We're down to the final two teams at the 2024 World Juniors Championship. The hometown Swedes meet the favored US to decide who gets the gold. The US is favored to win the final at -155 while Sweden is at +130.
2024 World Juniors Odds
| Team | Current Odds |
|---|---|
| USA | -155 |
| Sweden | +130 |
Odds as of January 5
Where To Watch/Stream World Juniors
This year the World Juniors tournament is held in Gothenburg, Sweden and begins on boxing day and will run till the final on January 5th.
TV and live stream availability:
- TV: NHL Network
- Stream: FUBO
2024 World Juniors Favorite: USA
I've said it all tournament long; this US team is stacked. They've got talent in every position. There's no doubt that this team has earned its spot in the final. Taking out a good Finnish side wasn't an easy task.
But, I've got a real problem with the US being favored at -155 for this one.
The US's first real test was against those Finns in the Semis and well...the Americans weren't too convincing. A horrible first period saw them go down 2-0 early. Thankfully for them, all that talent I talked about, was able to dominate the Finns in the second (outshooting them 14-3) and popping two goals of their own. And eventually a winning goal in the third.
If the Americans can put up a full 60-minute effort they'll have a chance to win. But I'm not convinced they're the real deal.
2024 World Juniors Best Bet: Sweden
Just a few days ago I said it was insane to have Sweden at +225 to win this tournament. They answered that by dispatching Czechia 5-2 in the semis. It's gold or bust for the Swedes.
With all due respect to Team USA's win over Finland, the US hasn't faced a goalie quite like Hugo Havelid. Finland's starter Niklas Kokko is a fine goalie, but his rebound control was poor the entire game and his positioning made you feel like any well-placed shot would beat him.
That's not the case with Havelid. Hugo is the tournament's top goalie with a 0.952SV% and a glowing 0.98GAA.
Unlike the US, Sweden is battle-tested. They came out on top of a strong Group A and easily took out a hard-working Czechia side (that also eliminated Canada) in the semis.
Sweden has the talent between the pipes and upfront with guys like Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Noah Ostlund (both have nine points in six games), they've got a list of scalps from strong opponents, and they've got a home crowd that's going to dominate the Scandinavium in Götenburg.
In my opinion, Sweden should win its first World Juniors gold medal since 2012.
2024 World Juniors Groups
Group A
- Canada
- Sweden
- Finland
- Germany
- Latvia
Group B
- Czechia
- United States
- Slovakia
- Switzerland
- Norway
Last 10 World Junior Champions
| Year | Team | Runner-Ups |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Finland | Sweden |
| 2015 | Canada | Russia |
| 2016 | Finland | Russia |
| 2017 | United States | Canada |
| 2018 | Canada | Sweden |
| 2019 | Finland | United States |
| 2020 | Canada | Russia |
| 2021 | United States | Canada |
| 2022 | Canada | Finland |
| 2023 | Canada | Czechia |
Canada became the first back-to-back champion since did it back in 2009. That was their fifth title over the past decade.
Sweden hasn't won it since 2012. You know they desperately want this one.
World Junior Championships & Appearances
The tournament dates back to 1977. Here’s how each nation has medaled over the past 49 tournaments.
| Team | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Last Win |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 20 | 10 | 5 | 2023 |
| Russia* | 13 | 13 | 11 | 2011 |
| Finland | 5 | 5 | 7 | 2019 |
| USA | 5 | 2 | 7 | 2021 |
| Sweden | 2 | 11 | 7 | 2012 |
| Czechia | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2001 |
| Slovakia | 0 | 0 | 2 | N/A |
| Switzerland | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A |
*Russia and the Soviet Union have been combined
Czechia has the longest gold-medal drought. Their last championship was in 2001 when Pavel Brendl put up a tournament-leading 10 points in seven games and goalie Tomas Duba had a 1.14 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage.
Last year, the Czechs surprised everyone by going all the way to the finals where they pushed Canada to overtime. They unfortunately lost 6:22 in the extra frame with a Dylan Guenther goal.
