The 15th Men's Floorball World Championships will take place in Malmö, Sweden, from December 7 to 15. For once, Switzerland is an outsider in the battle for a medal. The most important facts in brief.
07.12.2024, 05:00
07.12.2024, 09:12
SDA
When does Switzerland play?
The tournament begins for Switzerland on Sunday morning (11.00 a.m.) with the first group match against Germany. The following day, the designated duel for first place against the Czech Republic is on the program and on Tuesday the last group match against Norway (both at 4 p.m.).
If Switzerland fulfill their obligations, they will qualify directly for the quarter-finals in first or second place and, after two rest days on Friday, 13 December (4.00 p.m.), will probably play Latvia or Slovakia for a place in the semi-finals. Latvia finished 5th at the last World Championships, with Slovakia two places behind. The semi-finals will follow on Saturday, with the final and the match for third place on Sunday.
If Switzerland falls in the group phase, not just against the Czech Republic, it could still qualify for the quarter-finals via the play-offs (four round of 16 matches between the third and fourth teams in groups A/B and the first and second teams in groups C/D).
What is Switzerland aiming for?
Switzerland has set itself the goal of winning a medal, but will have to exceed expectations to do so. After seven 3rd places and one 2nd place between 1998 and 2018, Switzerland is currently only fourth on paper in men's floorball. It recently had to settle for fourth place twice at the World Championships.
Swiss national coach Johan Schönbeck, who succeeded his Swedish compatriot David Jansson in 2022, has to make a big change and says: "We will do everything we can to win a medal again." Schönbeck's young team includes twelve World Championship debutants.
Who is the favorite?
After Finland wrested four of the six World Championship titles from Sweden between 2008 and 2018, floorball motherland Sweden has been living up to its own expectations again since 2021. At their fourth home World Championship after 1996, 2006 and 2014, the Swedes are aiming to win in front of their fans for the fourth time and complete the hat-trick of titles after their triumphs in 2021 and 2022. The fact that greats such as Alexander Galante Carlström have not made the squad speaks volumes for the enormous quality of the ten-time world champions' team.
Who could surprise?
The Czech Republic are confident of winning their first World Cup title after silver in 2022. The Central Europeans became U19 World Champions twice in a row in 2019 and 2021. Now the golden generation feels ready to put Sweden, Finland and Switzerland in their place in the elite competition too.
For Switzerland, reaching the final would be an absolute coup, especially as they would most likely have to beat Sweden or Finland in the semi-finals.
