The Ice Hockey World Championships are a big event in the sport. This is an annual tournament where nations compete for the gold medal. With more than a century of history, the competition is massively popular and often features many NHL stars. The latest Ice Hockey Championship odds are right here at Betsafe.
IIHF World Championships History
Canada won the first gold medal at the 1920 Ice Hockey World Championships and have been a dominating force ever since. They are one of only two nations to have recorded 20+ gold medals, the other being the Soviet Union/Russia.
Sweden are the only other nation to have reached double figures in gold medals. Despite the bulk of NHL franchises being from the US, the United States have struggled to keep pace, winning only two golds as of 2023.
Ice Hockey World Championships Overview
In 1930, the World Championships became a standalone tournament. Different formats, including the number of participating teams, were tried before settling into the modern set-up seen today in ice hockey World Championships betting.
Ice Hockey World Championship Betting Markets
The set-up of the Ice Hockey World Championships presents a wide variety of hockey odds for betting, from long-term forecasts to plenty of match-betting picks. Among the popular markets for ice hockey championship odds is the 'Outright Winner'.
It's not common for upsets in the IIHF World Championship winner betting odds to come into the picture, as teams like Canada and Sweden have largely dominated recent editions. However, notable previous underdog odds have been defied on occasion, such as Slovakia's surprise first title in 2002 and Czechia's success over Canada in the 2005 Final.
A 'Stage of Elimination' ice hockey bet is a good alternative to the outright market. In this option, a team can be backed to fall at a certain stage, like in the Switzerland quarter-final option.
Group Stage Betting
Options to back the 'Winner of Group A' and 'Winner of Group B' are popular for the group stage, along with the 'To Qualify' hockey odds on teams. An option to back the team finishing last in each section is also available in IIHF World Championship betting odds at Betsafe.
Match Betting
With sixteen teams entering the first stage, each group has 28 matches. Eight matches, including a third-place match, are then played in the elimination bracket.
For all matches, the World Ice Hockey Championship odds options include staples like 'Match Result', 'Handicap', and 'Total Goals'.
A 'Moneyline' option is an alternative to the 'Match Result' market as it excludes the draw option, meaning the bet stands if overtime is required.
The Betsafe Bet Builder tool allows the creation of the same game multis from Ice Hockey Championship odds, pulling together options from different markets within a fixture.
Live Ice Hockey World Championship Betting
In-play IIHF World Championship betting odds also cover all matches from the Ice Hockey World Championships at Betsafe. That presents new angles and betting strategies to apply to the on-ice action.
It could be looking at a 'Next Team To Score', 'Match Result', or 'First Period Winner' in-play option. Stats and scores from within the game also back up all live matches.
NHL Playoffs
The Ice Hockey World Championships happen at the same time as the NHL Playoffs. That collision means that teams at the World Championships could be missing their key stars, which is something to consider for IIHF betting. Players can join up with their national squads for Ice Hockey World Championships action when the NHL odds interest is done for the season.
IIHF World Championship Betting 2025
Get a round-up of all the latest IIHF World Championship betting odds at Betsafe. We provide full daily coverage of the hockey action, including any potential excitement in Canada vs USA odds that could happen during the knockouts.
IIHF World Championship Predictions
Reigning champions Canada are the front-runners for the title again, and the volume of depth they can add to their roster is enviable. But Canada have won only two of the last six renewals of the tournament, and Sweden could challenge their outright favourite odds.
European powerhouse Sweden is less impacted by the NHL Playoffs, so extra team unity could see them in the picture.
Last year, the playoff bracket saw some big surprise results, with Latvia and Germany unexpectedly reaching the semi-finals. Germany could again be one of the dark horses in the field, along with Switzerland, which is seeking its first gold medal.
For upsets in the Ice Hockey World Championship 2024 odds, look for teams carrying momentum forward from the latter stages of the group stage into the quarter-finals.
Tournament Format
The Ice Hockey World Championships have five tiers. At the top level, giants of the sport like Canada, the USA, and Europe's leading nations play.
There is an initial group stage of two pools, from which the top four advance to the quarterfinals, where things shift to straight elimination matches.
There is also jeopardy at the bottom of the round-robin stage. The teams that finish at the bottom of their sections get relegated from the top tier and are replaced by the finalists from the second tier's competition.
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