Winter Olympics live: USA take on Canada in ice hockey gold medal grudge match

February 12: Czech Republic 0-5 Canada

February 13: Switzerland 1-5 Canada

February 15: Canada 10-2 France

Czech Republic 3-4 Canada

It is hard to know what hockey-mad Canadians would find less palatable — Donald Trump following through on his rhetoric about annexing their country or losing this weekend’s Olympic men’s hockey final to the United States.

Losing your country or losing a game shouldn’t really be a choice but this is Canada, where hockey is the cultural cornerstone.

The sport has long provided an athletic outlet for political tension: the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union and the Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Winter Olympics remain prime examples.

These two teams of NHL team-mates know there is more than gold on the line in Milan before they jet back across the Atlantic to resume their seasons.

When it comes to hockey, these neighbours are anything but neighbourly — and this is the final neutrals have longed for, a Sunday showdown to bring the Games to a fitting close.

The past three winners of the gold medal have been Finland, Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) and Canada, in 2014. Four years before that, in 2010, Canada took home the gold once more, after beating the US in the final in Vancouver.

The USA has 11 medals in total for competition in ice hockey but has not taken home the gold medal since 1980, over 45 years ago. Their only other gold medal came in 1960.

But 2026 will mark the first time since 2014 where NHL players have participated in Olympic ice hockey. Historically the NHL and International Olympic Committee have failed to reach an agreement on allowing NHL players to participate. In both 2018 and 2022 this was the case, affecting the USA, Canada and many other countries.

The match will be shown on NBC and Peacock in the United States, CBC in Canada and BBC or Discovery+ in the United Kingdom.

Canada vs USA (8.10am ET/1.10pm GMT)

The blue riband event of the Winter Olympics takes place today as the US and Canada face off in the men’s ice hockey gold medal match.

The two teams were the hot favourites to make a highly anticipated final, which is set to be played out amid the backdrop of escalating political tensions between the two countries.

US president Donald Trump was rumoured to be attending in Milan, but Italian outlet Corriere Delle Dea has reported that his travel arrangements have been cancelled.

Canada won Olympic gold on home turf in Vancouver 2010, beating the US for the title, and were last crowned champions in 2014, while the US will be bidding to end a gold medal drought going back to 1980 – the year of the infamous ‘Miracle on Ice’.

Elsewhere on the final day of the Games the men’s four-man bobsleigh medals will be decided, as well as the women’s curling gold medal match and the women’s cross-country skiing 50km mass start, before the curtain comes down on Milano-Cortina 2026 at the Closing Ceremony in Verona.