Switzerland vs Norway Prediction: Don’t expect many pucks

Prediction for the World Championship 2024 match between Switzerland and Norway which will take place on May 10th. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the team conditions! Several betting options are available.

The Swiss national team has been actively climbing towards the elite of world hockey recently. Every year at the World Championships, they have skillful players with extensive NHL experience playing for them, but they still lose first place in the quarter-final stage. They ended their campaign at the last four World Championships in the first round of the elimination round, so now the Red and White clearly want to improve. Before the start of the 2024 World Cup, they took part in the Czech stage of the Euro Hockey Tour, where they had a tough debut as they lost to Sweden and Finland 1:2 and 1:3, respectively, before beating the Czech Republic 2:1.

Norway is one of the most stable national teams. For the last decade, the Vikings have been coming to the World Championships just to play hockey, as they have enough skill to avoid the fight for survival and don't even dream about the playoffs. At the three previous tournaments, they have always finished in 13th place, and at the 2024 World Cup, this outcome is also very likely. The Red-Blue played several control games at the turn of April and May. First, they beat Denmark twice in overtime - 4:3 and 2:1. Then they beat Latvia in overtime - 1:0, but the next day, they lost to the same Latvians - 0:8. It's important to note that Mats Zuccarello and Patrick Thoresen are expected to play for the Norwegians at the 2024 World Cup.

The Swiss and Norwegian teams are opponents of completely different levels. Patrick Fischer's wards annually demonstrate impressive results at the group stage, beating even the most high-profile opponents, and they must cope with the modest Vikings without any problems. In favor of the first team is also confirmed by the head-to-head statistics, according to which they have beaten the Norwegians by at least three goals in the last three consecutive meetings. The Red Blues are just getting into the tournament through games against top teams in the opening round of the 2024 World Cup, and matches against direct rivals will be next.

In recent years, the confrontation between Switzerland and Norway at the World Championships has been very sparse in goal-scoring events. In the previous five head-to-head meetings, the rivals have combined for only 21 goals (4.20 per game on average). The Vikings have been particularly weak on offense, having managed only five pucks (1.00 average per game) over the given distance. Therefore, we shouldn't expect a goal shootout from their opponents now either.