The 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ is drawing ever nearer – 33 days to go! Between now and the start of the World Cup, we will take a closer look at a different statistic from the history of the tournament each day.

33 - Switzerland have featured at ten FIFA World Cups™ so far (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1994, 2006, 2010 and 2014), contesting 33 matches in the process. Die Eidgenossen have reached three World Cup quarter-finals, most recently on home turf in 1954. The last time the Swiss failed to reach the finals was Korea/Japan 2002.

One match Switzerland would prefer to forget is their Round of 16 encounter with Ukraine at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. On that fateful day, La Nati became the first and, to date, only team to fail to convert a single spot-kick in a World Cup penalty shootout. They were also the first team to exit the tournament without conceding a single goal, having previously kept clean sheets against France, Korea Republic and Togo.