From an international perspective, the duel between Canada and the USA in the quarter-finals of the Ice Hockey World Championship in Zurich and Fribourg stands out.
28.05.2026, 05:01
28.05.2026, 07:28
SDA
It is a rematch of the high-class Olympic final in February, which the Americans won 2:1 after overtime. However, the two World Cup teams have very little in common with their former counterparts. Canada only has Macklin Celebrini and Sidney Crosby, while the USA only has Matthew Tkachuk.
On paper, the Canadians are clear favorites. They were the only team besides Switzerland to win all seven games in the preliminary round, only conceding a point against Norway (6:5 n. V.). The USA, on the other hand, could not hide the fact that, with the exception of Tkachuk, the big names were missing from the squad. The defending champions also had to fear for their quarter-final qualification until the very end due to their 4-2 defeat against Latvia.
Finland last failed to reach the quarter-finals three times
Finland reached the final three times in a row from 2019 to 2022 - the World Cup did not take place in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic - and won gold twice. Most recently, however, the northerners failed three times in the quarter-finals.
Now, with a strong team that has 13 players under contract in North America, they are hoping to make it through to the final weekend against the Czech Republic. The Eastern Europeans are captained by the 40-year-old Roman Cervenka, who is well known in Switzerland.
Unexpected quarter-final
Anyone betting on a quarter-final between Norway and Latvia would have won a lot of money, depending on the stake. The Scandinavians are back in the knockout phase at a World Cup for the first time since 2012 - all three previous quarter-finals have been lost.
Norway finished second in Group B behind Canada, beating Sweden (3:2) and the Czech Republic (4:1), among others. Latvia won bronze at their home World Championship in 2023 and could now reach the semi-finals for the second time.
