Switzerland reach last four of home World Championship by dumping out Sweden

[p]Few arriving at Swiss Life Arena would have been expecting anything other than another win for the hosts - [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/switzerland/buO3jBAo/"]Switzerland[/a] topped Group A having won all seven of their matches in regulation time, scoring 39 times, while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sweden/vBLjQRXp/"]Sweden[/a] beat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/slovakia/ruzLVmAN/"]Slovakia[/a] in their final Group B match to sneak into the top four.[/p][p]But the home fans were silenced in the seventh minute, when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/karlsson-linus/4OQu43rO/"]Linus Karlsson[/a] fought hard on the left of the attacking zone to maintain possession before working it across to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ekman-larsson-oliver/vw1y8wmE/"]Oliver Ekman-Larsson[/a], [b]his lay-off found [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/heineman-emil/pAdg4YPD/"]Emil Heineman[/a], and his centre found Karlsson with space and time to fire home.[/b][/p][p]Things got worse for Switzerland just seconds later when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kukan-dean/xjdHl92B/"]Dean Kukan[/a] was penalised for cross-checking [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/stenberg-ivar/UwurqeCM/"]Ivar Stenberg[/a]. Sweden thought they had capitalised on the powerplay, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sundqvist-oskar/KjgymSRo/"]Oskar Sundqvist[/a]'s goal was disallowed after review for being diverted in off his skate.[/p][embed guid="4b6ad97b-9dae-4b84-b457-163c033b17ed" url="https://x.com/IIHFHockey/status/2060068655417659601" social-type="twitter" /][p]Swiss fortunes seemed to be turning as they survived five minutes a man down before finding an equaliser in the 14th minute, when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/malgin-denis/0dmUvneQ/"]Denis Malgin[/a] collected a rebound and set the puck back [b]for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/josi-roman/nmlFYSoh/"]Roman Josi[/a] to strike from distance straight into the top corner.[/b][/p][p]That goal was the springboard for Switzerland to go into the second period and hit their usual heights - they held out through another Swedish powerplay after a tripping call against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/thurkauf-calvin/va6htgXN/"]Calvin Thurkauf[/a] before taking the lead in the 13th minute.[/p][p]Roles were reversed as Josi slipped a pass through to [b]Malgin, for whom the opposition defence parted like the Red Sea, as he crossed the blue line and carried on unchallenged before powering the puck[/b] past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hellberg-magnus/6X27NxtJ/"]Magnus Hellberg[/a].[/p][embed guid="5cb82232-e457-4071-a80a-9547922cb055" url="https://x.com/IIHFHockey/status/2060086049745891337" social-type="twitter" /][p]Discipline failed to improve soon after as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/meier-timo/hjIkXUIJ/"]Timo Meier[/a] was given just two minutes for cross-checking, as was [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/johansson-albert/lh2PQY2m/"]Albert Johansson[/a] for his retaliation, but then it was [i]Tre Kronor[/i] who went a man down in the final five minutes as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/persson-joel/2XcDv9nd/"]Joel Persson[/a] was called for tripping.[/p][p]And just over a minute later, [i]Die Nati[/i] made use of the powerplay, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hischier-nico/SSCy494Q/"]Nico Hischier[/a] weaved his way delightfully through the defence on the left, cutting back inside to play the puck across for [b]Thurkauf, whose shot had just enough on it to beat Hellberg.[/b][/p][p]A strong hit from Meier on Sundqvist went unpunished despite ending the Swede's evening, but when Switzerland were penalised either side of the second break, Sam Hallam's side still couldn't work a way back into the game.[/p][embed guid="4af21387-f5b5-41ee-8cda-e8e55596ba21" url="https://x.com/IIHFHockey/status/2060103005010080199" social-type="twitter" /][p]Having only had three shots on goal in period two compared to Switzerland's 12, Sweden were more productive in the final period, leading the shot count 9-7, but that wasn't enough to eat into the Swiss lead, and the hosts held on for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/hockey/sweden-vBLjQRXp/switzerland-buO3jBAo/?mid=ObK0OJ7d"]a 3-1 victory[/a].[/p][p]The Swiss march on to the Semi-finals, which will be played on 30th May, while Sweden are left to dwell on a regression from last year's bronze medal finish.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/hockey/world/world-championship-2026/"]Follow the Semi-finals of the 2026 World Ice Hockey Championship on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]