Sweden vs Czechia Preview & Prediction | 2025 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship | Third Place Match

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Sweden will have to play for bronze after being beaten by Finland in overtime, with Czechia awaiting them in the matinee match before the final.

Start date/time: Sunday 5th January, 2025, UK – not before 8:30pm / US ET – not before 3:30pm / US PT – not before 12:30pm

How to watch on TV: UK – Not televised / US – NHL Network / Canada – TSN

How to watch online: UK – Cannot be streamed / US – NHL Network via subscriptions for fuboTV, DirectTV, SlingTV or ESPN+ / Canada – TSN streaming platforms

Sweden vs Czechia Prediction

The big question here from a Swedish perspective is how motivated they will be after losing their semi-final in such agonising fashion. They would’ve expected themselves to play in the gold medal match for a second year running, but an in-form Finland stopped them in their tracks, winning 3-4 with an overtime winner to dramatically end Sweden’s five-match winning streak.

Czechia fell to USA as expected, but can be happy with their performance across the tournament, winning four of their six games played so far, including an eye-catching win over Canada in the last eight. It would be no surprise to see them show more intensity than Sweden here in the ice and catch them off guard, as the latter could still be hungover from that semi-final defeat. With that in mind, it’s well worth considering backing Czechia to cause what would likely be seen as an upset.

Sweden vs Czechia Tip: Czechia to win