The dream of defending its IIHF World Championship title by Team USA ended on Thursday night. They lost to Team Canada 4–0 in the quarterfinal in Fribourg, Switzerland.

It was a rematch of the Olympic gold medal game. The USA could not score against Canadian goalie Jet Greaves and got eliminated before the semifinals, even after pushing hard in the final period.

Team USA had a disappointing end to their tournament. They came in as defending champions after winning gold last year. Three months after beating Team Canada 2–1 in overtime at the Olympics, they could not repeat that success.

Macklin Celebrini scored first for Canada late in the opening period on the power play with 1:29 left. Earlier, Ryan Lindgren received a major penalty and game misconduct for a head hit on Evan Bouchard, which gave Canada a long power play.

Team USA defended well for most of the first two periods, but they could not score against Greaves, who saved every shot. Dylan Holloway made it worse for the USA by scoring midway through the second period on a rebound from his own shot, netting the second.

In the third period, the USA pushed harder and created chances, but Greaves made big saves and stopped them all night.

“In the third period we played really, really good and their goalie made some incredible saves,” Matthew Tkachuk said after the defeat. “They ultimately were better for most of the game and so deserved to win.”

Team USA head coach Mike Sullivan pulled goalie Devin Cooley with 2:22 left to try for a comeback. But it didn’t work out well. Connor Brown and Sidney Crosby both scored empty-net goals to finish the game. Crosby also scored his first goal of the tournament in this match.

Young Team USA Squad Falls Short Against Experienced Canadian Roster

Team USA's loss showed the experience gap between the two teams. Team Canada had a veteran NHL group with stars like Sidney Crosby, John Tavares, Ryan O'Reilly, and Mark Scheifele. The USA team was younger and less experienced.

Team USA only reached the quarterfinal after beating Austria 4–1. Canada, on the other hand, won all seven group games and entered the knockout stage as a top favorite.

Jet Greaves was the biggest difference between the two teams, with his 34 saves. The loss also stopped Matthew Tkachuk from joining the Triple Gold Club. He had already won two Stanley Cups with the Florida Panthers and Olympic gold earlier this year.

Now, Team USA will pack their bags and go home. On the other hand, Canada has a chance to add one more title to their cabinet. What do you think? Who will win the 2026 IIHF World Championship? Comment down below.

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Written by

Kapil Manghnani

Edited by

Aadesh Dhote