Austria, Germany, Belgium and Poland all advanced to the final four of the men’s EuroHockey Indoor Championship in Belgium, earning World Cup spots into the bargain following a tense end to group play in Leuven.

The Germans were the first to make it through, albeit in the strangest way as they lost to Switzerland for the first time in this competition 6-5.

Loris Grandchamp was the hero, flicking in a corner with under two minutes to go to score a famous win for the Swiss.

For Germany, the deficit was small enough to mean they were assured of a place in the semi-finals regardless of what happened between Spain and Austria.

As it happened, reigning champions Austria raced into a 4-1 half-time lead which they extended to 6-2 with 13 minutes remaining.

Spain made a late rally to reduce the gap to 8-6 by the end but they were never close enough to force the win they needed.

Fülöp Losonci top scored with five goals while Fabian Unterkircher netted three as they moved top of Pool A.

In Pool B, all five teams started the day with hopes of the semi-finals and it was Poland who emerged from the pack to join Belgium in the top two.

They started the day in fifth place but two goals each from Grajcan Jarzýnski and Mateusz Hulboj earned them a dramatic 4-3 win over Czechia. This result was enough to move the Poles up to second but they still needed Belgium to avoid a loss against Ukraine to keep them there.

Ukraine started well and built a 2-1 lead at half-time but the red lions turned the tide in the second half with Gaetan Dykmans firing in a hat trick and Mallory Magnant on the double for an 8-3 win.

It means hosts Belgium will now face Germany in the first semi-final at 6.35pm (CET) before Austria take on Poland at 8pm (CET).

The fifth to eighth place playoffs feature Spain against Czechia at 3.45pm (CET) and Portugal versus Switzerland at 5.10pm (CET).

The day finishes at 9.25pm (CET) between Croatia and Ukraine in the ninth and tenth place playoff with both sides confirmed in the relegation spots. Please note this game will not be live-streamed.

** You can watch the action live from Leuven from the men’s EuroHockey Indoor Championship on www.eurohockeytv.org. Note the 9th/10th place playoff will not be broadcast.

** For full match stats, results and tables, go to https://tms.fih.ch/competitions/1548