Yakin spent the longest spell of his career playing for his hometown club Basel, where he was the defensive linchpin, captain and libero of a team which enjoyed domestic and relative European success.

[2] In 2003, he played in the FIFA "Match against Poverty" in Basel, on Ronaldo's team which won 4–3 against Zinedine Zidane's.

[5] Yakin led Thun to promotion in his first year as manager there, winning the Swiss Challenge League in 2010.

[11][12] On 16 June 2014, Yakin was appointed as manager of Russian Premier League side Spartak Moscow.

[17][18] In the 2022 FIFA World Cup, he led Switzerland to finish second in their group, to qualify to the round of 16, where they lost 6–1 to Portugal.

[19] At the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament, Yakin guided Switzerland through to the Round of 16 knockout stage where they recorded a famous 2-0 victory against defending champions Italy.