Switzerland marches on. © ANSA / CLAUDIO THOMA

Perfect preliminary round: Switzerland remains flawless

Switzerland remains the team to beat at the Ice Hockey World Championship. On Tuesday evening, the hosts celebrated their seventh victory in seven games.

26 May 2026

From: leo

The Swiss completed a perfect preliminary round in Zurich with a 4-2 victory over Finland. Ken Jäger was the man of the match with two goals and an assist, including the power-play goal to make it 3-2 (57th minute). As group winners, Switzerland will face Sweden in the quarterfinals on Thursday. played into the quarter-finals at the last minute.

In Tuesday evening's second game, Canada defeated the Czech Republic, who had also already qualified, 3-2. The Maple Leafs trailed 0-2 at one point, but a brace from Macklin Celebrini put the favorites back on track before John Tavares scored the game-winning goal. Canada will now face the USA in a rematch of the Olympic final.

Scored twice: Canada's captain Macklin Celebrini © ANSA / ANTHONY ANEX

Because the Czech Republic lost to Canada, Norway secured second place. As a reward, the Scandinavian surprise team will play against Latvia (who beat Hungary 8-1). The final quarterfinal matchup is between the Czech Republic and Finland.