<p><strong>It's the first time Finland have reached the Final since taking gold in 2022, while Canada's wait to return to the showpiece since their last triumph in 2023 goes on.</strong></p><p>A comfortable 4-1 win over Czech Republic had put an end to three Quarter-final losses in a row for Finland, while Canada had gone one better with a 4-0 win over neighbours United States to end the holders' grip on the trophy.</p><p>After 20 minutes it looked as if Canada still had every chance of taking the trophy for themselves, albeit after a great start for the Finns, who went ahead in the fourth minute when Konsta Helenius knocked the puck out of his own zone for <strong>Patrik Puistola to chase down the right, before cutting in and powering a shot</strong> into the top corner.</p><p>But it was all Canada for the rest of the first period - they were level less than five minutes later when Finland failed to clear their zone before a <strong>Denton Mateychuk shot struck teammate Dylan Holloway, diverting it perfectly into the path of Robert Thomas, who applied the simple finish.</strong></p><p>Six minutes later the Canadians were ahead <strong>Holloway brought down a clearance from Macklin Celebrini before racing through and firing in</strong> off the pipes.</p><p>However, the second period belonged exclusively to the <em>Leijonat</em>, who needed just 49 seconds of it to level again, as <strong>Mikko Lehtonen's shot was blocked by teammate Mikael Granlund, who tried to force it home before Aleksander Barkov finally turned it into the net.</strong></p><p>Soon after the midpoint in the match, Granlund and Barkov were involved again as Finland re-took the lead, working in tandem on the left before <strong>sending Helenius through, and his shot only just crossed the line before the despairing Jet Greaves could hook it away</strong> with his skate.</p><p>Just over a minute later, Finland had the first two-goal lead of the game after <strong>Aatu Raty emerged from the crowd to score amid a scramble for the puc</strong>k in front of the Canadian net. Though Raty was called for hooking with two minutes of the period left, the Finns held on to lead 4-2 with one period to go.</p><p>The third period saw the momentum swing back once again, but though Canada had 15 shots on goal compared to just two for Antti Pennanen's side, they couldn't find a route back into the game against a disciplined defence who didn't concede a powerplay when really under pressure, <strong>doing enough to win 4-2 and reach the gold medal match.</strong></p><p><strong>Switzerland await Finland in the Final at 20:20 CEST tomorrow, Sunday 31st May</strong>, while Canada must pick themselves up ahead of facing Norway in the bronze medal game at 15:30 CEST, after the host nation thrashed the Norwegians 6-0 in the first Semi-final.</p><p><strong>Follow the medal matches at the 2026 World Ice Hockey Championship on Flashscore.</strong></p>