Kazakhstan and Switzerland played their final group-stage games at the 2025 World Junior Championship (WJC). Switzerland secured the victory 3-1 over the Kazaks. Kazakhstan lost their last match 5-4 in overtime, which was a stunning comeback for them, but continue winless. As for Switzerland, they lost their previous game against Sweden 7-5 and had yet to win a game in the tournament as well. For both teams, it was a must-win as the winner of this game would advance to the quarterfinal while the loser will play Germany to avoid relegation.
Game Recap
First Period
About 1:41 into the first period on the power play, Switzerland did not hesitate to set the tone by scoring the first goal of the game as forward Simon Meier set up in the middle for a one-time pass by Eric Schneller (primary assist) and Ludvig Johnson (secondary assist). The Kazaks, however, did not give up, as five minutes later, Kirill Lyapunov received a pass from Assanali Ruslanuly and split the defense to put the puck past Swiss goaltender Christian Kirsch. Beibarys Orazov was credited with the secondary assist.
Related: Guide to the 2025 World Junior Championship
The first period ended in a 1-1 tie, and shots at the end of the first were 10-4 in Switzerland’s favor.
Second Period
The Kazaks took two penalties to begin the second, but Switzerland could not capitalize on any of their power plays during the period. With 2:50 left in the period, Switzerland took the lead 2-1 after forward Robin Antenen had the puck against the left side boards near the blue line and fired a shot past Kazakhstan goaltender Vladimir Nikitin.
Switzerland ended the period on another good note, with a total shot count of 12-4, as Kazakhstan had to move forward in the third.
Third Period
Like the last two periods, Kazakhstan took another penalty to start the period about 7:20 into it, putting Switzerland back on the power play for the sixth time in the game. Then, almost nine minutes in, Switzerland answered on the power play for the second time in the match as Johnson scored on a one-timer goal on a pass from Meier (primary assist) and Schneller (secondary assist), giving him his second point and increasing the Swiss lead to 3-1.
Despite being down 3-1, goaltender Nikitin skated forward out of his crease to make a diving poke check save to prevent a potential three-goal deficit. However, Switzerland won the game and advanced to their 10th quarterfinal in WJC history. Switzerland led the period in shots 12-4, and the total shot count for the game was 35-12.
Switzerland will play the winners of Canada vs USA on Tuesday night (Dec. 31) in the quarterfinal, while Kazakhstan will fight to stay to play in the 2026 WJC and avoid relegation against Germany on Jan. 2.
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