Men’s semi-finals have officially kicked off in the 2026 Champions Cup. Storvreta IBK won the first match against Tatran while Falun were victorious in Czechia when they met Florbal MB. Second semi-final matches are played during this week and we will find out which teams continue to the final.
Storvreta IBK v Tatran Stresovice
2020 Men’s Champions Cup winners Storvreta started things off at home in Game 1 of their Semi-Final series against 2024 champions from Czechia, Tatran Stresovice. With both sides in strong form domestically it felt like a big, heavyweight clash of two major Floorball teams. Storvreta have been one of the hottest teams in the world, with only 1 loss so far this season, and have the two highest points scorers in the SSL on their side in Sakarias Ulriksson and Gabriel Kohonen. Tatran were also in a rich vein of form coming into the contest sitting third in the Czech Livesport Superliga and with only 2 losses on the season so far.
Kicking things off with a bang in the first period with a total of 5 goals and a showing of force from the hosts, as Storvreta got 2 goals either side of a Patrik Sebek strike to make the home crowd very happy after the first break of 20 minutes with a 4-1 lead. Momentum quickly shift towards the Czech visitors however in the 2nd period which became more physical and tactical. Jonas Kreysa and Matej Havlas getting the goals for Tatran as the defence held their own, helping set up a potential blockbuster of a third period with a 4-3 lead for Storvreta. Whatever momentum Tatran had however was quickly snuffed out by the talents of the Swedish champions with Filip Eriksson providing 5 assists on the night and former Tatran player Filip Langer contributing with 4 goals. 5 unanswered goals flew into the Tatran net and no answers could come from the Czech visitors for the Storvreta onslaught in the third. The hosts finishing up with a 9-3 victory and a superb show of dominance and skill in the third period.
Captain for Tatran, Marek Benes was looking forward to Game 2 and how the crowd can change things in the post-game interview despite some challenges for his Tatran side:
“We will have a huge crowd behind us (at home for game 2). I think we were close today, until the third period and the home spectators can give us an advantage next week.”
Storvreta Captain and former Tatran player Ondrej Nemecek remarked on a special game for him personally:
“I was really looking forward to this game and the next one too (in Prague). I’m really glad we won and have that advantage for the second game. I think we started pretty well and played really well. Not as sharp in the second period but in the third we got the lead back and deserved to win. The win is what counts and also that Filip (Langer) scored 4 goals, that’s really nice”
Game 2 takes place at UNYP Arena in Prague on Wednesday, 26th November where Storvreta will head to Czechia with a win knowing all they need is a draw against hosts Tatran to progress to the final in January.
Florbal MB v IBF Falun
In a highly anticipated rematch from the 2023 Champions Cup semi-finals, where IBF Falun triumphed over Florbal MB with a commanding 6-1 victory, the two teams clashed once again in Game 1 of the 2026 semi-final series.
The action kicked off early in the first period as Jakub Varecha found the back of the net with a power-play goal, setting the tone for an intense encounter. Simon Stransky quickly followed suit, doubling the hosts’ lead at 6:32, leaving the visitors in a challenging position. However, the tide began to turn as Oliver Sandberg and Jonathan Berglund struck back for Falun, leveling the score at 2-2 by the 10:07 mark. Calle Inglander and Emil Lundmark added to the visitors’ tally, bringing the score to 2-4 in the end of the first period.
As the second period unfolded, the momentum started to shift. Michal Sladek scored his first in the game and Simon Stransky his second and so Florbal MB was just one goal away from Falun. Falun got a better ending for the second period as Emil Ruud scored and took visitors back to their two-goal lead.
The relentless pressure from the visitors proved too much to handle for the hosts as Malte Lundmark capitalized on a power play at 52:13, pushing the score to 4-7. Ahmad Dakhallah further extended the lead at 54:43. Despite a timeout called by Florbal MB at 57:59 to regroup, the final score settled at 5-10 in favor of Falun.
Florbal MB player Martin Tokos knows Falun very well as he has played there before. In the post-match interview he said they started well but that they led Falun score “easy goals” although they had studied the team: “We talk about how they score, we saw a lot of videos and exactly what we saw they did so we need to maybe check again and be better in the defence because for them it looks really easy how they score“.
In the post-match interview Emil Johansson praised Tokos and was expecting for a tough second semi-final: “I hope it’s going to be bigger and better at home. At home field we are quite strong but you know they are is going to come and want to win that game so it’s going to be tough game but we are looking forward to it.“
Game 2 takes place at UW–Tech Arena in Falun on Thursday 27th November. Draw is enough for Falun to qualify for the final but Florbal MB need a win in regular time to take the match to overtime.
