World Cham­pi­onship 2025: Quarter-final against Switzer­land – "It will be a cool derby"

With wins over Slovakia, France, Slovenia and Latvia, and the resulting progression to the quarter-finals, Austria's national ice hockey team has written a piece of sporting history. For the first time in 31 years, they are among the world's top 8. The team travelled to Herning, Denmark, on Wednesday for the quarter-final. There, they will face Switzerland on Thursday afternoon at 16:20, live on ORF 1. The team coached by Patrick Fischer is packed with stars from its domestic league and the NHL.

At the ongoing World Championship, they secured 1st place in Group B in Herning with six wins and an overtime defeat in their opener against Czechia (4:5). Austria have five players in their ranks who play in Switzerland, one of Europe's best leagues, and who have already made their mark on this World Championship. Even injuries, such as that sustained by Benjamin Baumgartner in the game against Canada, were dealt with. "Baumi" perfectly sums up the entire team's anticipation of the clash: "It will be a cool derby."

Also Head Coach Roger Bader highlights the emotional aspect of this special clash: "I would be lying if I said it was not special. A game against Switzerland is something special for me, as it is for those players who play in Switzerland." The strains of the journey quickly faded once the team had their first look at Jyske Bank Boxen, the arena where the World Championship is being played in Herning, Peter Schneider said: "Naturally, it is a great experience to see the other arena at the World Championship as well. It is the first time for us. We are simply hugely looking forward to the game. Now it is a case of recovering quickly and going into the game tomorrow fully rested."

And they will be looking to avenge last year's narrow 5:6 defeat at the 2024 World Championship in Prague (CZE).

2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship

9–25 May 2025, Stockholm, Sweden & Herning, Denmark

Quarter-final

Switzerland vs. Austria
Thu, 22 May 2025, Jyske Bank Boxen, 16:20, live on ORF 1

Group stage results:

Latvia vs. Austria 1:6 (0:1,1:2,0:3)
Tue, 20 May 2025, Avicii Arena, 12:20, 4.973
Latvia scorer: Eduards Tralmaks (29.) 
Austria scorers: Dominic Zwerger (18th, 53rd), Benjamin Baumgartner (24th/PP1), Vinzenz Rohrer (26th, 58th/SH1/EN), Thomas Raffl (45th)

Slovenia vs. Austria 2:3 after a penalty shoot-out (1:1,0:0,1:1,0:0,0:1)
Sun, 18 May 2025, Avicii Arena, 16:20, 3.457
Slovenia scorers: Blaž Gregorc (10th/PP1), Robert Sabolič (54th)
Austria scorers: Dominic Zwerger (14th), Brian Lebler (51st) - Lukas Haudum, Dominic Zwerger and Benjamin Baumgartner scored in the penalty shoot-out.

Austria vs. France 5:2 (3:0,0:0,2:2)
Fri, 16th May 2025, Avicii Arena, 16:20, 4.873
Austria scorers: Marco Kasper (1st, 58th/EN), Vinzenz Rohrer (8th), Ramon Schnetzer (16th), Peter Schneider (60th/EN)
France scorers: Jordann Perret (51st/PP1), Pierre-Édouard Bellemare (59th/PP1)

Canada vs. Austria 5:1 (0:1,2:0,3:0)
Thu, 15th May 2025, Avicii Arena, 20:20, 5.259
Canada scorers: Nathan MacKinnon (22nd/PP1, 34th), Travis Konecny (49th), Will Cuylle (52nd), Sidney Crosby (59th)
Austria scorer: Vinzenz Rohrer (12th) 

Austria vs. Slovakia 3:2 after a penalty shoot-out (2:0,0:1,0:1,0:0,1:0)
Mon, 12th May 2025, Avicii Arena, 16:20, 4.375
Austria scorers: Peter Schneider (8th), Marco Kasper (12th) - Lukas Haudum and Peter Schneider scored in the penalty shoot-out.
Slovakia scorers: Samuel Honzek (27th), Matúš Sukeľ (51th) – Martin Chromiak scores in the shootout.

Sweden vs. Austria 4:2 (0:0,1:1,3:1)
Sat, 10 May 2025, Avicii Arena, 16:20, 12.530
Sweden scorers: Mika Zibanejad (34th/PP1, 58th), Jonas Brodin (58th), Alexander Wennberg (59th/EN)
Austria scorers: Benjamin Baumgartner (26th), Marco Kasper (53th) 

Austria vs. Finland 1:2 (1:2,0:0,0:0)
Fri, 09 May 2025, Avicii Arena, 16:20, 6.822
Austria scorer: Bernd Wolf (14th)
Finland scorers: Patrik Puistola (5th), Juuso Pärssinen (8th)

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