The tournament 15th seeds claimed an upset victory with their 2-1 success at the Squash On Fire venue, and have gone through to the knockout stage as runners-up in Pool A.

Their victory is particularly impressive as it came without their number one player, Nici Müller, who had to return home on the eve of the event after the death of his mother.

Dimitri Steinmann put the Swiss ahead with a win over US champion Todd Harrity, but the 12th-seeded hosts bounced back, as Andrew Douglas saw off Robin Gadola.

Swiss number two Reiko Peter won the contest for his country, however, defeating Chris Hanson.

"This really belongs to Nici and Bettina, his mum," Switzerland coach Pascal Bruhin said.

"We wanted to do it for him, he was in our team for 13 years." 

Defeat meant the US finished last in the three-team group, which had already been won by defending champions Egypt.

They must now enter the playoffs to determine 13th to 23rd place.

In Pool D, fourth seeds New Zealand recovered from their surprise defeat to Scotland with a 3-0 win over Singapore.

That was enough to send the Kiwis through as runners-up, with the Scots winning the group by beating Ireland 3-0.

England topped Pool B after a 3-0 triumph over Nigeria, with Wales joining them in the knockout stage after edging Canada 2-1.

France's 3-0 win over South Korea confirmed them as Pool C winners, with Malaysia second after a 2-1 success over Colombia.

In Pool E, Spain's 3-0 win over Argentina saw them top the pile, as Germany progressed in second by defeating South Africa by the same margin.

Hong Kong saw off Kuwait 3-0 to head Pool F and were joined in going through by Australia, who beat Jamaica 3-0.

Group winners Egypt, England, Scotland and France have all done enough to earn direct places in the quarter-finals, with the other eight qualified countries contesting playoffs tomorrow for the right to join them.

Malaysia play Germany, Hong Kong will meet Wales, Switzerland play Spain and Australia take on New Zealand.