What: Men's Ice Hockey World Championship.
When: May 15 - 31.
Where: Zurich (largest city) and Fribourg.
TV/radio: Viaplay and Radiosporten.
+ Sweden's group stage matches (in Fribourg):
May 15: Canada (4:20 p.m.), May 17: Denmark (4:20 p.m.), May 18: Czech Republic (8:20 p.m.), May 20: Slovenia (8:20 p.m.), May 22: Italy (8:20 p.m.), May 23: Norway (8:20 p.m.), May 26: Slovakia (4:20 p.m.).
In Group A (in Zurich) the USA, Switzerland, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Austria, Hungary, Great Britain play.
The top four teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals.
Quarterfinals will be played on 28/5, semifinals on 30/5, and medal matches on 31/5.
+ Third straight gold?
Sweden has had a few golden months on the junior side, with victory in the World Junior Championship (U20) in Minnesota at the beginning of the year followed by the Småkronornas winning gold in the U18 World Championship a few weeks ago.
There are now five World Championship winners in Tre Kronor who have not won World Championship gold since 2018 and who were eliminated in the Olympic quarterfinals. Sweden, with 12 World Championship debutants and 12 NHL players, is hardly a gold favorite.
+ Canadian all-star team
Canada enters as the main favorite with a star-studded team, with Sidney Crosby the latest to say yes. Finland has more NHL players than in eight years - with Aleksander Barkov at the forefront - and Switzerland, on home soil, is yearning for its first World Championship gold.
The USA is the reigning world champion, won the Olympics in February, but - apart from Matthew Tkachuk - has a team without many of the really big stars. Two players were part of the team that won World Championship gold in Globen last year.
+ Five World Championship profiles
Sidney Crosby, 38, b, Pittsburgh/Canada. Three Stanley Cups, two Olympic gold medals and one World Championship gold medal. Injured in the final stages of the Olympics and wants revenge after the Olympic silver medal in Milan and the quarter-final exit in the World Championship against Denmark last year.
Matthew Tkachuk, 28, b, USA/Florida. Two-time Stanley Cup champion and Olympic winner in February in Milan. Always something going on around the energetic player and provocateur.
Aleksander Barkov, 30, b, Finland/Florida. Two-time Stanley Cup champion in Florida. Suffered a knee injury before the season and did not play a single NHL game, but showed his class in the World Championship qualifier in Ängelholm.
Macklin Celebrini, 19, b, Canada/San Jose. Already a huge star, fourth in the NHL scoring race (45 goals and 115 points) despite playing for one of the league's weakest, but still most talented, teams. Olympic player in February.
Evan Bouchard, 26, b, Canada/Edmonton. Won the defensemen scoring race in the NHL (21 goals - 74 assists - 95 points), but was sidelined for the Olympics. Eager to prove himself in the World Championship. Played half a season in Södertälje when the NHL was shut down by the coronavirus in 2020-21.
+ ...and more may come
Teams can fill out their squads right up until the final day of the World Championship. Before the first match, nations must register at least 2 goalkeepers and 15 outfield players. The final World Championship squads will consist of 25 players, 3 goalkeepers and 22 outfield players.
+ Recent years' winners
2025: United States.
2024: Czech Republic.
2023: Canada.
2022: Finland.
2021: Canada.
2020: cancelled due to the pandemic.
2019: Finland.
2018: Sweden.
2017: Sweden.
