Rilind Nivokazi opened the scoring and Sion held on to beat Basel 2:0 in the 34th round of the Brack Super League master round, handing Basel Fc a shock defeat at St. Jakob-Park.
Nivokazi’s goal arrived in the 24th minute after a neat setup from Chouaref; the strike was the forward’s 13th of the season, arriving from about 16 meters and putting Sion ahead in a match that would make history for the visitors.
Basel pressed for an equalizer but could not find a breakthrough, and just after the hour mark Josias Lukembila doubled Sion’s lead to 2:0. The scoreline stood despite a late opportunity for Basel: Moritz Broschinski was fouled by Hajrizi in the penalty area, but Anthony Racioppi saved Broschinski’s spot kick, preserving Sion’s clean sheet.
The result moved Sion past Basel into fourth place in the standings. Observers noted that the victory sent Sion ahead of Basel in the table and that the win was Sion’s third consecutive victory in the run-in.
The match carried weight beyond the three points. Sion’s success was their first ever league victory in Basel since the Super League was formed; the club had failed in 42 previous attempts to win at St. Jakob-Park and succeeded only on their 43rd try. The last time a Walliser side recorded a league win in Basel dated back to August 1997 in the old NLA.
Didier Tholot, who has been on the Sion sideline since 2023, watched his team complete a rare feat in front of a home crowd that expected a routine result for Basel. The habit of winning in Basel has been broken; Sion’s run of three straight wins suddenly feels like more than a streak and more like momentum under Tholot’s management.
For Basel Fc, the match exposed a vulnerability. The hosts were without the injured Xherdan Shaqiri, and they squandered a clear chance to pull one back when Broschinski missed from the spot. The penalty save by Racioppi was the decisive moment that turned a tense finale into an iconic night for the visitors.
There was still four minutes of added time to play after the 90, but Sion’s defense held firm and the final whistle confirmed the 2:0 scoreline. The immediate consequence is mathematical and psychological: Sion sit fourth and have thrown a new variable into the master round, while Basel must wrestle with the reality that home form at St. Jakob-Park is no longer an automatic guarantee.
This was not merely a lucky win. Breaking a 42-match streak without success in Basel — and doing so on the 43rd attempt — is an outcome that reshapes the narrative around Sion’s season. Under Tholot they have become a team that can win under pressure on unfamiliar ground, and that shift matters now, as the final positions in the master round are decided.
