Those two matchups are identical to the tournament's 2025 incarnation, where the North American teams prevailed to play for gold.
This year's one difference will come earlier on Saturday’s all-important knockout day. In a stunner, Finland will be fighting to earn their first win of the tournament against Hungary.
Here’s what to watch for in all three games:
Semi-Final 1: USA vs. Sweden (16:00)
Last year, the Americans finished in the silver-medal position and the Swedes landed fourth.
This year, the U.S. team has a chance to capture its tournament-leading 10th gold in history by doing something that has never been done before — running the table to ‘Perfect Gold,’ never trailing or being tied after 0-0 in any game.
It feels like an understatement to say that the Americans have been dominant in their first four games. They’ve outscored their opponents by a total of 45-1, with four players hitting double-digits in points — Jane Daley (15), Kylie Amelkovich (12), Maggie Averill (10) and Emily Pohl (10).
Daley’s 11 goals have tied a single-tournament record, and she’s just four back of the single-tournament points record of 19 set by Amanda Kessel in 2009. Morgan Stickney hasn’t allowed a goal in her two starts this year, so she’s now up to a record five shutouts across her two tournaments.
The Americans have won 18 of 19 all-time matchups against Sweden at this tournament, but haven’t played them yet this year.
As for the Swedes, they’ve taken care of business on their way to the semi-final. In their three wins, they outscored Hungary, Switzerland and Slovakia by an aggregate score of 14-3. The lone blemish on their record was a 9-2 loss to Canada.
Playing in her second tournament, top centre Tidle Grillfors has been all around the net. She has three goals and two assists to show for her efforts.
Sweden’s young players have also been important offensive contributors. Playing in her first tournament at 15, Tilia Lindgren leads her team with three goals and six points while menacing 1.80m / 5’11”, 15-year-old winger Moa Stridh also has three goals and a team-leading 18 shots.
Swedish coach Andreas Karlsson has balanced his goaltending assignments so far. Meja Engelin has played a bit more and has the better numbers, with a 2.14 goals-against average. But Thea Holmberg got the tough assignment of the start against Canada, and played the first 40 minutes.
The Swedes showed they could get the upper hand against the Americans when the won their 2023 semi-final 2-1 on home ice in Osterlund. Will history repeat in Sydney?
Semi-Final 2: Canada vs. Czechia (19:30)
The Czechs have also beaten Canada exactly once in WW18 history, a 4-2 win in Zug in 2024. The Canadians got revenge last year, beating Czechia by the same 4-2 score in Vantaa on their way to gold. They're 9-for-10 all time against the hockey-loving Central European nation.
Like the Americans, Canada has looked virtually unstoppable in Cape Breton this week, outscoring their opponents 44-2. But their chance of chasing ‘Perfect Gold’ evaporated in the final game of the round robin, when they fell behind 1-0 before closing out a 9-2 win over Sweden.
Canada has two players into double-digits in points: speedsters Adrianna Milani (8-3-11) and Sofia Ismael (6-5-11), who both stand just 5’4” (1.62m and 1.63m respectively). Captain Hayley McDonald is right behind (6-3-9), while Alida Korte (4-5-9), Rachel Piggott (5-4-9) and defender Megan Mossey (2-7-9) have all been important contributors to the Canadians’ balanced offensive attack.
On the goaltending front, there isn’t much to choose beween Lea-Rose Charrois and Rowan Houweling. Both are first-timers who are in their last year of eligibility at this level, and both have played two full games so far. Houweling has a pair of shutouts after facing 21 total shots against Hungary and Finland. Charrois has seen 22 shots. She gave up two goals to Sweden while shutting out Switzerland.
“They've both been playing solid,” said Canadian coach Vicky Sunohara after the quarter-final. “It’s difficult when you don't get many shots in a period and then you have a breakaway. Both our goalies have been doing a really great job of making big saves at big times. We've got a lot of depth in our goalie department as well.”
As for the Czechs, they came into the tournament as the defending bronze medalists and will be looking to get back on the podium for a third-straight year. They reached this stage with a 3-1 record, handily beating Finland and Slovakia and then taking a 9-1 loss to the United States before a tight quarter-final game against Switzerland. That went down to the final two minutes before Tereza Gildainova scored the game winner.
Gildainova is part of a large group of 17-year-old returnees who have been in this situation before and are looking for a third medal in their last year of eligibility. Her four goals lead her team but she’s one of six players with five points, along with captain Julie Jebouskova (0-5-5), Katerina Pencikova (1-4-5), Aneta Paroubkova (1-4-5), Adela Mynarikova (2-3-5) and Andrea Kantorova (2-3-5).
In net, coach Dusan Andrasovsky has leaned heavily on Lili Chmelarova. The 15-year-old first-timer has played all but two periods, amassing a 2.40 goals-against average while facing 75 shots.
Finland vs. Hungary (12:00)
Last year, the Finns finished a disappointing sixth on home soil in Vantaa, tied with 2008 and 2016 as one of their worst showings ever at WW18. This year, they’re in an even tougher spotas they face Hungary in the 7 vs. 8 game.
Finland has lost all four of its games here in Cape Breton, by a combined score of 40-3. The team’s best result was its 5-2 loss to the Slovak side that avoided relegation in 2025.
“The team spirit is incredible but in the first games, I don't know what happened on ice,” lamented Finnish coach Mira Kuisma. “We couldn't score, and our defending was bad.”
Promoted this year for the first time since 2014, Hungary’s best moment came when captain Reka Hiezl brought her team to 2-1 in its opening game against Sweden. That would turn out to be the only goal to date for the Hungarian squad that is now looking to engineer an upset and hold its spot for 2027.