How to watch the 2025 Women's World Championship — plus, why Canada-USA is hockey's best rivalry
The Canada-USA men's hockey rivalry made a triumphant return at the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in February. Against a backdrop of growing political tension between the two countries, both games between the two rivals were heated, with three fights in nine seconds, booing of both national anthems and a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory for Canada in the championship game.
Amid an ongoing trade war, the political tension has only escalated over the last two months. Now Canada and the U.S. are set to face off again — this time in women's hockey.
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The 2025 Women's World World Championship begins Wednesday in České Budějovice, Czechia. Canada and the U.S. will face off on Sunday in the preliminary round, and will most likely see each other again in the championship game. Only once in the tournament's history has there been a different gold medal match-up.
The frequency with which these teams face off for gold medals has made the women's rivalry between the U.S. and Canada more heated than the men's rivalry. Could we see even more intensity in these games?
In women's hockey, elite international competition never left the spotlight the way it did in the men's game, so there isn't the same pent-up desire to see best-on-best hockey as there was on the men's side. One Canadian player, who requested anonymity in order to speak candidly about the rivalry, said they didn't think the political tension would 'change anything' for the women's game.
Still, the Canada-USA rivalry is always intense and has somehow gotten even better over the last few years with potential future Hockey Hall of Famers and exciting young stars going head-to-head. Just last year, Canada beat the U.S. in one of the most entertaining gold medal games at the 2024 world championship. This year's tournament finale should be just as good.
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Here's everything you need to know ahead of women's worlds.
What to know about the tournament
The 2025 world championship will be the last major international tournament before the 2026 Milan Olympics, making it a prime opportunity for teams to evaluate the state of their rosters.
Canada enters the tournament as the defending champion after beating Team USA in a thrilling 6-5 overtime game at last year's worlds in Utica, N.Y. The two countries have faced off for gold at 22 of 23 women's world championships since 1990, when the IIHF first sanctioned the event.
No nation has more than Canada's 13 gold medals. The U.S. has won 10 times. Finland is the only other country to make a gold medal game, but lost to Team USA 2-1 in a shootout.
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The 10-team tournament is divided into two tiered groups for the preliminary rounds. Group A includes the top five teams from the previous tournament; Group B is the next three ranked teams, plus the two nations that gain promotion from the lower Division I world championships. Each year, the bottom two teams of the tournament are relegated to Division I. This year, Norway and Hungary — the top two teams from the 2024 Division I worlds — have replaced China and Denmark, the bottom two teams from last year's top-level tournament.
After a single round-robin series within each group, the five teams from Group A and the top three teams from Group B advance to the quarterfinals, which will be played according to seeding. The first-placed team in Group A will play the third-placed team in Group B, and so forth.
Starting in 2025-26, the tournament will adopt a new format with two groups established using 'snake seeding' to create two sections of equal rank.
The schedule
Team USA preliminary round games
Wednesday, April 9: USA versus Finland at 9 a.m. (ET)
Friday, April 11: USA versus Czechia at 1 p.m.
Sunday, April 13: USA versus Canada at 1 p.m.
Tuesday, April 15: USA versus Switzerland at 1 p.m.
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Team Canada preliminary round games
Thursday, April 10: Canada versus Finland at 1 p.m.
Friday, April 11: Canada versus Switzerland at 9 a.m.
Sunday, April 13: Canada versus USA at 1 p.m.
Monday, April 14: Canada versus Czechia at 1 p.m.
Quarterfinal games will take place on Thursday, April 17, followed by the semifinals on Saturday, April 19.
The bronze medal game will be on Sunday, April 20 at 8 a.m., followed by the gold medal game at noon.
The full tournament schedule can be found here.
The medal contenders
1. Canada
Canada has assembled an interesting group for this year's world championship, with 17 players from the 2024 gold medal-winning team and six new players.
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The roster is headlined by some of the best players in the world: captain Marie-Philip Poulin, PWHL rookie sensation Sarah Fillier, defender Renata Fast and Claire Thompson, who set the Olympic record for points by a defender in Beijing. Ann-Renée Desbiens is perhaps the best goalie in the world, but she enters the tournament with a lower-body injury sustained on March 18. The results from Desbiens' medical exams were 'promising,' according to Montreal Victoire general manager Danièle Sauvageau. And the hope is Desbiens will be good to go when it comes time for Canada to defend its title.
Canada has depth with one of the best 'third lines' in the game with Laura Stacey, Blayre Turnbull and Emily Clark. Reigning PWHL MVP and Forward of the Year Natalie Spooner is back from injury. So is Sarah Nurse, who holds the record for points at a single Olympic tournament.
And there's a number of big tournament debuts to come.
Daryl Watts might be the most highly anticipated new player on Team Canada. She's third in the PWHL in scoring and tied for the league lead in assists. She's a highly skilled winger and an elite playmaker. Rookie Jennifer Gardiner has played exceptionally well with Poulin on Montreal's top line this season, while Sophie Jaques is second in the league in scoring amongst defenders and one of the league's best play-drivers. There's a few college prospects in the mix, too: teen phenom Chloe Primerano and 21-year-old goalie Ève Gascon.
