2026 IIHF Men’s World Championship Betting Odds, Prediction: Slovenia vs. Canada
After surviving a scare to stay undefeated, Team Canada will face a rested Slovenia squad on Friday in the preliminary round of the 2026 IIHF World Championship.
Team Canada was a heavy favourite against Norway on Thursday before trailing three separate times. It took a third-period comeback for the Canadians to escape with a 6-5 overtime win.
Slovenia, on the other hand, will have an extra day’s rest as they look to bounce back from a 6-0 blowout loss against Sweden on Wednesday,
Canada sits at -5.5 on the puckline, while Slovenia is a +3300 moneyline underdog. The total is set at 7.5 on the World Championship odds. You can stream the game in Canada on TSN.
Slovenia vs. Canada men’s hockey world championship betting odds
Canada is a staple of the top division, but that’s not the case for Slovenia, who are in the top tier for the second straight year. Slovenia’s best finish ever at the World Championship is 13th, which they achieved in 2002, 2005 and 2025.
Of course, the greatest Slovenian player of all-time is recently retired L.A. Kings captain Anze Kopitar. Although not playing at this tournament, the two-time Stanley Cup winner played 51 games across all competitions for the Slovenian senior team, recording 55 points (15G, 40A).
These teams don’t meet much, but they did face off in the preliminary round of last year’s tournament. Canada won 4-0 and outshot Slovenia 44-11.
Canada and Slovenia are at opposite ends of the spectrum on the World Championship futures board. The Canadians are -125 favourites to win gold, while Slovenia is tied with Italy, Hungary and Great Britain for the longest odds at an astronomical +100,000.
Team Slovenia
It wasn’t pretty for Slovenia against Sweden on Wednesday. The Swedes outshot Slovenia 45-16, including 31-7 in the first two periods alone. Goaltender Zan Us kept Slovenia in it, with the team eventually battling to a scoreless third period. Veteran forward Rok Ticar, who plays with Austria’s HC Pustertal, leads Slovenia in tournament scoring with five points (2G, 3A).
It was a tough setback against Sweden and while Slovenia likely won’t make the quarterfinals, they do have a good shot at staying in the top tier of this division for a third straight year. Slovenia opened the tournament with a win over Czechia and they pushed Slovakia to overtime. That should be good enough to avoid relegation if they end the tournament with a victory over winless Italy.
Team Canada
Did Canada have a little too much fun Wednesday night in Switzerland before they played Norway on Thursday? That’s my best guess for how they barely escaped with a 6-5 overtime win. Mark Scheifele was the hero, scoring Canada’s first two goals and the OT winner. Captain Macklin Celebrini assisted on the tying and winning goals and now sits tied for second in tournament scoring with seven points (2G, 5A).
To be fair, Canada controlled large portions of the game against Norway, finishing with a 42-19 shot advantage. Canada’s power play continued to hurt them as they finished just 1-for-5 on Thursday. That brings the Canadians’ power play to very mediocre 2-for-12 (16.7 per cent) in the tournament. Canada needs to figure things out on the man advantage or they could be bounced in the quarterfinals for a second straight year.
World championship prediction: Who will win Slovenia vs. Canada?
Slovenia: 1, Canada: 5