The major Swiss newspaper Blick calls Sweden the Swiss national hockey team's "bogey team." Even though Sweden hasn't impressed in the World Cup, there is great respect.
The last Swiss championship victory against the Blue and Yellow came in the World Cup in Stockholm, 2013, when it was 3–2 in the group stage.
The teams also met in the World Cup final later in that tournament, a 5–1 Swedish victory. It was the start of a nine-match winning streak for Tre Kronor in championship games against Switzerland and includes another World Cup final victory, after penalties, in Copenhagen in 2018.
The last World Cup match between the countries in 2021 in Riga ended with a crushing 7–0 win for Sweden - despite a major Blue and Yellow blunder with a missed play-off.
Forward Nino Niederreiter tells Blick:
They really haven't played the way they want to in the tournament so far, but they're a very talented team. It's going to be tough and definitely a big challenge for us.
Switzerland has never won World Cup gold and has lost the last two finals, and four finals in total since 2013.
But after seven straight wins in the group stage at home in Zurich, it's time to change that. To start with, the losing streak against Sweden must come to an end.
"What happened before doesn't matter. We can't change it anyway. We're concentrating on this moment and nothing else," Switzerland national team coach Jan Cadieux told Blick.