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It appears Canada is balancing the desire to win with one final chance at player evaluation (at a major international competition) before the 2026 Olympics. Still, this roster is stacked with veteran talent who know how to win at this level.
2. USA
This year's roster is arguably Team USA's best since the 2023 world championship, which the U.S. won 6-3 against Canada, with an elite veteran core and highly skilled young players.
The experience starts with Hilary Knight, the all-time leading scorer in tournament history. After dealing with an injury last season — and still leading Team USA in scoring at last year's tournament — Knight is healthy and leading the PWHL in scoring. Alex Carpenter was tied for the scoring lead last year with six goals and 10 points in seven games, and Kendall Coyne Schofield is among the top scorers in the PWHL.
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Perhaps the biggest highlight of the roster, though, is the return of Lee Stecklein, who has taken the last two years off from the U.S. women's national team. She's one of the very best shutdown defenders in the world, and her return should help bolster a U.S. team that has lost to Canada in the last Rivalry Series and world championship.
Team USA also has some of the most exciting young players in the world, including seven top-10 finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award, given to the best player in women's college hockey: forwards Abbey Murphy, Joy Dunne, Tessa Janecke and Kirsten Simms, and defenders Caroline Harvey, Haley Winn and Laila Edwards.
Canadians hate playing against Murphy. Harvey is one of the best defenders in the world already. Simms scored the game-winning goal for the Wisconsin Badgers in last month's national championship game and had the game-winner in a 1-0 overtime win against Canada at last year's tournament. And Edwards — typically a forward — is showing off her versatility in moving to the blue line for Team USA this season.
And, of course, there's Aerin Frankel. She's one of the best goalies in the world and has proven she can battle against Desbiens on the biggest stage. If Desbiens isn't healthy in time for a gold medal game, Frankel could very easily outduel Canada's No. 2 or 3 options.
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3. Finland
Finland has historically been a podium contender with 15 medals (1 silver, 14 bronze) at women's worlds – third-most behind the North American powerhouses. The team won bronze at last year's tournament for the first time since 2021 and returns a pretty similar lineup to Czechia, with 21 returning players and only four first-timers.
Boston Fleet forward Susanna Tapani led the team in scoring at last year's tournament and is back for the Finns. So are forwards Michelle Karvinen, Petra Nieminen and Viivi Vainikka, who all scored in regulation or the shootout in last year's bronze medal game.
With just one point at the tournament, Karvinen will become Finland's all-time leader in points, passing Hockey Hall of Fame forward Riikka Sallinen and defender Jenni Hiirikoski. She's also just two goals behind Sallinen's 25 career tallies at worlds.
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Ottawa Charge defender Ronja Savolainen and University of Minnesota junior Nelli Laitinen highlight the blue line, which will be without Hiirikoski for the first time since 2006.
Hiirikoski, who has played a record 96 games at worlds, will miss the tournament due to illness. The 38-year-old is still regarded as one of the best defenders in the world and will leave a sizable hole on Finland's defense.
Fortunately, the Finns are strong in the crease with starter Sanni Ahola, who made the third-most saves (169) at last year's tournament.
4. Czechia
The Czechia women's hockey team is one of the fastest-rising programs in the world.
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Before 2022, the team had never finished higher than sixth at women's worlds, but has since appeared in three straight bronze medal games, winning twice before getting knocked off the podium by Finland last year.
And the roster this year might be one of the nation's strongest yet, particularly up front.
Ottawa Charge forward Tereza Vanišová just became the first player to score two hat tricks in a single season in the PWHL; only Marie-Philip Poulin (17) has more goals than Vanišová (15). Natálie Mlýnková, who led the team in scoring at last year's tournament, is back after a strong final season in the NCAA. And, Colgate University standout Kristýna Kaltounková will make her worlds debut. The forward finished her college career as the Raiders' all-time leading goal-scorer (111) and was named a top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award.
Ottawa forward Kateřina Mrázová has only played 11 games in the PWHL this season due to injury, but if healthy — she's been training with the team — she would add a significant boost to Czechia's depth. Mrázová missed last year's tournament due to injury, but scored 13 points in 14 games for Czechia at the 2022 and 2023 worlds, which led the team in scoring during that span.
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On the blue line, Czechia will be anchored by Aneta Tejralova (Ottawa) and Daniela Pejšová, who has struggled to find a top spot on the Boston Fleet but has been a staple for her national team. With Klára Peslarová — who made more saves (224) than any other goalie at last year's worlds – in net.
As the tournament hosts, and with a strong roster, Czechia will be expected to push for a medal once again.
How to watch
All games will be broadcast on TSN in Canada and NHL Network in the United States.
The IIHF also just launched its own web stream that has 'global access to all IIHF tournaments,' though some restrictions may apply due to media rights agreements.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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