The schedule for the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship has been released, being hosted for the first time by Czechia in the Bohemian city of České Budějovice, with defending champions Canada looking to win their fourth Gold medal in five years.

Group A will see the host Czechs facing a tall order, with the two most recent (and only ever) World champions Canada and the United States atop the group, rounded out by Switzerland and Finland. Canada will seek their second straight title, while the U.S. will look to recapture Gold on European soil for the first time since 2019. Czechia will look to build off of their consecutive Bronze medal victories with a raucous home crowd behind them, hopefully building off the Gold medal momentum of their male counterparts this spring in Prague, and looking to match the magic of the Naisleijonat in Espoo five years ago.

In the lower Group will be Japan, Sweden, Germany, and newly-promoted Norway and Hungary, making their tournament returns for the first time since 1997 and 2022, respectively. Look for Japan, Sweden and Germany to likely round out the top three and qualify for the quarterfinals, but whether the Polar Bears can upset Hungary and remain at the Top Division for consecutive years for the first time in three decades should lead to an exciting relegation round.

The tournament schedule is as follows:

The IHLC will almost guarantee to start in Group A, with the winner of the Canada-USA Rivalry Series certainly bringing the title to Czechia; whether they can avoid an upset and keep it past any pre-tournament exhibition games remains to be seen!

Photo Credit: 2024 Women’s World Championship – IIHF – HHOF – IOC