Fabian Lukas Schär (; born 20 December 1991) is a Swiss professional footballer who currently plays as a centre-back for

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

club Newcastle United and the Switzerland national team. Beginning his career at his hometown club of

Wil Wil () is the capital of the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Wil in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Wil is the third largest city in the Canton of St. Gallen, after the city of St. Gallen and Rapperswil-Jona, a twin city that merged in ...

, Schär transferred to

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

in 2012, winning the Swiss Super League in all three of his seasons before his move to

Hoffenheim Hoffenheim () is a village in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It belongs to the municipality of Sinsheim and, as of 2020, it has a population of 3,191. History The village, settled since prehistoric times, and first mentione ...

. After playing at the 2012 Olympics, Schär made his senior debut for Switzerland in 2013. He represented the nation at the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

and

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

, as well as the

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

Club career

Wil

Born in

Canton of St. Gallen The canton of St. Gallen, also canton of St Gall (german: link=no, Kanton St. Gallen ; rm, Chantun Son Gagl; french: Canton de Saint-Gall; it, Canton San Gallo), is a canton of Switzerland. The capital is St. Gallen. Located in northeastern ...

, Schär began his playing career at hometown club

and rose through the youth ranks, soon playing regularly for Wil's reserve team. He eventually made his league debut on 29 November 2009 against

FC Stade Nyonnais FC Stade Nyonnais is an association football club based in the town of Nyon, Switzerland. The team currently competes in the Promotion League, the third tier of the Swiss football league system and plays its home matches at Stade de Colovray, ...

, coming on as a late substitute. He scored his first Swiss Challenge League goal in an away win against Yverdon-Sport on 30 October 2010.

Basel

On 4 July 2012, Schär transferred to

on a three-year contract with the option of a fourth. He made his Swiss Super League debut on 29 September in a 1–1 away draw against Lausanne-Sport. He scored his first goal for his new club on 7 October in the St. Jakob-Park during the 3–2 home win against

Servette Servette is a district of the city of Geneva, Switzerland. The district's name comes from the Latin word for forest, ''silva'', and means "little forest". Its name alludes to Servette's rural past, before Geneva grew beyond its walls and incorpora ...

, heading an equaliser following a corner from Fabian Frei. At the end of the Swiss Super League season 2012–13 Schär won the Championship title and was Swiss Cup runner up with Basel. In the

2012–13 UEFA Europa League The 2012–13 UEFA Europa League was the 42nd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 4th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played at the Amsterdam Aren ...

Basel advanced as far as the

semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

, there being matched against the reigning

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

holders

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, but they were knocked out losing both matches and being beaten 2–5 on aggregate. At the end of the 2013–14 Super League season Schär won his second league championship with Basel. They also reached the final of the

2013–14 Swiss Cup The 2013–14 Swiss Cup was the 89th season of Switzerland's annual football cup competition. The competition started on 14 August 2013 with the first game of Round 1 and ended in May 2014 with the Final. The winners of the competition qualified f ...

, but were beaten 2–0 by

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

after extra time. During the 2013–14 Champions League season Basel reached the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

and finished the group in third position. Thus they qualified for Europa League knockout phase and here they advanced as far as the quarter-finals. The 2014–15 season was a very successful one for Basel and Schär. Basel won the championship for the sixth time in a row that season. In the 2014–15 Swiss Cup they reached the final, but for the third season in a row, they finished as runners-up, losing 0–3 to Sion in the final. Basel entered the Champions League in the

and reached the

knockout stages A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

, with a 1–1 away draw against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

enough to take them through. Basel later lost to Porto in the

Round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

Hoffenheim

On 4 June 2015, Schär signed for

Deportivo La Coruña

On 21 July 2017, Schär signed a four-year deal with

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. They currently play in the Primera División RFEF – ...

. He made his

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

debut on 20 August, starting in a 3–0 home loss against Real Madrid. He scored two goals in the 2017–18 season, which ended in relegation for the Galician team.

Newcastle United

On 26 July 2018, following Deportivo de La Coruña's relegation from the La Liga, Schär signed a three-year deal with Newcastle United after the club had activated his £3 million buy out clause in his contract. He made his debut for the club on 26 August 2018 in a 2–1 defeat to Chelsea. Schär scored his first goals for Newcastle against Cardiff City on 19 January 2019, netting twice in a 3–0 victory at

St James' Park St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England. St James' Pa ...

. He scored his third Newcastle goal against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

in a 2–0 win, opening the scoring with a 30-yard strike that would win Premier League and Match of the Day's February Goal of the Month competition. His fourth goal came in the final game of the season, and eventual 4–0 win over Fulham.

International career

Schär was a Switzerland youth international having played at under-20 and under-21 level. Schär made his international debut for the Swiss U-20 team in a game against Poland U-20 on 17 November 2011. He played his first game for the Swiss U-21 on 29 February 2012 in the 2–1 defeat against the Austrian U-21. He scored his first goal for the Swiss U-21 during his fourth appearance for them on 10 September 2012 in a match against Estonia U-21 This was the final game in the qualification to the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. Switzerland finished in second position and entered the play-offs. In the first leg of the qualification play-offs on 12 October 2012 against the German U-21 team Schär was shown the red card after he fouled Sebastian Polter as last man. Despite the goal from the penalty spot the game ended in a 1–1 draw. He was selected to represent Switzerland in the men's football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics as part of the Swiss under-23 team. He played over 90 minutes in the first two games of the tournament, but the team were knocked out, finishing in fourth position of their

Group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

. On 8 August 2013, Schär was called up to Swiss senior team for the first time and made his debut on the

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

on 14 August 2013. On 6 September 2013, scored his first goal for the Swiss senior team in a 4–4 home draw against

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. Four days later, on 10 September, Schär scored two more goals in a 2–0 away win over

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. On 13 May 2014, Schär was named in Switzerland's squad for the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

. He made his tournament debut as a starter in the team's third match, replacing the injured Steve von Bergen and helping Switzerland to a clean sheet in a 3–0 defeat of Honduras. In Switzerland's first game of Euro 2016, Schär headed Xherdan Shaqiri's corner kick after five minutes for the only goal against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...

. He was included in the Swiss team 23-man squad for the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

. In May 2019, he was named to the national team for the 2018-19 UEFA Nations League final matches and played in all two matches but finished 4th. In 2021, he was called up to the national team for the 2020 UEFA European Championship, where the team created one of the main sensations of the tournament reaching the quarter-finals.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''As of match played 5 September 2019. Switzerland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Schär goal.''

Honours

Basel * Swiss Super League:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14, 2014–15 * Uhren Cup: 2013 Individual * Premier League Goal of the Month: February 2019 * North-East FWA Player of the Year: 2019

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schar, Fabian 1991 births Living people People from Wil Association football defenders Swiss men's footballers Switzerland youth international footballers Switzerland under-21 international footballers Olympic footballers of Switzerland Switzerland international footballers FC Wil players FC Basel players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players Deportivo de La Coruña players Newcastle United F.C. players Swiss Super League players Swiss Challenge League players Bundesliga players La Liga players Premier League players Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics 2014 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2016 players 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Swiss expatriate footballers Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain Swiss expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Sportspeople from the canton of St. Gallen