The Swedish men's curling team, Lag Edin, the reigning Olympic champions, started the Olympics in Cortina with a loss to Italy, 6-7. Despite a weak start, they managed a comeback in the match but could not overcome the Italian lead. Rasmus Wranå returned to the ice just a day after his gold in mixed curling.
Lag Edin, consisting of Niklas Edin, Oskar Eriksson, Christoffer Sundgren, and Rasmus Wranå, is defending their Olympic gold from Beijing 2022. In the opening match against Italy in Cortina on February 11, 2026, they had a tough start. The first Swedish points came only in the fourth end, after Italy led 1-0 after three ends due to Swedish mistakes.
Italy extended to 4-1 in the fifth end with a three-pointer. The Swedes fought back and tied the game later, but Italy secured the win with two points in the penultimate end, ending 7-6.
"Good comeback but a bit shaky start from us. We all four missed a bit," said vice-captain Oskar Eriksson to SVT, pointing to insufficient training time on the ice as a factor. Eriksson added: "If we can pick up in the second half of the next match, there's a good chance."
Rasmus Wranå, who won gold in mixed curling with his sister Isabella the day before, commented: "Disappointing, but if we play like we did in the second half of the match, I think this will go well."
SVT commentator Eva Lund described the start as "so much bad play actually" and noted after the match: "They fought anyway. Passable? Nah, not quite."
This is the fifth Olympics for Lag Edin, who beat Italy 9-3 in Beijing. In the round-robin, they face nine teams and need six wins for the semifinals. The next match is against Great Britain on February 12.
