The Swiss national team remains unblemished at the home World Cup. Jan Cadieux's team won 4:1 against promoted Great Britain.
21.05.2026, 23:30
21.05.2026, 23:39
SDA
The euphoric Swiss fans were not discussing in the run-up to the Swiss national team's match against Great Britain whether, but rather how well the World Cup hosts would prevail against the newly promoted team from the UK.
After all, Jan Cadieux's team had shone against Austria and also against Germany, impressively conjuring up their offensive potential on the Altstetter ice. This time, however, the machinery did not run quite as smoothly and the Swiss missed a few chances, denying them another gala performance.
Nevertheless, there were some pleasing results for the hosts. Nino Niederreiter scored his first two goals of the tournament. The Winnipeg Jets' NHL forward put his team ahead after just five minutes following a magisterial pass from Roman Josi, and the Grisons native was also responsible for the final goal when he tapped home a rebound from Timo Meier. By now, 14 different players have scored for Switzerland at this tournament.
In the second period, Nico Hischier and Simon Knak had increased the lead to 3:0. The fact that Joshua Waller reduced the deficit for the British, who are fighting to stay in the league, did not upset Switzerland. Nevertheless, Switzerland were not quite as determined and efficient as they had been in the previous four games, missing a few powerplay opportunities and being slightly careless defensively at times.
In the final minutes, a slapstick interlude by goalie Reto Berra, who was preferred to Leonardo Genoni and Sandro Aeschlimann this time, went unpunished. The Fribourg-Gottéron goalie, who will play for Kloten in the future, got the blade of his stick stuck in an uneven patch of ice while attempting a pass, causing an otherwise harmless rebound to roll into his net. However, as a Briton had moved into the Swiss offensive zone too early, the goal was disallowed for offside.
Switzerland continue their campaign on Saturday against Hungary with another clash against an outsider.
Telegram
Switzerland - Great Britain 4:1 (1:0, 2:1, 1:0)
Zurich. - 10'000 spectators (sold out). - Referees Bloyer/Brander (USA/FIN), Gibbs/Hautamäki (CAN/FIN). - Goals: 6. Niederreiter (Josi, Egli) 1:0. 22. Hischier 2:0. 29. Knak (Riat) 3:0. 35. Waller (Kirk, Richardson) 3:1. 53. Niederreiter (Meier, Hischier) 4:1. - Penalties: 3 times 2 minutes against Switzerland, 4 times 2 minutes against Great Britain.
Switzerland: Berra; Egli, Josi; Kukan, Marti; Moser, Berni; Jung, Frick; Riat, Jäger, Knak; Meier, Hischier, Biasca; Rochette, Malgin, Andrighetto; Bertschy, Thürkauf, Niederreiter.
Great Britain: Robson; Richardson, Halbert; Tetlow, Hazeldine; Steele, Brown; Clements, Jenion; Kirk, Cade Neilson, Waller; Betteridge, Dowd, Perlini; Logan Neilson, Lachowicz, Harewood; Davies, Lyne, Shudra.
Remarks: Switzerland without Suter (slightly injured), Genoni, Baechler (both overtime) and Aeschlimann (substitute goalie). - Post shots: 15 Josi, 51 Meier. - Shots: Switzerland 41 (18-11-12); Great Britain 14 (3-6-5). - Powerplay output: Switzerland 0/4; Great Britain 0/3.
