The Swiss women’s national soccer team suffered [1] a 7-1 loss to a team of 14-year-old boys during a recent closed-door training match held ahead of the 2025 UEFA Women’s Euro qualifiers.
The game, intended as a physical and tactical warm-up, was played against FC Luzern’s Under-15 boys team and has drawn widespread attention following leaked footage posted online.
The Switzerland women’s national team (ranked 23rd in the world) lost 7-1 in a friendly match against Luzern’s U15 boys team ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/bDaEOP49jU [2]
— Football Talk (@FootballTalkHQ) June 25, 2025 [3]
The match featured several players from the senior Swiss women’s squad, including forward Alisha Lehmann, who has drawn international media coverage off the field but was unable to alter the course of the match on it.
Despite the presence of Switzerland’s top talent, the U-15 boys dominated the game, scoring seven goals and conceding just one.
The defeat was reportedly not intended for public release.
However, a short video clip uploaded by one of the youth players to TikTok drew approximately 70,000 views before being taken down.
The footage made its way to the press, including outlets such as GB News, prompting commentary on the nature of such training matches and the performance of the women’s side.
A spokesperson for the Swiss Football Association, Sven Micosse, explained the rationale behind the matchup.
“It’s not uncommon in women’s football to compete against junior teams,” Micosse said.
“The goal: to bring a certain competitive element. The focus during this phase of preparation is on the physical aspect. Regardless of the result, these training matches are very similar to our international matches in terms of intensity and mileage.”
The Swiss women’s team reportedly rotated through 26 different players during the match—far more than the standard lineup—including third-string goalkeeper Nadine Bohi.
The high volume of substitutions and lineup variations were part of the coaching staff’s strategy to prepare for the upcoming tournament, testing different formations and players under pressure.
This was not the first time the Swiss women’s team scrimmaged against U-15 boys’ clubs during their pre-Euro preparation.
In other recent training matches, they lost 2-1 to FC Solothurn’s U-15 squad and secured a 2-1 win over FC Biel’s U-15 team.
These matches were part of the team’s broader effort to sharpen fitness and match readiness in a high-tempo, physically demanding environment.
Switzerland is scheduled to face Czechia in a friendly on Thursday as their final preparation before the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 tournament begins.
Their opening match will take place on July 2 at St. Jakob-Park in Basel, where they will host Norway.
The Swiss women are under increased scrutiny as the host nation of this year’s tournament.
Despite the nature of the recent scrimmage, their performance in official matches will be the true measure of progress as the team looks to advance past the group stage in front of a home crowd.
The Swiss Football Association has not commented further on the leaked video or the effort to keep the result from public attention.
The upcoming matches will provide an opportunity for the team to shift the narrative ahead of the tournament kickoff.