The 89th IIHF World Championship begins on 15 May in Zurich and Fribourg. It will be a special tournament for Switzerland, as it will be the first time it has hosted a home World Championship since 2009. What’s more, after winning two silver medals in 2024 and 2025, national coach Jan Cadieux’s team can expect to win a precious metal again this year.
On Monday 4 May, the SIHF will announce its fourth World Championship squad. The players from the two playoff finalists Fribourg-Gottéron and HC Davos are now also included. As a result, some of the current players will have to make way after the third week of preparation – including a quartet of EVZ players. Defenceman Tobias Geisser and forwards Sven Senteler, Gregory Hofmann and Fabrice Herzog (who is moving to the SCRJ Lakers) are no longer in the national team squad.
Leonardo Genoni is still part of the team. Together with Reto Berra and Sandro Aeschlimann, the Zug goalie will form the goalkeeping trio at the home World Championship. Genoni once again proved his worth in the Nati goal at the weekend. As part of the Fortuna Hockey Games, he celebrated a shotout in Sunday’s final game against the Czech Republic in a 1-0 win on penalties.
SWISS WORLD CUP PREPARATION
The Swiss World Championship preparation focussing on the five EVZ players Leonardo Genoni, Tobias Geisser, Gregory Hofmann, Sven Senteler and Fabrice Herzog.
16 April: Slovakia – Switzerland 3:1 (Genoni in goal, Geisser, Hofmann, Herzog, Senteler in the line-up)
17 April: Slovakia – Switzerland 3:5 (Herzog with two goals; Geisser, Hofmann, Senteler also in the line-up)
23 April: Switzerland – Hungary 6:1 (Herzog and Senteler with one goal each; Geisser and Hofmann also in the line-up)
24 April:Switzerland – Hungary 6:1 (Herzog and Senteler with one goal each; Geisser and Hofmann also in the line-up).April: Switzerland – Hungary 6:1 (Herzog, Senteler, Hofmann in the line-up)
30 April: Switzerland – Sweden 1:8 (Genoni in goal, Geisser (with goal), Herzog, Hofmann in the line-up)
2 May: Switzerland – Finland 3:5 (Geisser, Hofmann, Senteler in the line-up)
3 May: Switzerland – Czech Republic 1:0 n.p. (Genoni in goal, Geisser, Hofmann, Herzog in the line-up)
Genoni’s World Championship preparation now enters its final week. At the Beijer Hockey Games, Switzerland will face Finland (7 May 2026, 15:00), Sweden (9 May 2026, 16:00) and the Czech Republic (10 May 2026, 12:00) in the Catena Arena in Ängelholm.
