As expected for a side who reached the quarter finals of Euro 2025, Switzerland dominated possession in Lausanne and pegged Northern Ireland back.
Caragh Hamilton's backpass forced Jackie Burns, handed the captain's armband by Lindsay, into a loose touch and Xhemaili fired over from close range.
The pressure kept coming and Ellie Mason blocked Nadine Reissen's powerful effort before the hosts made a deserved breakthrough in the 22nd minute.
Lia Walti's deep corner was headed back across goal by Barcelona's Sydney Schertenleib, and Xhemaili took a touch and fired into the top corner beyond Burns.
Switzerland almost added a second when Reissen pulled the ball back into the area and Iman Beney sliced wide from six yards.
In a rare foray forward, Brenna McPartlan showed good feet to work space just outside the area but her effort was well wide.
At the other end, Schertenleib showed great footwork in the area and fired towards the bottom corner, but Rebecca Holloway stuck out a leg to divert the ball behind.
The ball did end up in the back of the net from the resulting corner as Xhemaili fired home, but the whistle had already been blown for a foul on Holloway, before Aurelie Csillag fired well over from inside the area in the final chance of the half.
After the restart, Csillag forced Burns into two saves in a matter of minutes. The first came from a poked effort after Beney's low cross, and the Freiburg forward was then denied when she was played through by Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic.
Rebecca McKenna put in a great block to keep out Xhemaili's effort, and with 10 minutes left, some sloppy Swiss passing almost allowed Hamilton in on goal, but Chelsea goalkeeper Livia Peng raced off her line to smother the ball.
Ellie Mason had a late half-chance for Northern Ireland but she could not convert Holloway's dangerous free-kick into the area, but Switzerland would have the final say when Folmli skipped past Rafferty outside the area and fired low into the bottom corner from 20 yards.
