Zurich, January 6, 2024
Switzerland Eyes Handball Glory at Yellow Cup, Prepping for European Championship
Table of Contents
The Swiss national handball team aims to fine-tune its strategy at the Yellow Cup before heading to the European Championship in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.
- The Yellow Cup, a key preparation tournament, began in 1972 and now features only national teams since 1999.
- Switzerland has won the Yellow Cup seven times, including a recent three-peat, and is looking for another strong showing.
- The team welcomes back captain Nikola Portner after a doping suspension and hopes to see a full return from Manuel Zehnder, recovering from a serious knee injury.
- Ukraine, Bahrain, and North Macedonia will challenge the Swiss team in the upcoming tournament.
Switzerland enters the 2024 Yellow Cup with a rich history in the tournament, having secured the championship seven times since national teams began competing in 1999. What is the significance of the Yellow Cup for Switzerland? It serves as a crucial warm-up for major international competitions, with the men’s World or European Championships consistently starting in January.
A History of Success
The Yellow Cup originated in 1972, marking the tenth anniversary of Yellow Winterthur. Initially, it was an international club tournament, but the format shifted in 1999 to exclusively feature national teams. Switzerland’s dominance is evident in their seven victories, most recently achieving a third consecutive win in 2024. Last year, the team finished as runners-up to the Netherlands. Prior to that, they celebrated triumphs in 1982 and 1988.
Upcoming Challenges
The Swiss team faces a challenging lineup at this year’s Yellow Cup, going head-to-head with Ukraine, Bahrain, and North Macedonia. The matches will be played with the first and third games scheduled for a 6 p.m. start, and the second at 8:15 p.m. Both Ukraine and North Macedonia have also qualified for the European Championship finals, which begin on January 15th in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.
Head-to-Head Records
Switzerland boasts a positive record against Ukraine, with seven wins, one draw, and four losses in twelve encounters. Their most recent match, at the Yellow Cup in early January 2020, resulted in a decisive 32:22 victory for Switzerland. The upcoming duel against Bahrain will be the first between the two nations. Historically, North Macedonia has proven to be a formidable opponent, with Switzerland losing the last seven games against them. At the European Championship finals two years ago, they suffered a narrow 27:29 defeat against North Macedonia in the final preliminary round game.
Key Players and Returnees
National coach Andy Schmid has selected a squad of two goalkeepers and 17 outfield players for the Yellow Cup, which will be trimmed to one player for the European Championships. Ten players currently compete professionally abroad, with nine in Germany and one in France. A notable returnee is captain Nikola Portner, who is eligible to play again after serving a doping ban. Traces of methamphetamines were detected in the 32-year-old in March 2024, leading to a 21-month ban, retroactive from March 10, 2024, to December 10, 2025. While the German handball league lifted the suspension in June 2024, the national doping agency appealed to the international sports tribunal CAS, ultimately upholding the ban.
Another key player making a comeback is Manuel Zehnder, the top scorer in the 2023/24 Bundesliga season. He is set to move from Magdeburg to GOG Gudme in Denmark next season. Zehnder sustained a severe knee injury – a torn cruciate ligament, medial ligament, and meniscus – at last year’s Yellow Cup and is currently working his way back to full fitness. The youngest member of the squad is 19-year-old Niclas Mierzwa, a left winger who ranks third in the current NLA top scorer list.
Tie-Breaking Procedure
The tournament format involves each of the four teams playing each other once. In the event of a tie in points, the determining factor will be the overall goal difference across all games, rather than the head-to-head results between tied teams.
