2026 IIHF Men’s World Championship Odds, Prediction: Canada vs. Norway
Team Canada will look to stay undefeated at the 2026 IIHF World Championship when they face 2-0-0-1 Norway on Thursday morning in Switzerland.
The Canadians have opened the tournament with a trio of wins, downing Sweden, Italy and Denmark by a combined score of 16-4.
Team Norway has also impressed through three games. After a 2-1 loss against Slovakia, the Norwegians have rallied with back-to-back 4-0 wins over Slovenia and Italy.
You can watch the game in Canada at 10:20 a.m. ET on TSN.
Canada is a -10,000 favourite to win on the World Championship odds, with the puckline set at 4.5. Norway enters as +3000 moneyline underdogs, while the total is set at 6.5.
Canada vs. Norway men’s hockey world championship betting odds
Canada is the most successful team in tournament history in terms of total medals and gold medals, but you can’t overlook Norway’s ascension over the last 20 years. While Norway has never medalled, they’ve played in the top division every year since 2006.
Keeping that in mind, the head-to-head record is skewed in Canada’s favour. In 84 all-time meetings between the national teams, Canada has recorded 75 wins, Norway has five wins and there have been four draws. Team Canada has outscored Norway 487-142 in that span for a +345 goal differential.
These teams last met in the preliminary round of the 2024 tournament in Prague. Canada won that game 4-1, with Dylan Cozens scoring a third-period marker. Cozens is back in the tournament this year, producing a goal and an assist through three games.
After losing to Denmark at last year’s tournament, Canada received another scare on Monday as they entered the third period in a scoreless tie. Sidney Crosby led the way in the final frame, matching a tournament record with four assists in a 5-1 Canadian win. Crosby (5A), captain Macklin Celebrini (2G, 3A) and Porter Martone (1G, 4A) all share the tournament lead in scoring at five points.
Canada’s elite offence has led the way through three games. The Canadians lead the tournament in goals (16), shots on goal (105) and they are second in shooting percentage (15.24 per cent). Surprisingly, the offence hasn’t translated on the power play, where Canada has capitalized on just one of seven opportunities (14.3 per cent). They’ll get their toughest special teams test yet against a Norway team that is a perfect 11-for-11 on the penalty kill in this tournament.
Team Norway
Back-to-back 4-0 victories have Norway currently occupying a quarterfinal spot, with their +7 goal differential ranking second in Group B and third in the tournament overall. Jacob Berglund leads the team with three goals, but it’s been scoring by committee as six players have tallied goals, while Berglund, Tinus Luc Koblar (2G, 1A) and Havard Ostrem Salsten (3A) share the team lead with three points apiece.
There’s still a lot of work to be done for Norway as they close out the tournament with tough matchups against Canada, Sweden, Czechia and Denmark. And as good as Norway’s penalty kill has been, they have really struggled on the power play with just one goal on nine opportunities (11.1 per cent). They’ll need to find a way to beat Canada’s penalty kill, which is 6-for-7 in the tournament (85.7 per cent). It’s not necessarily winning this game that’s most important for Norway, they will be looking to keep it close and preserve their goal differential as best as they can.
World championship prediction: Who will win Canada vs. Norway?
