Is Canada out of the World Juniors? How historic loss to Czechia ends Canadians’ 2025 medal chances

Thursday night felt like Groundhog Day for Canada at the World Juniors. 

The Canadians’ time at the 2025 U-20 tournament is over, as Czechia handed Canada a 4-3 loss in the quarterfinal round in Ottawa. A goal by Adam Jecho with 39 seconds left in regulation lifted the Czechs to victory over the home nation, ending Canada’s World Juniors in the same exact fashion as it did at the 2024 edition.

Thursday night’s loss marked Canada’s first back-to-back quarterfinal elimination at the World Juniors. The defeat ensures a fifth-place finish for Canada and the second consecutive year with a finish off the podium. 

When was the last time Canada failed to medal at a World Juniors event? The Sporting News has everything you need to know.

MORE: Czechia knocks Canada from World Juniors for second consecutive year

Is Canada out of the 2025 World Juniors?

Yes, Canada’s run at the 2025 World Juniors is over.

The 4-3 quarterfinal loss to Czechia stops Canada from advancing to the semifinals and prohibits any chance to medal at the tournament. The home team will not play another game at the competition in Ottawa.

When was the last time Canada didn’t medal at the World Juniors?

You don’t have to go that far back to find the last medal-less World Juniors for Canada. The 2025 result is a repeat from 2024 — a loss in the quarterfinals to Czechia.

In 2024, Canada was the No. 2 seed from its group after picking up three wins and a loss to Sweden in the preliminary round, setting up a matchup against No. 3 seed Czechia.

The Czechs handed the then-defending champions a 3-2 loss to end their run in Gothenburg, Sweden. Jakub Stancl’s two goals lead Czechia to the upset win.   

How many times has Canada failed to medal at the World Juniors?

Canada has been a frequent podium member at the World Juniors, but that won’t be the case in 2025. This two-year run marks the first time since 2013-2014 that the nation failed to win a medal in back-to-back tournaments.

This year is the 49th edition of the competition, and 2025 marks just the 14th time Canada will not medal at the event.

Out of the 14 medal-less finishes, nine of those have been a result of failing to reach the semifinals. Four have been due to Canada falling in the bronze medal game, finishing just outside of a podium spot.

The other exception is Canada’s disqualification from the 1987 tournament in Piestany, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia). At the time, the competition featured a round-robin format, with the top three records winning the three medals. Canada had clinched at least a bronze-medal finish heading into the final game against the Soviet Union. 

That all changed during the final contest. In the second period, a line brawl broke out in the second period after a collision between Canada’s Everett Sanipass and the Soviet Union’s Sergei Shesterikov. The brawl went on for so long that the officials eventually left the ice and the rink tried to end the melee by turning off the lights in the arena after the punches continued for more than 20 minutes.

As a result, both Canada and the Soviet Union were disqualified from the tournament. The incident became known as the Punch-up in Piestany. 

Here is a look at Canada’s 13 medal-less finishes at the World Juniors. 

What country has won the most World Juniors medals?

While it won’t be adding to its medal total, Canada still has the most gold medals of all time. The 2023 win marked the 20th gold medal for the country. 

Russia, which is not participating in the 2025 World Juniors competition, owns the most total medals with 37. The program has won the most silver and bronze medals out of any country.

The United States is tied for the third-most gold medals with Finland and owns the sixth-most total medals. 

* Includes medals won as the Soviet Union and CIS
+ Includes medals won as Czechoslovakia