2025 World Juniors daily: Jan. 4
It’s semi-finals day at the 2025 World Juniors with Sweden, Finland, USA and Czechia in action.
Day 8 schedule:
Sweden vs. Finland – 3:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. PT
USA vs. Czechia – 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT
A look ahead:
The only team to go a perfect 5-0-0 thus far, Sweden will look to reach the World Juniors final for a second straight year. But in their way will be resilient Finnish side.
Sweden breezed through the round-robin with a 4-0-0 record where they scored 24 goals and conceded just 10 times. They were up against it in their quarterfinal against Latvia and had to stave off a comeback but prevailed 3-2 after they nearly saw a three-goal lead slip away. Sweden haven’t won gold since 2012 and were beaten by the USA in last year’s final. In all, they have just two gold medals (1981, 2012) to their name but have collected the most silver medals in tournament history with 12. Their 21 total medals are the third most all-time.
After they were shutout 4-0 on Boxing Day by Canada, Finland haven’t looked back. They won their final three round-robin games – that was highlighted by a 4-3 overtime win against the USA – and then took out Slovakia 5-3 in their quarterfinal. Finland’s 11 goals against are the fewest of the four remaining teams. The Finns stunningly saw bronze slip away one year ago against Czechia but in all have collected 17 World Juniors medals that includes five golds (1987, 1998, 2014, 2016, 2019).
In the second semi-final, the defending champions USA will face Canada’s conquerers in Czechia in a battle between the tournament’s two highest scoring teams.
The Americans went 3-0-1 in the round-robin but still topped Group A before they dispatched Switzerland comfortably 7-2 in the quarterfinals. The USA have found the back of the net 29 times in just five contests as they look to win back-to-back gold medals for the first time in program history. They have six golds to their name (2004, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2021, 2024) and have medalled in seven of the last nine tournaments.
After 11 consecutive quarterfinals exits from 2006-2017, Czechia have found their way in recent years at the World Juniors. After a fourth place finish in 2018, they have reached the semi-finals four straight years now. This year, they went 3-0-1 in the round-robin before they beat Canada 4-3 in the quarterfinals thanks to Adam Jecho’s last-minute winner. Czechia’s 30 goals are a tournament high for a country that hasn’t won gold since they went back-to-back in 2000 and 2001. They will hope 2025 is the year they win a third gold after they won silver in 2023 and bronze in 2024.
Where to watch:
Sweden’s contest with Finland is available on TSN 1/4/5 as is the USA’s clash with Czechia.
Tournament notes:
60 CHL players to compete at 2025 World Juniors
Canada roster
Non-Canada players