Ice Hockey World Championship quarter-final, Thursday, May 22, 2025, at 8:20 p.m.
The two hosts, Sweden and Denmark, have reached the quarter-finals of the 2025 Ice Hockey World Championship. Who will advance to the semi-finals? This is one of the questions my Sweden vs. Czech Republic tip will address.
While the Danes will face Group A winners Canada in the quarterfinals, Tre Kronor also have a tough task ahead of them in their clash with defending champions Czech Republic.
The odds for the Sweden vs. Czech Republic prediction favor the Scandinavians. However, I expect a very close game and a good performance from the defending champions.
So I’m betting on a “Czech Republic HC +1.5” win at odds of 1.58 with Winamax.
The Sweden vs Czech Republic odds favor the hosts. The odds for a Scandinavian victory in regular time climb to a high of 1.83.
A CSLH selection win without overtime will get you Sweden vs Czech Republic betting odds between 3.65 and 3.90 at the bookies, including some Apple Pay betting providers.
Our databases contain 110 matches between the two nations. Sweden leads the overall record (61W, 49L) and also the statistics at World Championships (20W, 8L).
The last match in May this year at the Euro Hockey Tour also went to Tre Kronor 5-3. Before that, however, the Czechs had won four games in a row against Sweden.
1949 was the first time that the Ice Hockey World Championship was held in Stockholm. Back then, the hosts had to settle for fourth place. Since then, the most important ice hockey tournament of the year has been held nine times in the Swedish capital.
And each time, the hosts have been able to celebrate a medal. This time around, Tre Kronor has set its sights on a top-three finish. The squad is well-equipped to achieve this goal.
Only Canada has more NHL professionals in its squad than the Scandinavians (17). At the last World Championship, the Swedish team also secured the bronze medal after coming away empty-handed in four consecutive World Championship finals.
The last gold medal was won in 2018. The co-hosts had started the 2025 World Championship with six wins. On Tuesday, they faced the Canadians for the victory in Group A.
The North Americans’ tireless running and clinical finishing proved too much for coach Sam Hallam’s team in the end. Sweden was defeated 3-5 and now advances to the quarterfinals as the second-place team in the group.
With only eight goals conceded in seven games, Tre Kronor has the second-best defense in the World Championship. In addition, the Scandinavians are the only team in the current final round that has not conceded a goal while shorthanded (22:09 minutes).
At last year’s World Championship, the Czech Republic took advantage of home ice and secured its seventh world title with a 2-0 victory over Switzerland in the final in Prague.
So, of course, head coach Radim Rulik’s team had to be on the radar again this year. The squad includes stars such as David Pastrnak (Boston Bruins), Filip Hronek (Vancouver Canucks), and Martin Necas (Colorado Avalanche).
However, the squad lacks the necessary depth in defense and behind the top six forwards. As a result, the defending champions had to settle for third place in Group B after the preliminary round.
On the first day of play, they only managed to defeat Switzerland 5-4 in overtime. And on Tuesday, they suffered their first defeat of the tournament with a 2-5 loss to the USA. The US team clearly had the upper hand, especially in terms of shots (56-27).
Pastrnak scored one goal and provided one assist and leads the scoring list at the 2025 World Championship with 14 points (6 goals, 8 assists). In addition, the Czech Republic has the best conversion rate with 16.51%.
35 goals from the seven games in the group stage are also the best record in the current competition.
Conclusion: Sweden still has a score to settle with the Czechs from last year. Back then, the hosts prevailed 7-3 against gold favorites Sweden in the semifinals of their home World Championship.
But the CSLH selection has also set its sights on a medal at the 2025 World Championship. And a direct comparison of recent years favors the Czechs. So I don’t think Tre Kronor will win by more than a narrow margin.
For my Sweden vs. Czech Republic prediction, I’m going with: Czech Republic HC +1.5!
