Sweden 4, Czechia 2: Love Harenstam (St. Louis Blues) made 27 saves for Sweden, which survived a late rally by Czechia to win the gold medal for the first time since 2012 at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota.

“It was time for gold, and we did it. It’s amazing,” forward Anton Frondell (Chicago Blackhawks) said.

“Love, the whole the whole tournament, he has been amazing. The semifinal game he saved us there (a 4-3 shootout win against Finland on Sunday), and tonight he was incredible. So, yeah, thank Love for the gold.”

Ivar Stenberg, an A-rated skater on NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary players to watch list, had a goal and two assists, and Victor Eklund (New York Islanders) had a goal and an assist for Sweden, which won the gold medal for the third time in its history (also 1981). Jack Berglund (Philadelphia Flyers) and Viggo Bjorck, another A-rated skater, each had two assists.

Sweden improved to 2-7 in gold-medal games since the IIHF’s adoption of a playoff system for the WJC in 1996.

“This is such a special group, and to work with these guys and get honored to get the C on your chest and win it all is unreal. I didn’t think it was going to be true,” Bergland said.

“We played for the crowns. There was no single-handed here. Everyone stepped up when it matters. I think everyone got better at the playoffs, and today, I think we are so much better than Czechia. This is such a special group. It’s a brotherhood. I’m proud of everyone.”

Jakub Fibigr (Seattle Kraken) had two assists, and Michal Orsulak (2026 draft eligible) made 31 saves for Czechia, which was seeking its first gold medal since winning back-to-back championships in 2000 and 2001.

“It’s a bit of a sad feeling, and emotions go more to the players,” Czechia coach Patrik Augusta said. “When you see your players cry, it’s emotional for myself as well. But I told them to be proud. They had a great tournament. We finished short in tonight’s game, but before this tournament, if somebody told us that we will win a silver medal, we will take it. Our dreams were higher, but it’s not the last day of our lives. Hopefully, if we work hard, we’ll get another chance.”

Czechia has medaled in four straight tournaments, winning silver in 2023 and bronze in 2024 and 2025.

“It means that Czech hockey is growing,” forward Vaclav Nestrasil said. “Even though we didn’t have the gold medal today, I think we still made the country proud, and we still showed that we’re in here and we’re going to battle for medals every single year.”

Casper Juustovaara (2026 draft eligible) gave Sweden a 1-0 lead at 14:46 of the first period with a short-handed goal. He scored from outside the right post after Berglund fed him from behind the net.

Eklund made it 2-0 at 9:21 of the second period, burying a rebound at the left post for a power-play goal.

Sascha Boumedienne (Winnipeg Jets) pushed it to 3-0 with a slap shot from the bottom of the right face-off circle at 3:47 of the third period.

“It’s special,” Boumedienne said. “This is a tournament everyone’s been watching since they were really, really small. It’s the third time we’ve done it, and being a part of this group who did it is unreal.”

Czechia scored two goals late in the third with Orsulak pulled for an extra attacker to cut it to 3-2.

Adam Jiricek (St. Louis Blues) made it 3-1 on a shot from the high slot at 17:36, and Matej Kubiesa (2026 eligible) then pulled Czechia to within 3-2 with a shot from the top of the left circle with 24 seconds left.

However, Stenberg scored an empty-net goal with eight seconds remaining for the 4-2 final.

The matchup marked the first gold-medal game between two European teams since Finland won 4-3 in overtime against Russia in the 2016 WJC. It’s also the first time a country other than Canada, Finland or the United States has won the gold medal since Sweden’s last championship in 2012.