Almost nothing came from the Germans – Hockey-Nati fights historic curse Dramatic final in the Challenge League – 5 candidates still hope for promotion

Switzerland will once again meet Germany in the quarterfinals of an Ice Hockey World Championship. Of course one is inclined to say. The reward for the strong group stage and first place is a duel with the feared opponent. Switzerland should actually be happy with the supposedly weakest quarter-finalists from group A, but memories of past duels immediately surface. A selection.

The heat

May 2010, World Cup quarter-finals, Mannheim crime scene. Hosts Germany welcome their southern neighbours, who have won six games so far and were beaten only by Sweden and, surprisingly, Norway. But the favored Swiss are struggling, a defensive battle ensues in which the Nati hits the post four times, but never the target.

That succeeds in the 60 heated minutes, in which a total of 121 penalty minutes are pronounced, only the German Philip Gogulla. Germany wins 1-0, after the game pent-up Swiss frustration leads to a massive brawl.

The clear

Since 1990 there have been 15 duels with Germany at a World Cup or Olympic Games. The game often ended extremely tight, Switzerland winning only twice by more than one goal difference. The national team succeeded once at the 2005 World Cup. Thanks to goals from Ivo Rüthemann, twice from Martin Plüss, the current national coach Patrick Fischer and Beat Forster, Switzerland won 5-1. It was the clearest result between the two neighbors in a major tournament. In 2022, Switzerland won a friendly match 6-1.

The Olympic

Eight years after the painful elimination in the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup, the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, will again be a duel in the knockout phase. Switzerland is again the favourite, but after just nine seconds Cody Almond is punished with a competition exclusion for a check to the head. Germany takes the lead, Switzerland manages to equalize third through Simon Moser in the middle.

Also this time a low scoring game develops, the game goes overtime when the score is 1:1. But Germany didn’t need long for a goal there: after 26 seconds, Yannic Seidenberg decided the round of 16 in favor of the later winner of the silver medal.

The last

The last time there was a duel between Switzerland and Germany was last year at the World Cup. As is so often the case when these two countries meet in a major tournament, it’s close. The series of goals from Switzerland’s point of view is 1:0, 1:2, 3:2, 3:3. The game that decides who wins the group therefore goes into extra time. Thanks to the extra point, Switzerland is group winner.

After five goalless minutes, the penalty shoot-out must bring the decision. With Nico Hischier and Damien Riat being the only ones to win, Switzerland also won the seventh group match before losing to the USA in the quarter-finals.

The Painful

The year before, the penal lottery for the “ice cream connoisseurs” did not end well. Switzerland seems to do justice to the role of favorites in the quarter-finals of the 2021 World Cup against Germany in an elimination game. After goals from Ramon Untersander and Fabrice Herzog, she leads 2-0 in the middle third, and also after Timo Kühnhackl’s goal, Patrick Fischer’s team seems to be the winner for a long time.

But then, 44 seconds before the end of regular time, the German goal is already empty and Leon Gawanke makes it 2-2. A shock for Switzerland, from which it never really recovered. The game goes to penalties, only Timo Meier and Dominik Kahun score from the first four shooters. Then Grégory Hofmann fails and the German Marcel Noebels cheats the Swiss goalkeeper Leonardo Genoni and he makes the decision. It is probably the most bitter defeat against Germany in a major tournament for Switzerland.

The hopeful

The Nati stars should not think about the last three knockout matches against Germany. They all ended in a narrow and therefore all the more painful defeat. Once, however, Switzerland also won in such a game. This is now 31 years ago. At the 1992 World Cup, Switzerland won the quarter-finals against Germany in Prague 3-1. The goalscorers are Mario Brodmann, Felix Hollenstein and Roberto Triulzi. Ultimately, Switzerland finished fourth in the World Cup and returned to the top of the world with their best result since their home World Cup in 1953.

The chance for revenge

So now it’s back to the quarter-final game between Switzerland and Germany. Just like two years ago, the competition will again take place in Riga. Once again, the smaller country enters the competition as the favourite.

It is the 63rd meeting of the two neighbors, 26:32 is the balance from the Swiss point of view, four games ended in a draw. So it’s high time to improve the balance. However, it is above all time to take revenge for the three eliminations in matches against the Germans since 2010.

The odds from the bookmakers have never been more clearly divided than they are now, with almost everyone expecting a win for Switzerland. But in this game that means nothing. However, the performance of the Swiss so far at this World Cup gives hope, especially since the national team is not dependent on a single player, but the burden is fairly evenly distributed. Nine players have scored at least five points so far, with the Germans only having five players.

But the past has shown that it usually only takes one or two goals to win this game.