Release from 12.05.2026

Hungary captain Csanád Erdély: “The first World Championship game sets the tone”

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With eleven players from the win2day ICE Hockey League, Hungary will open their World Championship campaign on Saturday in Zurich, Switzerland, against Finland. In their second game, the Magyars will face Austria. Captain Csanád Erdély talks about the preparation, the opening game, and the clash with the ÖEHV team.

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Hungary secured their place in last year’s top-division World Championship with a win over Kazakhstan. This year in Zurich, they will face the USA, hosts Switzerland, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Austria, and Great Britain. In terms of results, the preparation did not go as planned, with just one win in nine test games so far (a 3–2 overtime victory against Poland). A final warm-up game against Canada in Neuchâtel follows on Wednesday. “We used the preparation games to further develop our system for the World Championship. The results didn’t meet our expectations, but the most important thing was that we focused on ourselves. The special teams will be crucial in this tournament, so we’ve been focusing especially on them over the past few days,” said captain Csanád Erdély, one of eleven Hungarian players from the win2day ICE Hockey League. The squad named by head coach Gergely Majoross includes six players from Hydro Fehérvár AV19 and five from FTC-Telekom.

Games against Finland and Austria on the weekend
Hungary will face Finland on Saturday afternoon in their opening game, and Erdély is already looking forward to it: “The first game of every World Championship is really special and sets the tone for the rest of the tournament. That’s why we want to approach the game against Finland with exactly that mindset. I’m convinced that the work we’ve put in over the past four weeks has prepared us well for the start of the tournament.”

Just 24 hours later, on Sunday, Hungary will take on Austria. The two nations met in February at the Three Nations Tournament in Oslo, Norway, where Austria won 4–1. Their last World Championship meeting took place three years ago in Tampere, Finland, when Austria prevailed in a shootout to secure their place in the top division, while Hungary was relegated. “I expect another very close game. Most of us know the Austrian players, and they know us, so there won’t be any surprises. I think two very strong teams will be facing each other. We definitely need to be very disciplined, avoid unnecessary penalties, and try to play most of the game at five-on-five, as that’s one of our strengths,” said Erdély.