Thalwil

Fourth-tier football in the canton of Zürich rarely reaches a national audience, but Thalwil's side found a way in. A 4-3 win away at FC Uzwil carried them into the main draw of the Swiss Cup, and gave the 2026/27 season a fixture the club had not been able to promise its members before.

The everyday competition is less glamorous. Depending on the season and the group, the first team plays in either the 1. Liga Classic or the 2. Liga Interregional, moving between the two rather than settling in one, in a town of roughly 18,000 people.

Home is the Sportanlage im Brand, a ground for 1,500 with a running track still separating the pitch from the stands and floodlights above it. The club has recently added a second, artificial surface next to it, Brand 2, and marked the opening with a friendly against FC Zürich. The visitors won 6-4, which is roughly what a fourth-division side would expect against opposition from the top flight, and rather more entertaining than most such afternoons.

Black and white have been the colours since long before either pitch was laid; the club dates from 1918. There is no nickname in circulation, only the initials FCT, and no national trophy in the cabinet.

What Thalwil does have is Christian Fassnacht. He came through here and played for the club between 2010 and 2014, in the same two leagues the first team still moves between. From Thalwil he went to FC Winterthur, then to FC Thun for a season, and in 2017 to BSC Young Boys, where he has stayed. He has since played for the Swiss national team.