🏆 Who will win the Icon-League title? Our favourites for the Zurich final

The regular season is over, and now the decisive phase of the Icon League begins in Zurich. Six teams are battling for the title in the final tournament, and today it’s all on the line. League position? It only matters to a limited extent now. Much more important is the question: Who comes in with momentum, who is stumbling, and who might actually be better than many think?

To match the final tournament, we have placed the six teams into a pyramid. Not just based on quality, but above all on how strong they currently look and how big their chances of ultimate success seem to be.

Top of the pyramid: FC Berlin City

At the very top for us right now is FC Berlin City. Anything else would be hard to justify.

This team not only brings quality, but above all experience. Aytürk Gecim, Suad Ak, Noah Jones, and Serhat Kot have already won the title together, Maximilian Grünberg won the ring last season with DNA Athletics, and Fouad Aghnima also knows what a championship feels like.

There is also a factor that is often underestimated: Berlin City is a tournament team. When the pressure rises, the Berliners often deliver. Their targeted preparation ahead of the final tournament also shows that this team knows exactly what matters now.

With the league’s top scorer Jones and an extremely well-stocked squad, Berlin City heads to Zurich as the clear favorite in our view.

Right behind them: Two Stripes United and Plyrs United

One level below are Two Stripes United and Plyrs United.

Two Stripes United is certainly not one of the most spectacular teams in the league. They score the fewest goals of all Icon League teams, but at the same time they also concede the fewest among the Final 6 participants. They don’t play attractively, but they play successfully. 

Their chemistry in particular could become a major advantage. The team is almost identical to last season and looks enormously stable defensively. On top of that, Two Stripes is already in the semifinals and recently beat the Fokus Eagles twice.

Plyrs United, on the other hand, follows an approach that no one else in the league uses. The team consistently relies on futsal players, and that style has worked perfectly so far. 

Particularly striking: the goalkeeper is hardly involved in build-up play. While many teams use their keeper as an extra outfield player, Plyrs consistently follows a different plan. Players like Josip Sesar, Muhammet Sözer, and Davud Vehab shape the game and make Plyrs an extremely uncomfortable opponent.

Bottom tier: Fokus Eagles, Wontorriors FC, and SC Bürgeramt

At the bottom of the pyramid are three teams that might be surprising at first glance — though for different reasons.

Despite everything, the Fokus Eagles are probably still the team with the most potential in the league. Andrea Hoxha is considered the best goalkeeper, Emincan Tekin had an outstanding season, and Friede, Küc, Baca, and Wazneh also belong individually to the absolute top level.

Even so, the last few weeks speak against the Eagles. After nine straight wins at the start of the season, they have clearly lost momentum lately. They lost each of their last three games, and there have also been minor frictions within the team. The big question now is: can the Eagles return to their dominance in time?

Wontorriors FC also continues to be underestimated. Hardly anyone would have expected the team to reach the Final Six, but by now they fully deserve to be there. Ian Prescott and Johann von Knebel in particular carry the attack, while Mattia Maggio is having a remarkable season after two meniscus tears.

Now the biggest challenge awaits them right away against the Fokus Eagles — but also an opponent that has looked anything but invincible lately.

And then there is SC Bürgeramt, perhaps the most underestimated team in the entire tournament.

No team relies as consistently on experienced former pros. Marcel Halstenberg is already on eleven goals, Niko Gießelmann even has twelve, and Daniel Brosinski is also one of the league’s most active outfield players when it comes to touches.

But even more impressive is their form: six wins from their last seven games currently make Bürgeramt the in-form team in the Icon League. That run also includes a convincing 9–5 win over upcoming opponent Plyrs United. Even so, Bürgeramt still does not quite feel like a true favorite.

So the situation ahead of Zurich is clear: Berlin City arrives as the top favorite, with Two Stripes United and Plyrs United sitting close behind. And below them are three teams lurking that can produce surprises at any time.

The big question remains: who will end up taking the ring?

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.