National team captain Moritz Müller dampened German expectations a few days before the start of the Ice Hockey World Championship.
“Reaching the quarter-finals at a World Cup is something very difficult. Just because we’ve made it many times in recent years doesn’t mean it’s a given,” said the 36-year-old defender for the Kölner Haie on the ZDF “Sportstudio” and added: “Everyone tournament it will be a tough fight again, and this year too.”
Germany has only missed the quarter-finals once in the past six World Cup tournaments – in 2018 under the then national coach Marco Sturm. In 2021, the 2018 Olympic silver medalist was in the semifinals under Sturm’s successor Toni Söderholm. At the presentation of the new national coach Harold Kreis in the spring, DEB President Peter Merten formulated the World Cup quarter-finals and direct Olympic qualification for 2026 as targets for Kreis.
The German team will play in preliminary round group A from Friday in Tampere, Finland, against hosts and defending champions Finland, against Sweden and the USA. The selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation has to play against these top teams in the first three games.
Before the start of the World Cup, there were a number of injury-related cancellations of important top performers in recent years. On Tuesday (7:30 p.m./Sport1 and MagentaSport) there will be a final test against the US team in Munich.
