Can we beat the curse today? From Federer to World Cup drama: the most bitter Swiss defeats against Sweden

On Thursday evening, things get serious for the Swiss national team at the Ice Hockey World Championship. They face Sweden in the quarter-finals. An opponent that makes Swiss sports fans shudder. After all, we've suffered various bitter defeats against the Scandinavians in recent years.

Those Swedes again and again. In recent years, the Swedes have beaten us in big games in various sports. blue Sport shows you some of the most bitter defeats from recent years.

Eight years ago, Switzerland suffered a bitter disappointment. After a good group stage, the national team faced Sweden in the round of 16 of the 2018 World Cup in St. Petersburg. But Switzerland left a lot to be desired. In a disappointing match, Vladimir Petkovic's team lost 1:0. In the 66th minute, midfielder Emil Forsberg scored right into the heart of an entire nation. The chance of reaching a World Cup quarter-final has probably never been greater than this summer in Russia.

After all, the national football team has now overcome its Sweden trauma. In qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, Switzerland won both away (2:0) and at home (4:1), easily leaving the Swedes behind. Will Jan Cadieux call Murat Yakin before Thursday's game?

Our maestro also once had to admit defeat to a Swede. At the 2010 French Open, Roger Federer surprisingly lost to Robin Söderling in the quarter-finals. The Swiss dominated the first set, but Söderling turned the match around. The Swede won the second set 6:3. In the third set, the score was 5:5 before it started to rain. After an 80-minute interruption, Söderling won the remaining sets. The match ended 3:6, 6:3 7:5, 6:4. For Federer, it was the first time since 2004 that he had failed to reach a Grand Slam semi-final.

The first Swiss silver medal ended in defeat against Sweden. In 2013, they sensationally reached the final of the World Championships in Sweden and Finland, where the national team faced the Swedes. But the home team was one size too big. Although Switzerland took an early lead through Roman Josi, Sweden turned the game around and went on to win the final 5:1. For the "Tre Kronor", it meant the 9th World Championship title and the first victory for the host nation since 1986. And for Switzerland, it was their first defeat in the final, which was not to be their last.

Five years later, things got highly dramatic in Denmark. Switzerland once again faced Sweden in the final. But this time it was really close. With the score at 2:2, the final went into extra time. Kevin Fiala had the World Cup title on his stick, but he was denied by Sweden's goalie Nilsson. So it went to a penalty shoot-out, where Sweden prevailed and Switzerland once again had to settle for silver.

And it was one of many failures in big field hockey games against the Swedes. The Scandinavians have won nine of the last ten meetings against Switzerland at World Championship or Olympic tournaments.

The Swiss floorball team was not spared the Swedish trauma either. They lost a semi-final against Sweden twice. In 2018 in the Czech Republic, the Swiss were in the lead until 103 seconds before the end. Albin Sjögren's late equalizer allowed the Swedish team to force a penalty shoot-out. Sweden prevailed and advanced to the final, where they lost to Finland. So in 2018, the Swedes spit in our soup in three different sports.

Three years later, the two teams met again at the 2021 Floorball World Championships in Finland. This time the result was clear: Sweden beat Switzerland 6:1 and later became world champions.