Team Canada is going for gold at the Men’s World Curling Championship
Team Canada will play in the final of the World Men’s Curling Championship in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. On Saturday, Team Gushue locked up a 9-4 victory over Scotland’s Bruce Mouat in eight ends.
Canada, represented by Team Gushue — skip Brad Gushue, vice-skip Mark Nichols, second E.J. Harnden, lead Geoff Walker, and alternate Kyle Doering — improves their record to 10-2 and will face Sweden’s Niklas Edin in the final on Sunday. It will be a match-up with a taste of revenge for Team Gushue, who fell to Sweden 6-5 during the preliminary phase.
Canada will attempt to win their first world title since 2017. In five world championship appearances together, Gushue, Nichols, and Walker have never missed the playoffs. They collected silver medals in 2018, 2022, and 2023, which was their first season with Harnden.
Facing Scotland, Canada rode a wave in the second-half surge to defeat Scotland at IWC Arena.
Currently ranked second in the world, the Canadians played a solid game getting off to a sharp start with two in the first end. Scotland countered with two of its own in the second, making it a 2-2 game heading into the third end. Blanking the third end, Canada’s handle on the game was waning halfway through after giving up a steal in the fourth and being forced to a single in the fifth.
“We didn’t want to force it too much. We really wanted to manage the scoreboard. But I messed it up a bit in the fourth, coming a foot too heavy and not giving ourselves an opportunity. But then he did the same thing in the next end to give it back. It worked out in our favour,” Gushue said.
Bringing the pressure, Canada took advantage of an error from their opponents to make a move in the sixth end. Team Mouat faced four Canadian counters on its final shot and was light on the draw. The stone crept far enough to count out one on the top 12-foot, but Canada stole three and took a 6-3 lead.
“I thought there was high-quality curling. There were a few half-shots and three-quarter shots, but they played strong, and it was definitely back-and-forth. We hung in there as best we could. You don’t expect him to miss a shot like that in six, but that’s sports. Mistakes happen, and we’re fortunate it didn’t happen to us this time,” Nichols said.
The three-point lead allowed Canada to simplify its game plan and take complete control in the second half, forcing Scotland to take a single in the seventh. The Scots conceded in the eighth end after it was light on another draw, allowing Canada to draw three more and confirm their victory.
“We just got to get a little better of a record in that game now, so we’ll see how it goes,” Gushue said of his 1-3 record in gold-medal games. “To get to a world final is a big accomplishment, but I’m not too excited because I have played in four others. It’s about winning tomorrow and playing a good game. The win is somewhat out of control because we don’t start with the hammer tomorrow, but we’ll have to give ourselves a chance and flip the hammer early.”
In the other semifinal match, Sweden dominated Italy 5-1. On Sunday, Gushue and Edin will meet in the final for the fourth time in the past seven events.
READ: Team Canada advances to playoffs at World Men’s Curling Championship
By securing their spot in the top six, Team Gushue have also booked themselves a spot in the four-player Canadian Curling Trials that will take place in November 2025 and will determine who will be Team Canada in men’s curling at Milano Cortina 2026. The results from this year’s worlds will be combined with those at next year’s worlds to decide the first eight countries to earn Olympic qualification.
