Canada’s gold medal streak at U-18 Men’s World Championship ends after quarterfinal loss to Sweden

Canada has been eliminated from the IIHF U-18 Men’s World Championship in Slovakia, falling 4-2 in a quarterfinal loss to Sweden on Wednesday.

With the loss, Canada has failed to win gold in both major U-18 competitions – including the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in August – in which they participated in for the first time since 2019. Canada took home bronze at the Hlinka to end a three-year gold streak at that event.

Canada won gold at both the 2024 and 2025 U-18 World Championships, which included a 7-0 victory over Sweden a year ago.

Canada has not won a gold medal in any IIHF event in 2025-26, but did sweep the top two spots at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge in November – an event hosted and operated by Hockey Canada. Canada will look to finish the year on a high note at the upcoming IIHF Men’s World Hockey Championship in May.

Sweden, meanwhile, will have a chance to win a medal for the eighth straight tournament after taking home silver in Frisco, Texas last year. The Swedes took home gold for the first time in 2019, and doubled it up in Germany in 2022.

Canada never led the game against Sweden, falling 2-0 early before battling back and tying the game in the second period. A pair of goals from Nils Bartholdsson in the third period ultimately sunk Canada, which last failed to register for the quarterfinal in 2022.

Canada entered the game with 22 goals in four games, trailing just the United States (24). Canada also boasted the second-best power-play percentage at 38.46 and had the best team save percentage of .971. Canada’s lone loss in the tournament prior to today was a 2-1 loss to Slovakia.

Czechia also advanced to the final four after beating Finland 2-1 earlier in the day, with USA, Latvia, Slovakia and Denmark set to battle for the final two semifinal spots.