How to watch hockey Canada vs. Sweden Free: World Junior Championships live

The 2026 World Junior Hockey Championship game will be played on Monday in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

The Czech Republic will face Sweden in the final at 8:30 PM ET on Monday, January 5.

The 2026 World Junior Hockey Championship will be broadcast on the NHL Network and can be streamed live DirecTV Stream (Free Trial), fuboTV and other live television services.

Canada will play Finland for bronze at 4:30 PM ET. This game will also be broadcast on the NHL Network.

Here’s what you need to know:

What: 2026 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship game

WHO: Czech Republic vs Sweden

When: On Monday, January 5, 2026 at 8:30 PM ET

Where: Grand Casino Arena, Saint Paul, Minnesota

TV: NHL Network

Tickets: From $117

>> Complete tournament schedule

Here’s a recap of the Czech Republic’s win over Canada on Sunday from the Grand Forks (ND) Herald via Tribune News Service:

As the last seconds ticked away, Czech players stormed onto the ice.

Defender Adam Jiříček grabbed the puck and hid it in his pants as a souvenir.

The Czechs did it again.

For the third year in a row, the Czech Republic ended Canada’s hopes of a gold medal at the World Junior Championships.

This time it was a back-and-forth semi-final match in St. Paul, where Czech Tomáš Poletin scored a goal at 1:14 – a puck off a skate.

Vojtěch Čihar added an empty netter to seal a 6:4 win over Canada at the Grand Casino Arena.

“They’re a good team,” Canada coach Dale Hunter said. “They have some good players there. They have a good structure. It was two teams fighting and whoever scores the last goal wins.”

The Czech Republic will play Sweden for the gold medal on Monday at 7:30 PM ET.

The Czech Republic has not won gold at the Junior World Championships since 2001. Since then, it has played for gold only once (2023). Sweden have not won an under-20 tournament since 2012.

“It’s obviously a quick turnaround,” Canadian captain Porter Martone said. “It’s tough because I know we imagined we were in the gold game. The Finns are a really good hockey team. We talked about it. We want to win the last game of the tournament. We have a chance to do that tomorrow and go home with a medal.”

The Canadians, who were eliminated by the Czechs in the quarterfinals the last two years, will try to win their first medal in three years.

Forward Cole Reschny scored his third goal of the tournament and was named Canada’s player of the match, but it wasn’t enough for the Czech Republic.

“That sucks,” Reschny said. “It’s a terrible feeling. It’s hard.”

Asked what bronze would mean, Reschny said, “It would mean more than nothing.”

The Canadians were favored to win the tournament and cruised through pool play with a 4-0 lead. On the opening day of the tournament, they defeated the Czech Republic 7:5.

But they were on the wrong end of a wild game that was either tied or within one goal until Cihara’s empty-net goal with less than 30 seconds left.

“We started off slow,” Reschny said. “You see, in match times we played the way we knew how to play.”

Canada opened the scoring on a power play late in the first period. Michael Misa made a pass to the top of the goal area during a net-side scramble. Tij Iginla buried it and made it 1-0 at 15:14.

But the Czechs answered just 1:42 later, when Max Curran scored from the top goal.

The Czechs took their first lead at 3:44 of the second period, when Adam Titlbach buried Max Psenička’s feed to make it 2:1.

Canada answered on a 5-on-3 power play when defenseman Zayne Parekh drove in a shot over Reschny’s screen at 12:38.

Later in the period, Michael Hage took a penalty shot at 1:56. He attempted a blanket at the top of the goal area, was tripped by Orsulak and lost the puck in the corner. But the officials awarded Hage a second penalty shot for tripping. He tried the same move and again lost the puck in the corner.

The Czechs took the lead just before the end of the period when UND intercepted an Ethan MacKenzie pass in the mid-zone and went the other way on a 3-on-1. Minnesota Wild draft pick Adam Benák buried a feed from Curran to make it 3-2.

Reschny equalized at the beginning of the period with a power play to the net, but the Czech Republic responded again.

Cihar scored on a power play past Canadian forward Caleb Desnoyers to make it 4-3 at 11:11.

Canada answered again with a goal by captain Porter Martone with 2:41 left, but the Czechs responded with a goal off Poletin’s skate 1:25 later. It was reviewed, but officials found there was no digging.

“It’s definitely a tough loss,” Martone said. “The Czech Republic was a really good team.”

Where to watch the 2026 IIHF World Junior Hockey Tournament live and on demand for free

Non-cable viewers can watch the games live and on demand for free when they sign up for a trial offer from DIRECTV or Fubo.

What are the differences between streaming services?

DIRECTV – Watch live TV from major broadcast and popular cable networks. Enjoy local and national live sports, breaking news and must-see shows as they air. Included: unlimited DVR cloud storage so you can record as many shows as you want and stream them from anywhere. DTV starts as low as $19.99 per month after a 5-day free trial when you purchase their customizable genre packs.

Fubo – Fubo offers one of the widest selections of channels among live TV streaming services. Over 220 channels, including all the sports and entertainment you love, plus sports extras for those specialty networks you rely on, and it all starts 5-day free trial and $30 off your first month of service.

Sling – One of the best deals in live TV for just $45.99 per month, offering customizable channel lineups for sports, news and entertainment. Now, Sling adds even more value with subscriptions that let you stream live TV without a subscription: just $4.99 a day, $9.99 a weekend, or $14.99 a week. These one-off payments are perfect if you just want to watch one show, live game or special event. No commitment, no auto-renewal, just affordable access when you need it.