Switzerland cries bitter tears: Decades of suffering end: USA win dramatic World Cup final

Switzerland cries bitter tears. Decades of suffering end: USA win dramatic World Cup final. 25.05.2025, 23:15

The USA are ice hockey world champions. In a dramatic final, Switzerland is defeated in overtime. In regular time, the US team was frustrated by the Swiss goalie.

The USA ended its decade-long drought in a thriller, winning its third Ice Hockey World Championship title. The Americans prevailed 1-0 in overtime in the hard-fought and thrilling final in Stockholm against Switzerland, who suffered their second consecutive final defeat and are still waiting for their first gold medal at a World Championship.

Tage Thompson shot head coach Ryan Warsofsky's US team to victory after 2:02 minutes of overtime in front of 12,530 spectators at the Globen. Swiss goalkeeper Leonardo Genoni had previously pulled off numerous brilliant saves to save his team into overtime. The last time the USA won World Cup gold was in 1960, a tournament held 65 years ago as part of the Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley. Since then, the United States has finished third seven times – most recently in 2021. Independent of the Olympics, the last time the USA competed for World Cup gold in a final was 75 years ago, in London 1950.

After four silver medals and 364 days after the bitter final defeat in Prague against hosts Czech Republic at the last World Championship, the Swiss suffered another bitter final defeat. The crowning moment of their idol Andres Ambühl's career thus failed to materialize. For the 41-year-old, his 151st World Championship match was the last of his career.

"Our goalkeeper was there for us"

The USA struggled somewhat, especially in the preliminary round, but followed up with decisive victories over Olympic champions Finland (5-2) and hosts Sweden (6-2) in the knockout phase. Switzerland virtually swept the tournament; after a 3-0 win against the USA in the group stage, Ambühl and Co. also kept a clean sheet in the quarterfinals and semifinals against Austria (6-0) and Denmark (7-0).

The nerves were evident in both the Swiss and the Americans in the final. Towards the end of the first period, however, the USA took control. Genoni, who had equaled Czech Jiri Holecek's 47-year-old clean sheet record after the semifinals, made several brilliant saves. "Our goalkeeper was there for us," Swiss Timo Meier praised his 37-year-old goalie on ProSieben. "We have to do a better job now." The goalie was also the focus in the second period, however, when he saved a penalty shot from Conor Garland (26th minute). Genoni continued to demoralize the Americans.

Sweden destroys Denmark's hopes

In overtime, Thompson's moment of glory came in a three-on-three match, leaving Genoni with no chance to defend with a cleverly concealed shot. His much-celebrated goal decided the 88th Ice Hockey World Championship. Bitter tears flowed from the Swiss players and fans.

In the third-place match at their home tournament, the Swedes secured the bronze medal after a 6-2 (0-0, 3-0, 3-2) victory against co-hosts Denmark. The Danes, who had sensationally defeated Canada in the quarterfinals, missed out on their first World Cup medal. The German team was eliminated in the preliminary round for the first time since 2018.