Alexander Frei or Alex Frei (born 15 July 1979) is a Swiss professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and a former player who played as a forward. He was most recently head coach of

FC Aarau FC Aarau is a Swiss professional football club based in Aarau. Founded in 1902, the club competes in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football after being relegated from the Swiss Super League. History FC Aarau was form ...

in the

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League (known as the Dieci Challenge League for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the wi ...

, the second tier of Swiss football. Frei began his career at

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

, going on to various other clubs in Switzerland, France and Germany before returning to his home club, where he won the

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

title in all four of his seasons, including doubles with the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

in 2010 and 2012. Frei is the all-time leading scorer of the Switzerland national team with 42 goals in 84 games. He represented the country at two

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

s and as many

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

Club career

Frei started his professional career with his hometown club of

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss professional Association football, football club based in Basel, in the Basel-Stadt, Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been List of Swiss footba ...

, where he later was transferred to

FC Thun Fussballclub Thun 1898 is a Swiss association football, football team from the Bernese Oberland town of Thun. The club plays in the Swiss Super League from 2025–26, the top tier of the Swiss football league system, following promotion from the ...

FC Luzern Fussball-Club Luzern (), or simply abbreviated to FCL, is a Swiss sports club based in Lucerne (). It is best known for its professional association football, football team, which plays in the Swiss Super League, Super League, the top tier of the ...

, and

Servette FC Servette FC is a Swiss professional Association football, football club based in Geneva, founded in March 1890 with rugby as its first sporting activity, and named after the Geneva district of the same name. The football section was created on ...

, all in his native Switzerland. After a transfer to French club

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

, he finished as the highest goal-scorer in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

for the 2004–05 season with 20 goals. He was named Swiss Footballer of the Year the same season. He was also named Swiss Footballer of the Year in 2004 and 2007. Frei then signed a four-year contract with

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

on 29 June 2006. Dortmund paid a transfer fee of approximately €5 million for him. In the 2006–07 season, Frei was the highest goal scorer for Borussia Dortmund with 16 goals in 32 matches. He recovered from a long-term injury in the 2007–08 season to score six times in his last eight appearances for Borussia Dortmund. After speculation regarding his future, he came back to action against Schalke 04 in the fourth fixture of the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

. He scored two goals, equalising in an incredible game. On 17 July 2009, he left Borussia Dortmund after 74 league matches and, after six years, returned to Switzerland to sign with FC Basel. He made his debut in a 2–1 win over

FC Sion Football Club Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss Association football, football club from the city of Sion, Switzerland, Sion. The club was founded in 1909 and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have wo ...

on 26 July 2009. He made an assist and also scored the last minute winner in the match at the Stade Tourbillon. During the 2009–10 season he scored 15 goals in 19 league games and FC Basel won the

Double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

. During the 2010–11 season he scored 27 goals in 35 league games, becoming the Swiss League Top goalscorer. At the end of the 2011–12 season, Frei won his second Double with Basel, the League Championship title and the

. In the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League, 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 a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...

, there being matched against the reigning

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

holders Chelsea, but were knocked out being beaten 2–5 on aggregate. Frei's last game in this competition was as Basel qualified for the

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

in the home game against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

, whom they beat 4–1 on penalties after a 4–4 aggregate draw to progress. Frei played his last professional match on 14 April 2013 in the home game at St. Jakob-Park as Basel beat

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

3–1. He led the team as captain for this game. He also scored his last goal, a free kick from about 25 meters in the 55th minute. He was substituted some ten minutes later to a standing ovation. At the end of the Swiss Super League season 2012–13, Frei was awarded his fourth championship medal and was awarded a Swiss Cup silver medal. Between the years from 1997 to 1998 and again from 2009 to 2013 Frei played a total of 217 games for Basel scoring a total of 148 goals. 114 of these games were in the

, 15 in the

, 38 in the European competitions ( Champions League and Europa League) and 50 were friendly games. He scored 74 goals in the domestic league, 13 in the cup, 22 in the European matches and the other 39 were scored during the test games. With the club he won four league championships and two cup titles.

International career

Frei represented

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

at Under-18s, Under-19s and Under-21s levels. He played his Swiss U-18s debut on 25 October 1995 in the 5-1 away defeat against the French Under-18s. His Under-21 debut was on 3 September 1999 in the 3-1 away win against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. Frei played his debut as full international on 24 March 2001, being substituted in, during the 1–1 away draw against the Republic of Yugoslavia during the World Cup qualification Group 1 match. In the following match, four days later, Frei scored his first three goals for the national team in the 5–0 home win against

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. Frei played for

Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. Th ...

. In a group match against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, he was caught on camera appearing to spit at

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard MBE (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and a former player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players,UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

. He scored six times in

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America ...

