4th World Cup victory in the 4th appearance – Switzerland leaves no tension against the British – Sport

• 4th win in the 4th game: Switzerland easily achieved a 3-0 win against underdog Great Britain at the World Cup in Prague.
• Goalie Akira Schmid immediately celebrates a shutout in his first World Cup start.
• Switzerland has no games on Thursday and Friday before facing Denmark on Saturday lunchtime (12:10 p.m. live on SRF two).

Very few people will probably remember the duel with Great Britain at the 2024 World Cup for a long time. One of them might be Akira Schmid. The 24-year-old from Emmental was allowed to start at an A World Championship for the first time – and immediately celebrated a shutout.

Admittedly, there would certainly have been more difficult opponents for a goalie to make his World Cup debut. However, Schmid solved the few tasks that were given to him by the British with confidence. In the end, the New Jersey goalkeeper saved 15 shots.

Lackluster control

In contrast to the second group game against Austria, in which Switzerland got off to a real false start and had to quickly chase down a deficit against an opponent who was also considered to be significantly weaker, the national team turned onto the road to victory early on against the British. This despite Kevin Fiala being unable to sink a penalty in the second minute. Nino Niederreiter had previously been fouled. However, Switzerland continued to press – with success:

• 4th minute: The Nati is literally pinning the British in their zone. While the Swiss can change, their opponents are running out of breath. After a direct shot from Roman Josi from an almost impossible angle, the disc came across the crossbar in front of Nico Hischier’s shovel, who only had to push in to make it 1-0.

• 14th minute: Dean Kukan finds some space at the blue line and shoots. Although Great Britain goalie Jackson Whistle has a clear view of the ZSC defender’s shot, he has to let the puck pass – 2-0 for the national team.

Already 8 power play goals

Even after the first break, coach Patrick Fischer’s team controlled the game without having to shine. Inaccuracies repeatedly crept into the Swiss’ attacks. However, the British were unable to benefit from this, not even in their 5 advantage opportunities.

Switzerland was also no longer quite as effective in the power play as it was against the Austrians, for example, when 5 of the 6 goals came from numerical superiority. However, the national team still managed to score a power-play goal, their 8th in the tournament. In the 39th minute, Fiala Nino Niederreiter served the puck on a silver platter with a laser pass through the British box, the Chur player took the shot straight away and caught goalie Whistle in the near corner for the final 3-0.

This is how it goes

Switzerland now has the “big” break with two days without games before continuing with “back-to-back” games at the weekend. On Saturday the national team will compete against Denmark at lunchtime before the cracker against Canada on Sunday evening.