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Lia Wälti
20.10.2023 – Theodora Peter
She is the beating heart and driving force of the Swiss women’s national football team. Lia Wälti captained the Swiss ladies to first place in their group at the Women’s World Cup in New Zealand. However, they then succumbed by a score of 5-1 to eventual cup winners Spain in the first round of the knockout stage. The professional women’s game in Switzerland is still rather underdeveloped by international standards. Moreover, this is unlikely to change by the 2025 European Championships when Switzerland will host the tournament for the first time. Nonetheless, Wälti and her fellow players hope the tournament will provide a platform for promoting the next generation of female players and increasing recognition of women’s football.
The 30-year-old had to move abroad to realise her dream of a professional career. Wälti currently plies her trade in one of the world’s top women’s leagues at London club Arsenal. The midfielder grew up in Emmental, where she used to kick a ball around with the boys on the school playground. Following spells with FC Langnau and Berne club Young Boys (YB), she moved to Germany at the age of 20 to join Turbine Potsdam, where Wälti quickly acquired the captain’s armband. In 2018 came her big move to Arsenal.
Lia Wälti is not just committed to promoting women’s football; she also cares deeply about the values that go with the game, such as tolerance, fairness, and diversity. Wälti wants to convey these values to society “in a positive way,” as she recently told newspaper “NZZ am Sonntag”. Lia Wälti has many ideas on how to do that, for example a children’s book about a young footballer. She may not be able to change the world, but she would at least like to “make a difference”.
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