Gold: Sweden
Silver: Canada
Wall of Fans
A unique experience
The Men's World Curling Championships will take place in Switzerland from March 30 to April 7, 2024.
On the first 7 days, everyone plays against everyone else in the round robin. With the exception of March 30 (2 matches and opening ceremony), there will be 3 rounds of 4 matches each day, at 9 am, 2 pm and 7 pm. The six best teams advance to the knockout round, consisting of playoffs and semi-finals on April 6.
The battle for gold, silver and bronze will take place on 7 April when the top 4 teams meet in the final and bronze final.
The best in the world: 13 teams from 4 continents
Switzerland has qualified as the organizer. The other 12 teams had to fight for their ticket to the World Championships in Schaffhausen. The non-Europeans at the Pan Continentals in Kelowna/Canada, the Europeans at the European Championships in Aberdeen/Scotland.
The team from New Zealand qualified again after 2023, making Oceania the fourth continent to be represented at the World Championships in Schaffhausen alongside Europe, America and Asia.
Compared to the 2023 World Cup in Ottawa, the Netherlands have returned to the table at the expense of Turkey. Otherwise, the same countries are taking part in Schaffhausen as at the last World Cup. These are the participants:
SCOTLAND
The team from the curling motherland is the top favorite. In the past two years, there was no way around 29-year-old skip Bruce Mouat. Scotland are the defending champions and recent 2-time European champions
SWEDEN
The Olympic champions from Beijing are also top favorites. Curling legend Niklas Edin's team faced Scotland in the European Championship final in November and only lost in the extra end. Edin is record world champion with 6 titles!
CANADA
Brad Gushue represents the record world champion country (36 world titles!) After winning his 6th Canadian championship title (record!), he is aiming for his 2nd world title after 2017. Gushue, Edin, Shuster, 3 Olympic champions will be competing in Schaffhausen.
ITALY
The secret favorites play their 10th World Cup. Skip Joel Retornaz's team is stronger than ever before. They won all their games in the round robin at the European Championships, but still only came fourth. 1x World Championship bronze so far, there's more to come.
SWITZERLAND
The team led by Yannick Schwaller has been playing together for two years and has won a medal at every World Cup and European Championship so far. The home World Championships could be a career highlight, with the support of the many Swiss fans.
SOUTH KOREA
Medal candidate! Jong-Duk Park's team was the only one to beat the Canadians in the preliminary round of the Pan Continentals and went on to reach the final, where the Canadians took revenge.
USA
John Shuster, 2018 Olympic champion, prevailed over his rival Corey Dropkin at the US Championships. Bitter for Dropkin, as he had secured the US federation's participation in the World Cup in November.
GERMANY
Skip Marc Muskatewitz stood in the shadow of Sixten Totzek for 5 years. Now the 28-year-old is celebrating his World Championship comeback, beating Totzek at the German Championships. The Baden-Baden native almost has a home game in Schaffhausen.
JAPAN
Two "old acquaintances": Tetsuro Shimizu and Shinya Abe (43 years old!), who lost the bronze medal match against Switzerland 5:6 in the extra end at the 2019 World Cup, prevailed against the Yanagisawa team (WC-7.2023)
NORWAY
Norway has already won 18 World Championship medals, 4x gold (once more than the Swiss men). Magnus Ramsfjell, son of 3-time world champion Eigil, is playing his 4th World Championship. With strong 10:3 victories, he finished fifth in 2023.
NETHERLANDS
Skip Wouter Gösgens is taking part in the World Championships for the sixth time. The 25-year-old was relegated from the European Championship A group in 2021. After regaining promotion in 2022, his team qualified for the World Cup by finishing 7th in the European Championship.
NEW ZEALAND
The Kiwis finished last at the 2023 World Cup. Now the team around skip Anton Hood is making its second attempt at the World Championships. Fifth in the Pan Continentals with 4:3 victories (the most important: the 8:6 against Australia!)
CZECHIA
2 wins in the round robin of the European Championships were enough for skip Lukas Klima to secure 8th place ahead of Turkey and thus the last World Championship place. The Czechs are unpredictable: they lost to Scotland by a wafer-thin margin of 5:6.
Spirit of Curling
We all know that: Curling is much more than just a game or a sport. Curling thrives on a fundamental mindset that is cultivated by all players, it is literally inspired by the spirit of curling.
The Spirit of Curling goes beyond the rules and proclaims the true essence of our sport; here virtue is at the center and is both the essence and drive of all curlers. Not just during the game, but as an omnipresent attitude and way of life.
The principles and values of the Spirit of Curling could not be more modern: respect and decency, sportsmanship and fairness, tolerance and solidarity, camaraderie and friendship.
In order to show how this ethos is reflected in concrete terms, a kind of charter was drawn up early on, a kind of "etiquette for curlers", which is commonly understood as the Spirit of Curling. It goes without saying that a curler follows this code. And to further preserve and promote the tradition, this Spirit of Curling is printed here - ready to be taken out and shared. Because that's what a curler stands for and that's why we live and love our sport!"
Introduction to Curling
A comprehensive (and light-hearted) guide to the sport of curling. How it's played, scored, won and why curlers shout so loud!