IIHF World Championship Betting Markets & Odds

As the NHL’s regular season comes to an end, players are faced with a decision of what to do during their offseason. Many will be participating in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for their NHL teams. Others will choose to take some time off and rest after a gruelling 82-game schedule. However, some will be chosen to represent their countries at the 2025 IIHF World Championships in May.

It is always an honour to represent one’s country in international competition. Some of the greatest players in NHL history have suited up at the IIHF World Championships, and it remains one of the most competitive international tournaments in the world. This 2025 IIHF World Championship betting preview will provide some background on the tournament and discuss who is participating and which teams have a shot at taking home this year’s gold medal.

The IIHF World Championship is an international hockey tournament for both men and women that takes place each year in May. The tournament takes place among multiple levels of competition, with the highest level being the Championship division that features the top hockey countries in the world.

This year’s IIHF World Championship will be the 88th iteration of this annual tournament. The Championship division will take place at host cities across Sweden and Denmark between the dates of May 9th to 25th. Games in Sweden will take place at the Avicii Arena in Stockholm and the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, Denmark.

Since 2022, the IIHF World Championship has continued to penalize the Russian and Belarusian national hockey programs. The IIHF has suspended these two countries from international participation due to their roles in the invasion of Ukraine.

The Championship division will feature the top sixteen international programs, split into two pools of eight teams. Sweden and Denmark both qualified for the tournament as the host countries.

Here is how the sixteen teams will be split at the 2025 IIHF World Championship:

As expected, Group A’s games will be held in Stockholm, Sweden, and Group B’s games will be held in Herning, Denmark.

The top four seeded teams following the preliminary round will qualify for the quarter-finals. The teams seeded fifth through seventh in each group will qualify for the 2026 IIHF World Championship. Finally, the eighth-place team in each group will be relegated to the next lowest division for the 2026 IIHF World Championship.

The 2024 IIHF World Championship showed just how unpredictable international hockey can be. The Championship game featured Czechia and Switzerland, with the Czechs winning the gold medal. Sweden won the bronze medal over Canada in the third-place game as both hockey powerhouses were upset in the semi-finals. The United States, Finland, Germany, and Slovakia were eliminated in the quarter-finals.

Last year’s tournament took place in Prague, Czechia. The host country won the gold medal in front of their hometown fans for the first time since 2022, when Finland won in Helsinki.

The first scheduled games of the 2025 IIHF World Championship tournament will take place on May 9th, 2025. There are two games scheduled from each group, which means two games will take place in Sweden and two in Denmark.

Games will take place each day until May 20th to determine which teams will qualify for the playoffs. Starting on May 22nd, the playoff portion of the tournament will begin with the quarter-finals. The 2025 IIHF World Championship will culminate with the championship round, which will take place on the final day of the tournament on May 25th, 2025.

Since 1920, the IIHF World Championship has taken place nearly every year except during World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic. It is considered one of the premier international ice hockey tournaments in the world and usually features plenty of NHL players whose teams are not in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

No country has won more medals at the IIHF World Championship than Canada since the inception of the tournament. Canada has won the IIHF World Championship gold a record 28 times, more than any other country. In all, Canada has taken home 53 medals in the 87 previous tournaments it has participated in. Canada last won the IIHF World Championship in 2023.

Although Russia will not be participating in this year’s tournament, the country has had major success at the IIHF World Championship. This success dates back to when the country was known as the Soviet Union. Incredibly, the Soviet Union won a medal in every IIHF World Championship that it competed in between 1954 and 1991. Between the Soviet Union and Russia, the nation has won a total of 47 medals. The 27 total gold medals are second only to Canada’s 28 gold medals in the tournament’s long, rich history.

Tied for second behind Canada with 48 total medals each are Sweden and Czechia. After these four countries, it is a steep dropoff. In fifth place is the United States, which has a total of 20 and in sixth place is Finland with 16 medals.

As you can tell from the medal count, Canada always has a strong chance of winning a medal at the IIHF World Championship. Canada always sends a strong contending team each year, and this year will be no different.

Team Canada’s roster will be selected by Pittsburgh Penguins General Manager Kyle Dubas. Dubas hand-selected the Canadian roster that won the Four Nations Cup tournament in February 2025.

While the official roster has not been selected as of April, Dubas will have his pick of some of the NHL’s top players. This season, the following teams did not qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs:

• Calgary Flames
• Vancouver Canucks
• Utah Hockey Club
• Columbus Blue Jackets
• Detroit Red Wings
• New York Rangers
• New York Islanders
• Pittsburgh Penguins
• Anaheim Ducks
• Buffalo Sabres
• Seattle Kraken
• Boston Bruins
• Philadelphia Flyers
• Nashville Predators
• Chicago Blackhawks
• San Jose Sharks

By the time the tournament starts in May, other teams who did qualify for the playoffs will also be eliminated.

If you are interested in locking in some great odds on Canada winning the 2025 IIHF World Championship, BetVictor has you covered. BetVictor is offering boosted odds for Canada to win gold from +300 to +333 if you lock in a wager before the tournament starts on May 9th.

Head over to BetVictor today to open a free account to wager on the 2025 IIHF World Championship!