switzerland made their u20 debut in 1977 at the a pool championships held in montreal. their first game was an 18–1 loss to the soviet union. switzerland was relegated to the b pool, but were promoted back to pool a after posting a 4–0 record with wins over the netherlands, denmark, italy and france. this began a consistent cycle of relegation and promotion, and switzerland did not win their first a pool game until 1991 when they defeated norway 2–1 to avoid relegation.