He represented Switzerland national team for eleven years, garnering 87 caps and scoring 20 goals.

He grew up and went to school in suburban Münchenstein, Basel-Landschaft, just outside Basel, and close to the borders of France and Germany.

He is the younger brother of international football player Murat Yakin, also a former member of the Switzerland national team, who currently works as a manager.

[7] The game was drawn 3–3 and Yakin gave all three assists as Basel cruised to a 3–0 half-time lead as they qualified, one point above Liverpool, for the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League second group stage.

[10] His career was then overshadowed by some trouble regarding his club transfers, as his engagements outside Switzerland (Paris Saint-Germain,[11][12] VfB Stuttgart,[13] and Galatasaray[14]) were not accompanied by luck.

[15] In July 2008, Yakin signed a contract with Qatar champions Al-Gharafa,[16] for a salary of around €2.5 million per year.

In March 2009, it was reported that Yakin had been training with the Grasshoppers Under-21 side, coached by his brother Murat, in a bid to get fit.

[18] During the mid-season break in January 2012 Yakin transferred to Bellinzona in the Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football.

However, he missed another chance shortly afterward as Turkey scored two second-half goals, resulting in Switzerland's becoming the first team to be mathematically eliminated from their own tournament within five days of its beginning.

[19] However, in Switzerland's final group match against Portugal on 15 June, Yakin added two second-half goals, the second a penalty kick, to secure their first ever win at the UEFA European Championship, 2–0.