Before the Euro, the worries of the Swiss women's football team are growing: relegation from the top group of the Nations League

There are better thoughts than sinking to your knees in disappointment after a lost match in your own country a few weeks before the European Championship. As some Swiss women did on Tuesday evening at the Stade de Tourbillon after the 1-0 defeat to Norway. The match in Sion isn't a low blow like the one before it in France, the 4-0 defeat that called so much into question. But it, too, is lost – and brings with it a consequence that can no longer surprise anyone.

The Swiss women's team is relegated from the Nations League as bottom of Group A. This means, in plain language, that France and Switzerland's European Championship group opponents, Norway and Iceland, performed better in the Nations League.

There are more pleasant tasks than having to explain again, after eight games without a win, what's wrong with the team, what's missing, and whether they can actually rely on the fact that they have "more and more experience under their belt," as national coach Pia Sundhage suggested at the press conference afterward. The home European Championship is almost looming.

The premonition remains vague and negative. Concerns are becoming increasingly fundamental within the Swiss delegation, as the team carries a considerable amount of skepticism with them, from game to game, from defeat to defeat, from question mark to question mark, from attempt at explanation to attempt at explanation. Yes, that wasn't good, is the general consensus – but it will be better next time. But it won't be better, or only marginally. A desperate search for details.

There are happier times in a female footballer's life than stringing together two draws and six defeats before a home tournament that promises packed stadiums in Basel, Bern, and Geneva and is intended to advance women's football. In this snapshot, there are no winners, but losers. The 65-year-old Swede Sundhage was asked in Sion whether changing that would be one of the greatest challenges of her long career. The experienced coach responded with a long "Yesss," as if the word brought her relief.

Sundhage is looking for the perfect European Championship combination, but can't find it. Livia Peng, who made a fatal mistake in the 4-0 loss to France that sent the team reeling early on, will be in goal against Norway. Elvira Herzog, who had slipped up in other matches, is once again on the bench. "Peng could be the No. 1, Herzog could also be the No. 1," Sundhage says. There are more stable situations than changing goalkeepers so close to a tournament.

Anyone looking to filter out positives from the Norway match can point out that Peng wasn't very busy that evening, especially in the second half. When Sundhage is asked after the match to mention three positive things despite everything, she begins with the improvement, "with the change" in the second half. A better attitude, more fighting spirit, and more courage. She highlights 18-year-old GC player Noemi Ivelj, whose body passed the stress test.

Sundhage demands flexibility. For example, from Iman Beney, also just 18, who has generated pace as a right-wing striker for Swiss champions YB. Beney is deployed at right back in the national team. Beney has pace and courage, but still plays a bit naively at times, Sundhage says. "I let it happen." The coach continues to put the pacesetter in defense. She's tenacious, Sundhage says of herself, "and I'll make it work with Beney."

It's remarkable how some personnel issues are being negotiated so close to the tournament. Ramona Bachmann is at the opposite end of the age scale compared to Beney. The 34-year-old is immersed in family life and currently has no match practice. But the goal is for Bachmann to be ready on July 2, Sundhage predicts. That's the day the Swiss women begin their European Championship adventure, facing the physically strong Norwegians, against whom they lost in a kind of dress rehearsal.

When the coach says this, the thought occurs to her that Bachmann could be a kind of beacon of hope for Sundhage, despite all her reservations.

As things stand, this seems like clinging to a straw – after eight consecutive winless matches, in which Switzerland has conceded 19 goals and scored only four. But in times of need, you grasp at anything that smacks of hope. Maybe, yes, maybe the knot will be untied for 18-year-old striker Sydney Schertenleib, who is highly rated in Barcelona.

She is showing signs of improvement, is technically skilled and unpredictable, but the last international matches were not the Swiss women's matches, nor were they the Sydney Schertenleib matches.

So, what are they holding on to? While France seems to be playing football on a different planet compared to Switzerland, their group opponents Norway, Iceland, and Finland remain grounded. This is the Swiss women's confidence heading into the Euros. Nevertheless, they still need to get a lot of things moving before they can continue to gather in a circle on the pitch after every (lost) game, encouraging each other.

At the moment, there's likely more doubt than hope. In goal, in defense, in the middle, up front, on and in front of the dugout. In the Swiss European Championship delegation in general. The closer the tournament draws, the more those involved are likely to rely on one thing above all else: a dynamic that could stem from the fact that little is expected—and there's nothing left to lose.