Introduction
Silvan Dominic Widmer (born 5 March 1993) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Bundesliga club Mainz 05 and the Switzerland national team.
Club career
Widmer began his playing career at SV Würenlos and FC Baden before he moved on to FC Aarau where he rose through their youth ranks, soon playing regularly for Aarau's reserve team. He eventually made his league debut on 23 July 2011 against FC Winterthur, starting the match. He scored his first Swiss Challenge League goal in a 2–2 home draw against FC St. Gallen on 21 November 2011.
He signed with Udinese in the summer of 2012, but remained at Aarau for the 2012–13 season.
On 12 July 2018, Widmer signed with Basel for a club record €5.5 million.
Under trainer Marcel Koller, Basel won the Swiss Cup in the 2018–19 season. In the first round Basel beat FC Montlingen 3–0, in the second round Echallens Région 7–2 and in the round of 16 Winterthur 1–0. In the quarter-finals Sion were defeated 4–2 after extra time and in the semi-finals Zürich were defeated 3–1. All these games were played away from home. The final was held on 19 May 2019 in the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Bern against Thun. Striker Albian Ajeti scored the first goal and Fabian Frei the second for Basel. Dejan Sorgić then netted a goal for Thun, but the end result was 2–1 for Basel. Widmer played in five cup games and scored one goal, the winning goal in the match against Winterthur.
Widmer moved to Bundesliga club 1. FSV Mainz 05 in July 2021, having agreed a three-year contract.
International career
Widmer was a Switzerland youth international having played both at under-19 and under-21 level.
He made his debut for the Swiss senior team as a 59th-minute substitute for Stephan Lichtsteiner in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against San Marino on 12 October 2014.
Widmer scored his first international goal for Switzerland on 6 September 2020, in a 1–1 UEFA Nations League draw against Germany.
He was a member of the Swiss squad for UEFA Euro 2020, where he made his tournament debut as a substitute in the second group match against Italy on 16 June. He went on the start the final group match against Turkey, as well as in the round of 16 against France and the quarter-final Spain.
Widmer played in seven of Switzerland's eight 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification matches, scoring in the team's 1–1 draw with Italy on 14 November 2021.
At the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals in Qatar, Widmer started all three of Switzerland's Group G matches, but was unavailable for the team's 6–1 loss to Portugal in the round of 16 due to illness.
On 15 June 2024, Widmer started in Switzerland's opening match of UEFA Euro 2024, playing 68 minutes as the Nati beat Hungary 3–1 in Group A.
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 18 May 2024
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Aarau | 2013–14 | Swiss Challenge League | 29 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 3 | ||
| 2012–13 | 34 | 8 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 8 | ||||
| Total | 63 | 11 | 5 | 3 | — | — | 68 | 14 | ||||
| Udinese | 2013–14 | Serie A | 16 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 21 | 0 | |
| 2014–15 | 36 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 2 | ||||
| 2015–16 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 0 | ||||
| 2016–17 | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 0 | ||||
| 2017–18 | 24 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 3 | ||||
| Total | 131 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 142 | 5 | |||
| Basel | 2018–19 | Swiss Super League | 31 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | 41 | 2 | |
| 2019–20 | 32 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 2 | — | 50 | 6 | |||
| 2020–21 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 26 | 1 | |||
| Total | 85 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 22 | 3 | — | 117 | 9 | |||
| Mainz 05 | 2021–22 | Bundesliga | 33 | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 4 | ||
| 2022–23 | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 2 | ||||
| 2023–24 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 20 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 79 | 7 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 84 | 7 | ||||
| Career total | 358 | 26 | 30 | 3 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 413 | 32 | ||
International
- As of match played 8 June 2024. Switzerland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Widmer goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 September 2020 | St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland | 10 |  Germany | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2020–21 UEFA Nations League A |
| 2 | 12 November 2021 | Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy | 26 |  Italy | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3 | 28 March 2023 | Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland | 39 |  Israel | 3–0 | 3–0 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying |
| 4 | 8 June 2024 | Kybunpark, St. Gallen, Switzerland | 43 |  Austria | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
Honours
Individual
- Swiss Super League Team of the Year: 2019–20, 2020–21