For the first time since 1994 in Bolzano: Austria storms into the quarter-finals

Ice hockey in Austria is on its head! The red-white-red team blasted its way into the quarterfinals at the World Championships in Scandinavia with a veritable goal-scoring gala. The last time they did that was 31 years ago.

20 May 2025

From: dpa/fop

Austria pulled off a sensational victory at the Ice Hockey World Championships, advancing to the quarterfinals. The ÖEHV team defeated Latvia 6-1 in a promotion clash in Stockholm on Tuesday, returning to the top eight after 31 years. Their opponent in the knockout round on Thursday will be determined this evening.

For the first time in modern times, an Austrian team won four matches at a World Cup. Following victories against Slovakia (2-1 after extra time), France (5-2), Slovenia (3-2 after extra time), and a strong performance against Latvia, this was only the second time an Austrian team had qualified for the quarterfinals. The previous success was in 1994 in Bolzano.

Swiss legionnaires decisive

A 3-0 lead thanks to Swiss legionnaires Dominic Zwerger (18th minute), Benjamin Baumgartner (24th minute/PP), and Vinzenz Rohrer (26th minute) paved the way for Austria in front of 4.973 spectators. Eduards Tralmaks (29th minute) narrowed the gap for the Latvians, but the underdogs struck immediately in the final third. Raffl scored from a Schneider assist to make it 4-1 (45th minute). A counterattack via Peter Schneider, finished off by Zwerger (54th minute), sealed the victory. Rohrer sealed the final score into an empty net (58th minute).