Updated Hockey World Championship 2026 Bracket, Semifinals Schedule After Quarterfinal Results

The 2026 IIHF World Hockey Championship knockout stage began Thursday with the remaining eight teams in the tournament playing their quarterfinal games.

Canada and Finland were the first teams to punch their tickets to the semifinals, beating the United States and Czechia, respectively.

In the second set of quarterfinal contests, Sweden will face Switzerland and Latvia will lock horns with Norway to determine the rest of the semifinal field.

Here is a complete look at Thursday's quarterfinal results, along with a look ahead at the semis.

*IIHF World Hockey Championship bracket courtesy of TSN on Instagram.

Quarterfinal Results/Schedule

Canada def. USA, 4-0

Finland def. Czechia, 4-1

Sweden vs. Switzerland, 2:20 p.m. ET

Latvia vs. Norway, 2:20 p.m. ET

Semifinal Schedule

Canada/TBD vs. Finland/TBD (Saturday, May 30 at TBD)

Canada/TBD vs. Finland/TBD (Saturday, May 30 at TBD)

Quarterfinal Highlights

Canada 4, USA 0

Team USA's quest to repeat as world champions came to an end Thursday in a 4-0 quarterfinal loss to rival Canada.

The Canadians got some measure of revenge for falling to the U.S. in the gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics in February, but it was an expected result given the talent disparity.

Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk was the only player from the United States' Olympic champion team to play in this tournament, whereas Canada was led by Olympic stars in Macklin Celebrini and Sidney Crosby, as well as several other big-name NHL stars.

The 19-year-old Celebrini continued his run of spectacular play at the international level, as the San Jose Sharks superstar forward opened the scoring with a power-play goal late in the first period:

Canada continued to put on the pressure in the second period, and it eventually led to a second goal with St. Louis Blues forward Dylan Holloway beating Calgary Flames and Team USA goalie Devin Cooley.

New Jersey Devils forward Connor Brown and Pittsburgh Penguins legend Crosby added empty-net goals in the third period, and Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Jet Greaves stopped all 34 shots he faced in Canada's shutout victory.

The one area of concern for Canada coming out of Thursday's win is the status of defenseman Evan Bouchard, who was injured during the first period and did not return.

Bouchard, who led all NHL defensemen in points this season with 95 as a member of the Edmonton Oilers, hit the ice hard after a high hit from Team USA and Seattle Kraken defenseman Ryan Lindgren.

Lindgren was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for the hit.

Finland 4, Czechia 1

After falling in the quarterfinals at each of the past three IIHF World Hockey Championships, Finland finally returned to the semifinals Thursday with a 4-1 win over Czechia.

The Finns came out of the gates flying, scoring twice in the first period to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

Swiss league forward Sakari Manninen, who scored the overtime game-winner to beat Canada for world championship gold in 2022, opened the scoring on Thursday off a feed from former Oilers No. 4 overall draft pick Jesse Puljujärvi:

Panthers forward Anton Lundell extended the lead to 2-0 about seven minutes later, and Buffalo Sabres rookie forward Konsta Helenius made it 3-0 in favor of Finland early in the second.

The Czechs did manage to get on the board about midway through the second frame when Vancouver Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek netted a power-play marker, but Finland remained in firm control:

AHL forward Lenni Hämeenaho essentially put the game away for Finland in the third, scoring with less than five minutes left to make it 4-1.

Now, after three straight quarterfinal exits, Finland is guaranteed to play for a medal, which was the case in 2019, 2021 and 2022, which was a stretch that saw the Finns win two golds and one silver.

As for the Czechs, they have now suffered quarterfinal exits in three of the past four world championships with the lone exception being a gold medal in 2024.