Thun: Swiss Football’s Rising Star & Shocking Fall

From Switzerland comes the sensational story of Thun, a club that leads the championship and, last season, was playing in the second tier. The city of Thun, with around 40 thousand inhabitants, is located in western Switzerland, 30 kilometers from Bern, the Swiss capital.

Thun has been coached by Mauro Lustrinelli since 2022/2023, having already been at the club as assistant and head coach, before joining the Swiss under-21 team. Mauro Lustrinelli had already played for Thun as a footballer. He was present at the 2006 World Cup, held in Germany.

Thun leads the regular phase of the Swiss championship, with 40 points, with a relatively comfortable advantage over St. Gallen and Basel. The case gains notoriety since, last season, the club was in the second division, which it won, finishing with 72 points, 11 more than Aarau, second placed. Leandro Bertone was Thun’s top scorer, with nine goals, as well as one of the three players with the most appearances (34).

This season, Thun had a successful start, with triumphs in the first three matches, against Lugano, Lausanne-Sport and Luzern. In the fourth game, the first defeat, against Breitenrain, in the Cup. The defeat did not cause a dent in Thun, who thrashed Zurich 4-0 in the following round.

In 20 games, Thun has 13 wins, one draw and six defeats, with a balance of 39 goals scored and 24 conceded. Mauro Lustrinelli’s team beat some clubs that usually have a regular presence in European competitions, such as Zurich, St. Gallen and Servette.

This Saturday, Thun arrived at half-time with a two-goal deficit, but went from behind and won… 4-2, with the last two goals appearing after the 80′ mark.

Thun’s squad is mainly made up of Swiss players, with players of other nationalities, such as Spanish – in the case of Genís Montolio –, German (Dominik Franke) and English (Layton Stewart).

Goalkeeper Niklas Steffen is the most used player, with 19 appearances. The top scorer is Chrisopher Ibayi, who was already at the club last season.

With two titles under their belts – two editions of the II League –, Thun is chasing the unprecedented title of Swiss champion. After this first phase, the first six classified will compete to qualify as champion. Clubs in seventh to 12th place will fight to stay.

Last season, Basel were the Swiss champions. Patrick Dippel, 45 years old German, chosen by Rui Costa for the position of chief scout from Benfica, was at Basel in 2024/2025. Before Basel, Young Boys had become two-time Swiss champions.

Thun’s sights will certainly be on participating in the UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds, which will take place if they finish the Swiss championship (champion qualification) in the first two places.

In the 2023/2024 season, Thun had the best player in the Swiss II division. Daniel dos Santos, a midfielder who was born in Covilhã, but soon went to Switzerland, was distinguished by the Federation of that country. After going through Thun’s training, he had the opportunity to make his senior debut at that same club. He headed after Lugano, where he has been since 2024/2025. At 22 years old, he has 10 caps for Switzerland’s youth teams.