As at the Olympic Games in Milan, Canada and Finland will face each other in the semi-final at the World Championships in Zurich
Keystone
While Switzerland and Norway contest the first semi-final at the Ice Hockey World Championships in Zurich, Canada and Finland will decide the second finalist among themselves in the top duel on Saturday evening.
The Swiss can look forward to their fifth appearance in a World Championship final in 13 years. Unlike in 2013, 2018, 2024 and last year, however, they do not have to play the later semi-final on Saturday. The afternoon match in Zurich is scheduled almost five hours earlier. This gives them more time to recover ahead of the medal matches on Sunday, which is definitely not a disadvantage. The bronze medal match will take place at 3.30 p.m., with the World Cup final starting at 8.20 p.m.
While the starting position in the first semi-final between Switzerland and Norway, the unbeaten hosts and the surprise team of the tournament, seems clear, the duel between Canada and Finland is much more open. Both teams were largely convincing at this tournament.
Canada marched through the preliminary round undefeated and only had to play Norway in overtime. Led by superstars Sidney Crosby and Macklin Celebrini, the record-breaking world champions will also be looking to sweep Finland aside on their way to their 29th World Championship title, their first since 2023, after their prestigious 4-0 win over Olympic champions USA in the quarter-finals.
But the Finns are also in good shape at this tournament. In the seven group matches, they were only beaten by Switzerland in a close duel. And in the quarter-finals, they gave the Czech Republic no chance with a 4:1 victory.
For the “Suomi”, it would be their first appearance in the final since their fourth World Cup title in 2022, having been eliminated in the quarter-finals in each of the last three years. Three months after losing 3:2 in the Olympic semi-final in Milan (after leading 2:0), the Finnish team led by captain Aleksander Barkov is now looking for revenge against Canada.