2026 IIHF Men’s World Championship Semifinal Odds, Prediction: Finland vs. Canada
Canada’s quest for gold at the 2026 IIHF World Championship continues on Saturday with a semifinal matchup against Finland. Puck drop is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET from Swiss Life Arena in Zurich, Switzerland and the game can be watched on TSN in Canada.
The Canadians built off a perfect record in the preliminary round with a 4-0 shutout victory over Team USA in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The Finns showed similar dominance with a 4-1 victory over Czechia to punch their ticket to the semis.
Canada is a -175 favourite to win on the World Championship odds, with the total pegged at 5.0.
Finland vs. Canada men’s hockey world championship betting odds
These are two heavyweights in the hockey world, with Finland last winning gold in 2022 and Canada winning in 2023. However, they each had disappointing ends to last year’s tournament as both teams lost in the quarterfinals.
This year’s tournament saw Canada top Group B in the preliminary round with six regulation wins and one overtime win. Finland settled for second-place in Group A, posting six regulation wins and a loss. Both teams posted an identical +20 goal differential in the prelim.
Canada holds the upper-hand historically against Finland, but the field has levelled significantly over the last decade. These teams have met in the gold medal game of the World Championship four times in the last 10 years, with Canada winning in 2016 and 2021, while Finland came out on top in 2019 and 2022.
Team Canada has been favoured to win gold all tournament and they remain so entering the semi’s at +100 on the World Championship futures board. Finland offers plenty of value at +350 to win the tournament.
Team Finland
Finland took a 2-0 lead over Czechia in the first period on Thursday and never looked back in the 4-1 win. Sakari Manninen and Lenni Hameenaho each finished with a goal and an assist, while Anton Lundell and Konsta Helenius also scored. Justus Annunen turned aside 25 of 26 shots. Annunen has emerged as Finland’s No. 1 option in net, going 5-0-0-1 with a 1.67 goals-against average and .923 save percentage in the tournament.
Jesse Puljujarvi is surprisingly one of the players pacing the Finns with nine points (4G, 5A), but the biggest boost to the lineup has to be Aleksander Barkov. The three-time Selke Trophy winner missed the entire NHL season with a severe knee injury, but now looks to be at 100 per cent with nine points (2G, 7A) in eight games at the World Championship.
Team Canada
It was a well-earned victory for Canada over the Americans on Thursday, with captain Macklin Celebrini opening the scoring on the power play. Dylan Holloway, Connor Brown and Sidney Crosby also found the back of the net, while Jet Greaves stopped all 34 shots he faced. Greaves has won all six of his starts in the tournament, posting an elite 1.33 GAA and .943 SV.
Celebrini has led the way offensively for Canada in the tournament. The San Jose Sharks’ superstar has 12 points (6G, 6A) in eight games, one point off the tournament lead. Crosby has been the setup man, producing a goal and nine assists, while Ryan O’Reilly has provided crucial secondary scoring with eight points (5G, 3A).
World championship prediction: Who will win Finland vs. Canada?
