Certainty for the Olympics: Swiss ice hockey national team knows opponents for the group phase

The 2023 Ice Hockey World Cup was not long ago. The tournament ended at the end of May. For the Swiss national team it was over in the quarter-finals. The team lost 3-1 in the game against Germany and had to leave the tournament early.

The team has more planned for the 2024 World Cup and the 2026 Winter Olympics are also increasingly coming into focus. The major sporting event will take place in Milan and the national team has already secured a permanent place on the ice. The organizers have now also announced the expected division for the group phases at the Winter Olympics. There is strong competition on the ice for Switzerland, which should make for exciting encounters.

These are the preliminary groups in Olympic ice hockey
The group division announced assumes that Russia will be allowed to take part in the 2026 Winter Olympics despite the political situation. In addition, the host country Italy automatically advances to the group phase despite its position in the world rankings at number 18. The expected group division for the Winter Olympics is:

Group A: Canada (1st in the world rankings), Sweden (6th), Switzerland (7th), Italy (18th)
Group B: Finland (2nd), Germany (5th), Czech Republic (8th)
Group C: Russia (3rd), USA (4th)

Group B will be filled with third place from the tournament after the end of the qualifying games in late summer 2024. In Group C, places 1 and 2 in the qualifying round move up. The group phase should be tough for the Swiss. After winning the World Cup four times, Canada has not only taken the top spot in the world rankings and dethroned Finland, but is also considered the clear favorite for the Winter Olympics. Sweden has also always been a strong opponent on the ice. Although Italy ranks well below Switzerland in the world rankings, it enjoys home advantage at the Winter Olympics and should therefore have a few moral aces up its sleeve.

Even though the group classification has so far only been published as a provisional, it is already likely to cause quite a stir. Sports betting providers have been keeping an eye on the results for a long time in order to align their odds for the Olympics with the current circumstances. Local providers such as Sports betting Bet365 Switzerland have a particular focus on the national team. The opponents that the team now faces in the group phase are likely to reshuffle the cards again in the betting offices.

Participation in the Olympics is certain
The selection of opponents that the Swiss national team will face on the ice at the 2026 Olympics in Milan has left many a fan with worry lines on their foreheads. With Canada as the record holder on Olympic ice and the world-class teams Sweden and Italy, the bar is already set high in the group phase. However, there is nothing to question about Switzerland's participation in the Winter Olympics in Milan.

The world ranking list of the International Ice Hockey Federation is taken as a basis. Here the national team takes a solid 7th place and automatically moves into the group phase of the Winter Olympics among the first 8 teams on the list. In this context, things remain exciting for Slovakia. In 9th place in the world rankings, the Slovakian national team is currently one of the parties that have to fight for a place in the Olympic Games in the qualifying tournaments in late summer 2024. However, should Russia be used as a political statement of the Olympics due to of the war against Ukraine are disqualified from participating, this could mean the direct mandate Slovakia is longing for.

Russia is currently ranked third in the IIHF world rankings and is one of the favorites in the tournament. The extent to which the political situation will have consequences on a sporting level is not yet fully known. For the Swiss national team, participation in the 2026 Olympic Games is already an irrefutable future scenario. The team has secured its place on the ice through previous top performances and is determined to defend it against the strong opponents now confirmed in the group phase.