, including a second-minute penalty in the second leg of the play-off against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

which his team won on away goals. At the

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

in Germany, Frei was

Man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

in the 2–0 group stage win over

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

, opening the scoring from Tranquillo Barnetta's 17th-minute cross. He concluded a win by the same score against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

in the next game to send Switzerland through as group winners. This goal was controversial as referee Horacio Elizondo overruled a judgement of offside by his assistant. On 30 May 2008, in Switzerland's final preparation match before co-hosting

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

, Frei scored twice in a 3–0 friendly win over

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

. This moved him to 35 goals for the Switzerland national team, surpassing the record of Kubilay Türkyilmaz. However, within the first half of the opening match of the tournament, Frei was injured while captaining the Swiss team and missed the rest of the tournament due to a torn knee ligament in his left knee after a challenge from

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

defender

Zdeněk Grygera Zdeněk Grygera (; born 14 May 1980) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a defender. He spent his early professional football career in the Czech Republic before moving abroad to play for Ajax in the Netherlands, Juventus in ...

. He decided to remain with the team to show his support. He later underwent surgery. In a Euro 2012 qualifier at home against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, he was booed by his own fans throughout the match, even though Switzerland won the match 4–1. When he was finally substituted the fans in the home sector booed him repeatedly. On 5 April 2011, he decided to quit from the national squad after being criticised again following a 0–0 draw with

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

on 26 March for the Euro 2012 qualifying match.

Sports director

After Frei ended his career, he became new sports director of

. This was announced by both FC Basel and Luzern on 19 March 2013.

Coaching career

He was interim manager of

in 2018. In September 2020, he became head coach of FC Wil 1900. He stepped down from this position in November 2021 and in December signed on as head coach of FC Winterthur. After successfully leading Winterthur to promotion to the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

, he was signed by his former club

to be their new head coach. Frei and Basel parted ways on 7 February 2023, with the team sitting in seventh place in the table. According to FC Basel sporting director Heiko Vogel the 0–1 loss away to

Grasshopper Club Zürich Grasshopper Club Zurich (GCZ), commonly referred to as Grasshopper Club or simply just GC, is a professional sports club, multisports club based in Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland. They are nicknamed the ''Grasshoppers'' or sometimes just ''Hopper ...

, following five league games without a win, on 4 February 2023, three days before, "was one defeat too many". On 1 February 2023, Basel had defeated Grasshoppers 5–3 in Zurich in their round of 16 match of the 2022–23 Swiss Cup. On 12 June 2023, he was announced as the new head coach of

, thus returning to the

. On 25 March 2024, he departed his position by mutual consent with the club to take a step back from coaching. At the time of his departure, Aarau were in 3rd place, however with a significant gap to a promotion spot. In his last game, his team managed a late 2–0 win against cantonal rivals FC Baden.

Personal life

Alexander is of no relation to club and country team mate Fabian Frei. However, he is the second-cousin of

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

goalkeeper and former Swiss youth international

Stefan Frei Stefan Frei (born 20 April 1986) is a Swiss professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Seattle Sounders FC. Born in Switzerland, Frei moved with his fam ...

. His younger sister Andrea plays football for the Basel ladies team. He is married to Nina and they have a daughter born in 2012.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Frei goal.''

Managerial

Honours

Servette *

: 2000–01 Basel *

: 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13 * Swiss Cup: 2009–10, 2011–12 Individual * Credit Suisse Player of the Year: 2003 * Ligue 1 Golden Boot: 2004–05 (20 goals) * Credit Suisse Player of the Year: 2004, 2005, 2007 * Swiss Super League Golden Boot: 2010–11 (27 goals), 2011–12 (24 goals) * Axpo Super League Player of the Year: 2011, 2012 * Swiss Golden Player Award: ''"Best Forward"'': 2011, 2012 *

Team of the Year: 2014–15

References

External links

* * * * *
Alexander Frei's profile, stats & pics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frei, Alexander Swiss men's footballers Switzerland men's youth international footballers Switzerland men's under-21 international footballers Switzerland men's international footballers Servette FC players FC Basel players FC Thun players Stade Rennais FC players Expatriate men's footballers in France Borussia Dortmund players Men's association football forwards Footballers from Basel-Stadt Expatriate men's footballers in Germany UEFA Euro 2004 players 2006 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2008 players Swiss Super League players Ligue 1 players Bundesliga players FC Luzern players Swiss-German people 1979 births Living people 2010 FIFA World Cup players Swiss expatriate sportspeople in France Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Germany Swiss football managers FC Basel managers FC Wil managers Swiss Super League managers Swiss Challenge League managers FC Aarau managers