The Canadians won gold for the 28th time. No other team has had as much success. They had already won in 2021 in Riga. In last year’s final, also played in Tampere, they lost to the Finns 3-4 after extra time.

The Canadian national team has faced Finland in the last three World Cup finals. This time she eliminated the “Suomi” team in the quarterfinals, and in the semifinals she beat the great Latvia. The Germans, on the other hand, were playing for the gold medal for the third time in their history, but after a very long break. They lost their previous finals – in 1930 against Canada and in 1953 against Sweden.

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Sunday, the first two periods were very close. The Germans took the lead twice, but each time the Canadians responded with a goal. The third period was decisive and the Maple Leafs hockey players confidently won 3-0.

The Latvians were satisfied with their historic first medal. The best player of the tournament (MVP) was the representative of this country, Arturs Silovs.

The tournament was supposed to take place in St. Petersburg, but after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the event was moved first to Ljubljana and Budapest, and after financial problems reported by the Hungarians, in Tampere and Riga. For the second time in a row, the teams of the aggressor countries – Russia and Belarus – did not participate.

Next year, for the first time since 2002, the World Championships will be held in the Czech Republic with the participation of the Polish national team, which participated with Great Britain in the tournament that ended in early May in Nottingham . They will replace the two weakest teams at the World Cup in Tampere and Riga: Hungary and Slovenia.

MC, PAP