Switzerland got the early jump on France and won its Olympic men's hockey opener 4-0 at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.
photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / ANDREA CARD
Buoyed by two quick first-period goals, Switzerland opened its 2026 Olympic tournament with a 4-0 win over a hard-working French team on Thursday.
"It was a good, solid performance, and 4-0 is a good start to the tournament," said Swiss forward Sven Andrighetto, the 2025 IIHF Male Player of the Year.
Timo Meier scored twice, and Damien Riat and Janis Moser had singles for Switzerland. The Swiss have only two Olympic bronze medals all-time (1928, 1948). The red-and-white team is better-positioned to get back on the podium than at any previous time in its hockey history.
Legendary Swiss NL goalie Leonardo Genoni – the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship MVP who has led that tournament in GAA and save percentage two years running – made 27 saves for his first Olympic shutout.
"It just speaks volumes for his quality and his preparation, for how professional he is, that he can just seemingly just keep it up year after year," said Moser.
French goalie Antoine Keller, a seventh-round pick of the Washington Capitals in 2023, performed strongly with 39 stops in his Olympic debut.
"We got scored on early, but our reaction after those two goals was pretty good," said France's Charles Bertrand. "We tried to push, but we couldn't get any goals. We gave everything, and now we have to focus on tomorrow [versus Czechia]."
Swiss coach Patrick Fischer can deploy ten active NHLers here in Milan. The Swiss boast a roster very similar to the ones that brought them back-to-back silver medals at the Men's Worlds. They fell 2-0 to the host Czechs in the 2024 final in Prague and 1-0 in overtime to the Americans in the 2025 final in Stockholm.
Switzerland's next game is against Canada on Friday. Taking on Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Cale Makar will be a daunting task.
"We know we have to play 60 minutes the way we started the game off tonight," said Swiss veteran Nino Niederreiter. "Obviously playing Canada tomorrow, it's always a different animal, right? We know we have to play our best tomorrow night and see what the outcome is going to be."
Facing a certified Group A underdog in France, the Swiss hit their targets with William Tell-style efficiency in the early going.
Switzerland capitalized on its first power play just 0:55 in, with French captain Pierre-Edouard Bellemare off for tripping. Keller stopped Philipp Kurashev’s quick shot with his left pad, but Riat, stationed in front, banged the rebound into the gaping cage.
At 3:06, Moser doubled the Swiss lead, rushing in to beat Keller with a short-side wrister from the left faceoff circle. A veteran of five Men's Worlds, the 25-year-old Tampa Bay Lightning blueliner has five goals in 53 NHL games this season.
With three minutes left in the first, Genoni was equal to the challenge when Jordann Perett came calling from the low slot on the rush.
In a scoreless second period, Switzerland remained the better team, but couldn't completely deflate France's balloon even though Les Bleus took three minor penalties.
Early on, Andrighetto, who potted seven goals at last year's Worlds, rang the puck off Keller’s right post. France's Floran Louay had a golden chance to counter when he found himself alone in front of Genoni, but the 31-year-old winger, who plays in Switzerland for HC Lausanne, backhanded the puck high and wide.
In the third period, Meier put the game out of reach at 3-0 at 10:08. Swiss captain Roman Josi looped around Keller's net and found the New Jersey Devils veteran on the doorstep. And with 3:47 left to play, Meier slid the puck through the French goalie from the left side boards to round out the scoring.
"Everybody's important, not just Timo," said Swiss blueliner Jonas Siegenthaler. "But if he can contribute like this, It's huge for us."
The Swiss-dominated crowd sang with jubilation as the final seconds ticked down to victory.
This was just the fourth all-time Olympic meeting between these neighbouring nations. Switzerland won 9-0 in 1988 (Calgary) and lost 4-3 in 1992 (Albertville). The teams tied 3-3 in 2002 (Salt Lake City).
