Switzerland will once again face Germany at the Ice Hockey World Championships – this time it is more about prestige than sporting success

Germany vs. Switzerland isn't just a classic in football. The comparison with their big neighbor also evokes special emotions in ice hockey. The quarterfinal match at the 2010 World Championship in Mannheim remains a lasting memory. The Swiss lost 1-0, and their frustration erupted in a furious brawl, in which defender Timo Helbling, among others, took on German assistant coach Ernst Höfner. The tough defender later recalled: "It was a huge disappointment; we were so close to winning. It got emotional at the end, and things went haywire."

Sean Simpson was on the bench for the Swiss team at the time, while the German coach was NHL legend Uwe Krupp, who last season tried his luck as a last-minute substitute for HC Lugano . The only remaining member of the Swiss team from that time is Andres Ambühl.

Duels like the one in Mannheim have had a strong impact on the intense rivalry between German and Swiss ice hockey players. For a long time, the Swiss felt slightly superior to the Germans; but the results at the club level in the Champions Hockey League proved otherwise. The Swiss clubs generally struggled to keep up with the high pace that the German teams tended to play.

Today, the two national teams are more or less on equal footing. Switzerland won three World Cup silver medals (2013, 2018, and 2024), while Germany nearly won Olympic gold (2018), coming within seconds of a sensation in the Pyeongchang final. Currently, both national teams have a similar number of NHL players—Switzerland with 11, Germany with 7. Five of them each are competing at the World Championships in Herning.

Before Thursday's clash (starting at 4:20 p.m.), the Germans lead Group B with nine points from three matches. However, they faced easier opponents than the Swiss at the start of the tournament. They recently defeated the Norwegians 5-2 in a bitter match. Harold Kreis, the German national coach with a history of championship success with HC Lugano (2006) and the ZSC Lions (2008) in Switzerland, said on German television: "If we let the puck run, we're also fast. If we do that, we'll have a very good game against Switzerland."

Switzerland versus Germany – these are matches that have often decided the success or failure of the nations at major tournaments in the past. Since that legendary 2010 match in Mannheim, the Swiss have met the Germans seven more times at World Championships or Olympic Games – four times the Swiss have won, and three times their big neighbors.

For example, the Swiss' 3-1 victory in the World Cup quarterfinals in Ostrava a year ago is fondly remembered. The victory saved Patrick Fischer's job as national coach. In the documentary "Road to the Silver Medal," the Zug native says that after the match, he went to his hotel room and wept uncontrollably with relief. Interim president Stefan Schärer was determined to fire Fischer in the event of a defeat.

This time, it's not about a job, but once again about a great deal of prestige. After the 6-1 victory against Hungary and a 4-1 win against Kazakhstan, the Germans left the ice as winners for the third time in a row with a 5-2 victory against Norway. In the match against Norway, Lausanne's Dominik Kahun contributed two assists. Marc Michaelis, who has already played for EV Zug and the SCL Tigers in the National League, also performed outstandingly.

But the Germans are worried about one of their NHL players ahead of their match against Switzerland: Lukas Reichel was injured after a hard hit from Martin Rönnild against Norway. The Chicago Blackhawks forward had to return to the locker room early with a shoulder injury and was taken to the hospital after the match for further evaluation. German sports director Christian Künast told ZDF: "It's not looking good. We have to assume that he won't play the next few games."

The absence is manageable for the Germans because, for once, the match against Switzerland isn't a matter of success or failure. Nevertheless, Reichel's absence is a bitter blow. With one goal and three assists, he was one of the top scorers on the German team.

Switzerland was also missing a key player in the 3-0 win over the USA: ZSC player Christian Marti. The powerful defender had scored the impressive goal to make it 1-0 in the opening match against the world champions from the Czech Republic and was otherwise one of the most noticeable players in Fischer's team. However, Marti returned to training with the team on Wednesday.

Since Kevin Fiala's arrival on Monday, Fischer has had no shortage of strong attacking players. The match between Germany and Switzerland is primarily about establishing the best possible starting position for next Thursday's quarterfinals.

However, because World Cup co-host Denmark will certainly stay in Herning if they qualify for the quarter-finals, it is still difficult to say who will continue the tournament in Denmark and who will have to move to the main venue in Stockholm.