By Kevin Snow, European curling writer
There will be no shortage of storylines when the men’s curling competition gets underway at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Feb. 11.
On one hand, you’ve got Scottish sensation Bruce Mouat looking to add to his highlight-reel season with his first Olympic gold medal. Looking to fend him off will be Sweden’s Niklas Edin, the defending gold medallist and seven-time world champion. The longtime rivals will square off in round-robin play on Feb. 12, with an eye to possibly meeting again in the gold medal game on Feb. 21.
Let’s take a closer look at the seven entries from the European region:
GREAT BRITAIN
Skip: Bruce Mouat
Team: Grant Hardie (third), Bobby Lammie (second), Hammy McMillan (lead)
Outlook: After taking home a silver medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Mouat and his Scottish mates will have their sights set firmly on gold in Italy. Based on their season to date, it will be hard to doubt them.
Team Mouat competed in all five Grand Slam events, winning two and advancing to the semifinals in two others. They were a perfect 9-0 in round-robin play at the European Curling Championships before being eliminated by Edin in the semifinals.
It’s hard to bet against Mouat standing atop the podium on Feb. 21.
SWEDEN
Skip: Niklas Edin
Team: Oskar Eriksson (third), Rasmus Wrana (second), Christoffer Sundgren (lead)
Outlook: If Team Mouat wants to get to the top of the mountain, they’ll have to knock off the king. And that man’s name is Niklas Edin. The 40-year-old Edin defeated Mouat to win gold in 2022, adding to his silver (2018) and bronze (2014) medals.
Despite an up-and-down season in five Grand Slams that included just one playoff game, Edin’s experience in the longer international events shouldn’t be overlooked. Edin’s stamina was on full display at the European Curling Championships. After roaring out to a 4-0 start, they won just two of their next five and barely qualified for the playoffs. They went on to defeat Mouat in the semis and took home gold by knocking off Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller in the final.
If anyone can spin his magic in Italy, it will be the wily Edin.
SWITZERLAND
Skip: Yannick Schwaller (third)
Team: Benoît Schwarz-van Berkel (fourth), Sven Michel (second), Pablo Lachat-Couchepin (lead)
Outlook: While Mouat, Edin and Canada’s Brad Jacobs will likely garner much of the attention, it will be hard to overlook Team Schwaller as a legitimate medal threat. Schwaller’s last three Grand Slam events went semifinal loss (KIOTI GSOC Tahoe), championship win (HearingLife Canadian Open) and semifinal loss (Crown Royal Players’ Championship). These were sandwiched around a loss to Edin in the gold medal game at the European Curling Championships.
Currently ranked No. 2 in the world, the battle-tested Schwaller will definitely be part of the medal conversation.
ITALY
Skip: Joël Retornaz
Team: Amos Mosaner (third), Sebastiano Arman (second), Mattia Giovanella (lead)
Outlook: Italy qualified automatically as the host country, but you can be sure that Retornaz and his crew won’t just be happy to be there. Along with Daniel Casper’s United States rink, Retornaz could play the role of disruptor in the Olympic tournament.
Retornaz advanced to the playoffs in four of five Grand Slam events, including a semifinal loss to Mouat in Lake Tahoe. They also fell to Mouat in the European Curling Championships bronze medal game, after getting off to a red-hot 5-1 start to open the round-robin.
Another hot start and home ice advantage could prove dangerous for their opposition.
GERMANY
Skip: Marc Muskatewitz
Team: Benjamin Kapp (third), Felix Messenzehl (second), Johannes Scheuerf (lead)
Outlook: Germany will be making a sixth appearance in men’s curling at the Winter Olympics, and the first since a 10th-place finish in 2014.
It was a season of incremental improvements for Team Muskatewitz, highlighted by a 6-3 record at the European Curling Championships. After starting 1-2, they rattled off wins in five of their next six games. The young German side played in four Grand Slam events and qualified for their lone playoff (a quarterfinal loss to Team Yannick Schwaller) in the HearingLife Canadian Open in December. T
They’ll have a difficult time cracking the top half of the standings, with success being measured more by the additional eyes on the sport back home.
NORWAY
Skip: Magnus Ramsfjell
Team: Martin Sesaker (third), Bendik Ramsfjell (second), Gaute Nepstad (lead)
Outlook: This will be the eighth consecutive Winter Olympics for the Norwegian men, but they haven’t gone home with a medal since winning silver in 2010 in Vancouver.
Magnus Ramsfjell’s rink played in one top-tier Grand Slam of Curling this season, the AMJ Masters, and took home the Tier 2 title at the HearingLife Canadian Open in December with a victory over Switzerland's Team Michael Brunner.
Ramsfjell skipped Norway to a sixth-place finish at the 2025 World Men's Curling Championship with a 7-5 record, after losing to China in the qualification round.
CZECHIA
Skip: Lukas Klima
Team: Marek Cernovsky (third), Martin Jurik (second), Lukas Klipa (lead)
Outlook: These Games will mark the Olympic debut in men's curling for Czechia, qualifying for the tournament with a seventh-place finish at the 2025 World Men's Curling Championship.
Klima, 34, has piloted the team to their last two worlds appearances, along with a 4-5 record at this year’s European Curling Championships that featured wins over Italy (Retornaz) and Norway (Ramsfjell).
They also competed in the Tier 2 portion of two Grand Slams this season, posting a combined record of 6-5.