France's Hugo Gallet took a broad historical perspective: "The previous French generation played hard, but they didn’t get the chance to play in the Olympics, so we’re playing for them, too. It’s nice to be here and face the best in the world."
"It was a good, solid performance, and 4-0 is a good start to the tournament," said Swiss forward Sven Andrighetto, the 2025 IIHF Male Player of the Year.
Timo Meier scored twice, and Damien Riat and Janis Moser had singles for Switzerland. The Swiss have only two Olympic bronze medals all-time (1928, 1948). The red-and-white team is better-positioned to get back on the podium than at any previous time in its hockey history.
Legendary Swiss NL goalie Leonardo Genoni – the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship MVP who has led that tournament in GAA and save percentage two years running – made 27 saves for his first Olympic shutout.
"It just speaks volumes for his quality and his preparation, for how professional he is, that he can just seemingly just keep it up year after year," said Moser.
French goalie Antoine Keller, a seventh-round pick of the Washington Capitals in 2023, performed strongly with 39 stops in his Olympic debut.
"We got scored on early, but our reaction after those two goals was pretty good," said France's Charles Bertrand. "We tried to push, but we couldn't get any goals. We gave everything, and now we have to focus on tomorrow [versus Czechia]."
Swiss coach Patrick Fischer can deploy ten active NHLers here in Milan. The Swiss boast a roster very similar to the ones that brought them back-to-back silver medals at the Men's Worlds. They fell 2-0 to the host Czechs in the 2024 final in Prague and 1-0 in overtime to the Americans in the 2025 final in Stockholm.
Switzerland's next game is against Canada on Friday. Taking on Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Cale Makar will be a daunting task.
"We know we have to play 60 minutes the way we started the game off tonight," said Swiss veteran Nino Niederreiter. "Obviously playing Canada tomorrow, it's always a different animal, right? We know we have to play our best tomorrow night and see what the outcome is going to be."
Facing a certified Group A underdog in France, the Swiss hit their targets with William Tell-style efficiency in the early going.
Switzerland capitalized on its first power play just 0:55 in, with French captain Pierre-Edouard Bellemare off for tripping. Keller stopped Philipp Kurashev’s quick shot with his left pad, but Riat, stationed in front, banged the rebound into the gaping cage.
At 3:06, Moser doubled the Swiss lead, rushing in to beat Keller with a short-side wrister from the left faceoff circle. A veteran of five Men's Worlds, the 25-year-old Tampa Bay Lightning blueliner has five goals in 53 NHL games this season.
With three minutes left in the first, Genoni was equal to the challenge when Jordann Perett came calling from the low slot on the rush.
In a scoreless second period, Switzerland remained the better team, but couldn't completely deflate France's balloon even though Les Bleus took three minor penalties.
Early on, Andrighetto, who potted seven goals at last year's Worlds, rang the puck off Keller’s right post. France's Floran Louay had a golden chance to counter when he found himself alone in front of Genoni, but the 31-year-old winger, who plays in Switzerland for HC Lausanne, backhanded the puck high and wide.
In the third period, Meier put the game out of reach at 3-0 at 10:08. Swiss captain Roman Josi looped around Keller's net and found the New Jersey Devils veteran on the doorstep. And with 3:47 left to play, Meier slid the puck through the French goalie from the left side boards to round out the scoring.
"Everybody's important, not just Timo," said Swiss blueliner Jonas Siegenthaler. "But if he can contribute like this, It's huge for us."
The Swiss-dominated crowd sang with jubilation as the final seconds ticked down to victory.
This was just the fourth all-time Olympic meeting between these neighbouring nations. Switzerland won 9-0 in 1988 (Calgary) and lost 4-3 in 1992 (Albertville). The teams tied 3-3 in 2002 (Salt Lake City).
France's Hugo Gallet took a broad historical perspective: "The previous French generation played hard, but they didn’t get the chance to play in the Olympics, so we’re playing for them, too. It’s nice to be here and face the best in the world."
Switzerland vs France - 2026 Men's Olympic Games
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