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The 2023 IIHF World Championship is set to get underway in Europe. There are 16 countries competing at the event, with the goal of a gold medal in mind.

Finland enters this year as the defending champions. The country defeated Canada 4-3 in overtime of the 2022 gold-medal game to earn its fourth first-place finish at the tournament.

It has been Finland and Canada competing in the championship game of the event for the last three consecutive years. Will that trend continue in 2023, or will a new country contend for gold?

The Sporting News has everything you need for the 2023 IIHF World Championship.

2023 IIHF World Championship standings

There are 16 countries competing at the 2023 IIHF World Championship. The group is split up into two pools of eight.

Teams will play seven preliminary games in a round-robin format within their group, followed by a three-round playoff.

In the group stage, teams earn three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime win, one point for an overtime loss and no points for a regulation loss.

The top four teams from each pool advance to the quarterfinals. The winners of quarterfinal games advance to the semis, while the losers will play in a 5th-place game for seeding purposes. The victors of the semifinals will face off in the gold medal game, and the semis losers will play for bronze

2023 IIHF World Championship schedule

Saturday, May 27

Matchup Time (ET)

Semifinal: Canada vs. Latvia 7:20 a.m.

Semifinal: USA vs. Germany 11:20 a.m.

Saturday, May 27

Matchup Time (ET)

Bronze-Medal Game 8:20 a.m.

Gold-Medal Game 1:20 p.m.

When is the 2023 IIHF World Championship?

Start date: Friday, May 12

End date: Sunday, May 28

The 2023 tournament is set to start on Friday, May 12 and run until Sunday, May 28.

The group stage will take over a week and a half, as it begins on Friday, May 12 and goes until Tuesday, May 23. The playoff portion of the tournament starts on Thursday, May 25.

How to watch 2023 IIHF World Championship on TV, live stream

TV channel (U.S.): NHL Network

Live stream (U.S.): Fubo (free trial), ESPN+

​TV channel (Canada): TSN, RDS

Live stream (Canada): TSN.ca, TSN app

TSN and the NHL Network are the homes in North America for the 2023 IIHF World Championship

In the United States, all games involving Team USA and other select pool play games will be broadcast on NHL Network. The network will have both semifinal games and medal games.

Cord cutters can stream NHL Network through Fubo, which offers a free trial. ESPN+ will carry games that are not available on NHL Network.

Canadians can view games on TSN (English language) or RDS (French language). The network will carry every game with Canada involved at the tournament and select other games, including all of the playoff contests.

Where is the 2023 IIHF World Championship?

Location: Tampere, Finland / Riga, Latvia

Venue: Nokia Arena / Arena Riga

The 2023 IIHF World Championship is being split between two host countries: Tampere, Finland and Riga, Latvia.

Games held in Tampere will be played at the Nokia Arena, the home rink for Ilves and Tappara of Finland's Liiga. Contests in Riga will be played at Arena Riga, home of Latvian national teams and the former arena of the KHL's Dinamo Riga.

The 2023 tournament was scheduled to be held in Saint Petersburg, Russia, however, the country's rights to the event were stripped following the IIHF ban of Russia and Belarus following the invasion of Ukraine.