Riga –

Germany’s national ice hockey team can make it to the quarter-finals of the World Cup on Monday.

After Latvia’s 2:3 (1:1, 0:1, 1:0) against Finland after extra time, Germany were defeated after 60 minutes against the United States (3:15 pm / Game 1) on Monday. Victory is needed, and Kazakhstan will then have Norway to lose. If this does not happen, the German team will still have to reach the knockout rounds on their own: on Tuesday, Group B will face hosts Latvia.

26-time world champion Canada held its short quarter-final chance with 7:1 (4:0, 2:1, 1:0) against the still uncompetitive and pointless Italy. For the young Canadian, it was his third successive win after three losses at the start of the World Cup. To reach the quarter-finals, Canada will have to hope for help by winning over defending champions Finland on Tuesday.

The Swiss could plan for a knockout round in Group A. The Swiss celebrated their fourth victory in the preliminary round against Belarus with a 6:0 (2:0, 2:0, 2:0). Sweden retained their chance for the quarter-finals against Slovakia in the evening with 3–1 (0–1, 1–0, 2–0). The former world champion’s final opponent in the preliminary round is Russia on Monday.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210530-99-797502/3 (dpa)