GROUP II
SWITZERLAND vs SWEDEN 21:34 (12:14)
H2H: 1-0-8
Top scorers: Lenny Rubin 6/12 (SUI); Eric Johansson 7/9 (SWE)
Goalkeepers: Nikola Portner 8/30, Mathieu Seravalli 2/11 (SUI); Andreas Palicka 20/40 (SWE)
POTM presented by Grundfos: Andreas Palicka (SWE)
- goalkeepers Nikola Portner and Andreas Palicka took the spotlight in the first half, keeping the teams in a tight contest
- Switzerland were in front for 24 minutes, but then Sweden spurred a 6:0 run and left them goalless until the break
- Lenny Rubin and Eric Johansson were leading their sides, netting almost half of their teams’ goals — Johansson also produced Sweden’s turnaround
- a new Swiss dry spell between the 33rd and 43rd minute allowed Sweden to make a more significant break — the scoreline was at 22:14 after Andreas Palicka had just made his 16th save, while still having more than a 50 per cent rate
- Palicka concluded the day with a total of 20 saves at 50 per cent efficiency
- Sweden hit the double-digit lead in the 48th minute, courtesy of Sebastian Karlsson, and had all but assured victory — they celebrated a 13-goal win in the end
Ending on a high
Sweden entered the encounter knowing their semi-final hopes were already over and that their position in the 5/6 placement match was confirmed. Still, the co-hosts were determined to finish their Malmö journey on a positive note and give their home fans one last victory. After a sluggish start, Sweden gradually found their rhythm and pulled clear, closing their main round campaign with a win after a roller-coaster run that also included a heavy defeat to Iceland and a hard-fought draw with Hungary.
The EHF EURO 2022 champions and 2024 bronze medallists will now head to Herning aiming to finish the tournament on a high. It will be only the second time in their long European Championship history that Sweden play the fifth place match. The only previous occasion was in 2008, when they edged Norway 36:24 after overtime.
For Switzerland, the result sealed a 12th place finish — equalling their best-ever performance at the EHF EURO, previously achieved in 2004. After returning to the main round for the first time in over two decades, the Swiss produced a series of strong performances, including a draw with the Faroe Islands, a win over Montenegro and a defeat against Slovenia in the group phase, as well as hard-fought matches in the main round — draw against Hungary, defeat against Croatia and Sweden and a point against Iceland — underlining Andy Schmid’s progress on the continental stage.