Ice Hockey World Championship 2025

Pool A Sweden Canada Finland Slovakia Latvia Austria France Slovenia

Pool B United States Czech Republic Switzerland Germany Denmark Norway Kazakhstan Hungary

Who will win? – Sweden is the big favorite.

We will try to take you through some thoughts about who are the favorites, and maybe some surprises. But there is no doubt that Sweden is the favorite this year. We will try to write a little about the teams that are worth mentioning, so that you understand why we think the way we do. It is clear to us that Pool A looks clearly the strongest, and there are probably 3 teams that stand out as sure candidates to advance from that Pool (Sweden, Finland and Canada). From the other pool there are 2 teams that look sure (USA and Czech Republic). The rest of the teams will probably have to fight a tough battle to make it to the last playoff spots.

Sweden – World Cup Winner (3.75) – Pool Winner (2.05)

Sweden, who have the advantage of playing at home throughout the championship, also have several things that build on the reason why they are favorites in this championship. Because it is always exciting to see who will be playing from the NHL during the championship. Some are ready from the start, and some will certainly come during the championship. It is not unusual. But if we look at Sweden, and what we already know, there is little doubt that they will be playing with a good team.

They already have several star players ready to participate, as their teams are already out of the NHL playoffs. Players already expected to be ready include players like Filip Forsberg (Predators), Mikael Backlund (Flames), Mika Zibanejad (Rangers), Elias Pettersson (Canucks) and Lucas Raymond (Red Wings), who will certainly ensure that this Swedish team has offensive power. Defensively, they can also boast players like Rasmus Dahlin (Sabres), and Marcus Pettersson (Canucks). They also have a couple of good NHL goalies in Arvid Søderblom (Blackhawks) and Samuel Ersson (Flyers).

When you see this, you realize that this team can bite off a lot. Many of these players will get a boost from playing in front of their own fans back home in Sweden. After the season is over in the NHL, this will be a bonus for many, and we will definitely see highly motivated players. This will probably be our favorite too!

Canada – World Cup Winner (4.25) – Pool Winner (2.50)

The biggest challenger to Sweden is clearly Canada. A team that always has the quality needed to compete. The team is of course full of stars as usual. But we probably won't see a player like Sidney Crosby (Penguins). Because while Sweden thinks this is important, especially on home soil, the motivation of a player like Crosby is probably much less. The World Cup has never had the great status across the pond. Nevertheless, this is the nation that has won the most World Cup gold with its 28 victories. That says a lot about the quality they have to choose from. The winning mentality is also something you get with mother's milk in Canada.

Because if you look at the USA, which also has an abundance of quality, they have only won twice back in 1933 and 1960. This is usually a great tournament for young players to show off, which has historically been a success for young Canadians. We are excited to see which team they will bring this time? But will it be good enough to beat a promising Sweden on home soil? We do not believe that this time. But these are without a doubt the 2 biggest favorites, and we will be very surprised if anyone other than these two favorites wins.

In this sense, it is possible to play with the idea of ​​playing two winners against each other at good odds on both.

The Outsiders – Who can surprise – Czech Republic and Finland.

If you look at the final from last year, you realize that there is quality in more teams than those mentioned above. The final last year was played between the Czech Republic and Switzerland, which for many was a surprising final. Even though the Czech Republic had their home field, and are a team with good traditions in hockey, like the team that devastated at the turn of the millennium. I remember well that they won the World Cup in 1999 on Norwegian soil, and followed up by winning the next two championships as well. It was a team that was easy to get excited about. Offensive and technical hockey.

As reigning champions, they must of course be mentioned as an outsider this year as well. They stand at good odds with a whopping 7.50 to win the championship, and not least 2.90 to win the pool, where on paper only the USA should have a chance in that pool. This team will not be dominated by NHL players. But they will probably bring in some stars towards the championship.

Finland is known as one of the hardest teams to beat when it comes to national hockey. It is a team that is known for playing with its heart on the outside of the jersey. We will probably see some of the same this year as well. But what can really bring Finland into the medal race is the goalies. It seems as if Finland is the country with the best goalies this championship. Juuse Saros (Predators), Joonas Korpisalo (Bruins), and Kevin Lankinen (Canucks), are all reported ready. It is really something to beat the table with. How many times have we seen the team with the best goalies run away with it all.

It gives good odds to bet on Finland as the winners of the World Cup at 7.50 , and pool winners at 4.50 . Not too bad for a team that won the World Cup as late as 2022, when they hosted it on home soil. As well as silver in 2021. This team doesn't give up on tough shit.

Relegation – It will probably be the teams that were promoted that will be relegated.

As we have seen over many seasons in the hockey world championships, it is usually the teams that are promoted that have the hardest time holding onto their spot the following year. The two newcomers before this championship are Slovenia and Hungary. Both teams are last with the bookmakers in terms of winning the championship at 2001.00 in odds. That says a bit about the class difference up to the best teams. But we just want to say it. A team like Norway should be careful here.

Not long ago we predicted that Hungary would beat Norway in a friendly match right before the World Cup. It happened, and Norway will probably feel the pressure, as they have ended up in a group with this team. It could easily be this team they have to fight against to cling on for another year. Denmark is also a team that belongs down there with Norway and Hungary. So even though this should initially be the easiest group to advance in, this group looks tough for the teams fighting to avoid relegation. It could easily be that some surprising points against supposedly better opponents will be crucial to saving their place here. This will be nail-biting for those of us who hope Norway manages to stay in good company.

From the other pool, Slovenia will probably have a tough time. Perhaps in competition with France and Austria.

Odds will be added continuously.

This is definitely a championship that we at 90minutefamily will be following closely. There will be many playable objects throughout the championship. So even though there is a little to choose from right now, we will be on as soon as we find something. We are looking forward to this, and we hope more than us will follow. We will definitely discuss a lot in our Discord channel when this is underway. If you are like us, and like to talk about odds and games, we recommend that you get on our own hockey channel as soon as possible, you can find it here!