The schedule for the 2025 IIHF World Championship was today announced for the tournament taking place in Stockholm, Sweden and Herning, Denmark, with both hosts looking to repeat the luck of 2024’s hosts Czechia by capturing World Championship Gold on home ice.

Group A, which meets in the Swedish capital of Stockholm, sees the hosts and 2024 Bronze medalists paired with their fierce border rivals Finland, and fellow national powerhouses Canada, atop the group, with one of these three almost guaranteed to top the group by 20 May. The middle of the pack will likely see Slovakia and Latvia duking it out for the final quarterfinal spot, while the fight to avoid relegation should fall to France, Austria or recently-promoted Slovenia.

Group B, which will play in Herning, sees last year’s finalists Czechia and Switzerland paired against each other (in fact, on the opening night of the tournament), in a stacked group also including the likes of the hosts, the United States and Germany. The lower ranked squads of Norway, Kazakhstan and promoted Hungary will be the ones scrapping for a spot at the 2026 tournament in Switzerland, hoping to cause a few upsets along the way.

The tournament schedule is as follows:

Who holds the IHLC by next May is an interesting question for this season in particular, as while it has a good chance of coming through the Euro Hockey Tour, if Finland or Sweden escapes February’s leg of the tour with the IHLC, that means the belt will make its way to North America for the inaugural Four Nations Face-Off, meaning Canada or Team USA may bring the title to Scandinavia. Should be an exciting race to May 2025!

Photo Credit: 2023 World Championship – IIHF – HHOF – IOC