Zinedine Zidane's.

Yakin was capped 49 times for the Switzerland national team, representing his country at UEFA Euro 2004.

Coaching career

Early career

Yakin was appointed coach of FC Thun in 2009 after a time as a youth coach at Grasshoppers and head coach of FC Frauenfeld. Yakin led Thun to promotion in his first year as manager there, winning the Swiss Challenge League in 2010. In his second season with the club, Thun managed to finish 5th in the Swiss Super League and earned a spot in the second qualifying round of the following season's UEFA Europa League.

In May 2011, he joined FC Luzern for a reported 200,000 Swiss francs. He took over from Christian Brand, who was made caretaker after the sacking of Rolf Fringer.

Basel

On 15 October 2012, Yakin was appointed as the new manager of FC Basel. Under his management, Basel won twice, home and away, against Chelsea in the 2013–14 Champions League group stage. He praised the supporters in the stadium, saying that they pushed the team to win through the 90 minutes. He was also delighted to have received praise from then Chelsea manager José Mourinho. On 17 May 2014, FC Basel announced Yakin was no longer with the club after he guided them to two domestic titles in as many years.

Spartak Moscow

On 16 June 2014, Yakin was appointed as manager of Russian Premier League side Spartak Moscow. According to Russian media, the deal was a long-term contract with Yakin earning an annual salary of 1.6 million euros ($2.18 million).

On 30 May 2015, after only one season with the club, his contract with the club was terminated after a mutual agreement.

Return to FC Schaffhausen

On 17 June 2019, it was confirmed, that Yakin had returned to FC Schaffhausen as their new manager having left FC Sion previously that year.

Switzerland national team

On 9 August 2021, Yakin was appointed as the manager of the Switzerland national team. In the 2022 World Cup qualification, Northern Ireland held reigning European champions Italy to a goalless draw, thereby ensuring that Switzerland qualified for the tournament and Italy had to play in the playoffs. In gratitude, he sent 9.3 kg of Swiss chocolate to the Irish Football Association. In the 2022 FIFA World Cup, he led Switzerland to finish second in their group, in order to qualify to the round of 16, where they lost 6–1 to Portugal.

Personal life

Yakin is the elder brother of Hakan Yakin, who was also a professional footballer with successful stints at Grasshoppers, Basel, and BSC Young Boys and represented Switzerland at international level also. Yakin is of Turkish descent.

Managerial statistics

Honours

As a player

Basel

• Swiss Super League: 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05
• Swiss Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03

Individual

• Swiss Young Player of the Year: 1994
• Axpo Swiss Super Leaguer Player of the Year: 2002

As a manager

Thun

• Swiss Challenge League: 2009–10

Basel

• Swiss Super League: 2012–13, 2013–14

See also

In Spanish: Murat Yakin para niños