Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games: What do Team GB's curling team need to qualify for semi-finals? Permutations explained
Updated 19/02/2026 at 11:04 GMT
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Team GB faced anxious waits to find out whether their men's and women's teams would reach the curling semi-finals at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. And the men ultimately had Switzerland to thank, as they defeated Italy - ensuring Bruce Mouat's team remained in medal contention. As for the women's side, an anxious afternoon of action awaits.
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Great Britain came into the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games with high hopes of two medals, with the women winning gold and men silver in Beijing four years ago.
With Bruce Mouat's rink having survived an almighty scare and secured their place in the semi-finals - thanks to Switzerland's win over Italy on Thursday - attention now turns to the women.
Rebecca Morrison, Jen Dodds, Sophie Jackson and Sophie Sinclair are looking at a hefty set of permutations in their hope of reaching the semi-finals.
The top four teams in the round-robin standings will qualify for the finals, as the best-performing teams battle for a place on the podium.
What do Team GB's women need to reach semi-final
There is one simple task laid out for Team GB at 13:00 on Thursday - beat Italy.
If they fail to do so, the permutations are out of the window. Defeat to the hosts would see their semi-final hopes dashed, and the guarantee of the gold medal finding a new home.
But if they do pick up victory, well that is where things start to get interesting.
Sweden and Switzerland have already qualified for the knockouts and, ahead of the final round of matches, Canada, South Korea and Team USA hold better records (5-3) than the Brits (4-4).
Canada face South Korea in a huge final match, with the victor guaranteed entry to the semi-finals.
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Women's round robin standings
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And should Team GB come through against Italy, they will be relying on already-qualified Switzerland to beat the US.
That scenario would see the Brits and the US level on five wins from their nine round-robin games. And in the event of a tie between the two teams, Team GB would emerge favourably - as explained below.
In the event Team GB beat Italy, Team USA lose to Switzerland and Canada lose to South Korea - there would be a three-way tie for the semi-final spot. Fortunately for the Brits, they would be the recipients.
What happens if the teams are tied?
Who advances will then be decided by head-to-head results, meaning that the team that won their game against the other gets the higher ranking.
Team GB beat Team USA and Canada in the round robin, making for a favourable head-to-head outlook.
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That means if they happen to be tied with either of the two teams for a place in the quarter-final, the Brits will prevail.
In the event Team GB, South Korea and Team USA are in a three-way tie for the final semi-final spot, things are complicated slightly, due to their mixed head-to-head results against one another.
GB lost to South Korea, but South Korea were defeated by USA. And with the Brits defeating the Americans, it is less-than-straightforward.
Should it come to it, the final measure used to determine semi-finalists is the draw shot challenge (DSC). This is an accuracy test that teams do before each game to determine which team gets the choice of the hammer - the closer to the button, the lower the score, and the lower the score, the better!
Team GB's women hold a favourable DSC heading into the final round of fixtures.
How are the semi-finals decided?
It will be a tense, overnight wait for the reigning champions, but should their qualification be guaranteed, they will face either Switzerland or Canada.
First place will play fourth place, while second place will take on third place. The winners will advance to the gold medal match, while the losers battle for bronze.
On the men's side, Team GB will face the undefeated Switzerland at 18:00 on Thursday - live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Watch every event of Milano Cortina 2026 live on discovery+. Available across all subscription plans, starting at £3.99.
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