Norwegian captain Anders Martinsen (#17) celebrates after Stian Solberg's second-period goal in an historic 3-2 bronze-medal upset over Canada in overtime.
photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / MATT ZAMBONIN
In one of the biggest upsets in international hockey history, Norway shocked an out-of-sync Canadian team 3-2 in overtime in Sunday’s bronze medal game at the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. After Canada staged a late rally to tie it up, Noah Steen scored the sudden-death winner at 3:32.
Steen raced in on a 2-on-1 rush with Sander Hurrod and zapped a glove-side wrister past Canadan goalie Jet Greaves. The Orebro HK forward celebrated his seventh goal -- tying him with Latvia's Rudolfs Balcers for the overall lead -- by sliding on his knees as his teammates mobbed him.
It is Norway's first medal in IIHF history in any top-division tournament.
"I didn't even know what I feel right now," said Steen. "It's beyond words! I’m so proud of this group, and that we’ve pulled this off together. We’re worth this, and the feeling that we’ve earned this is a great feeling."
"This is huge," said Norway's Kristian Ostby. "Hockey fever is back in Norway. Hopefully we are starting something new today and can get more people to play, build more rinks. Hopefully this is a turning point."
Norwegian goalie Henrik Haukeland, who shares the tournament shutouts lead (three) with Switzerland's Leonardo Genoni, was brilliant with 44 saves. In regulation time, Emilio Pettersen and Stian Solberg scored for Norway.
Robert Thomas scored twice for Canada with under two minutes to play to tie it up. Canadian goalie Jet Greaves had 21 stops.
"You have to give them a lot of credit," Thomas said of Norway. "They played hard. They took advantage of our mistakes, and we had a lot of chances we didn't score on. They played a really strong game, and we didn't play well enough."
The question after the semi-finals was whether Canada would bounce back after falling 4-2 to Finland or whether Norway could come up with one last upset after losing 6-0 to Switzerland. Clearly, the Norwegians wanted this medal more. They'd already shown they could compete with Canada in a 6-5 overtime loss in the group stage.
Canadian coach Misha Donskov shuffled his lines for this showdown, with Porter Martone replacing Dylan Cozens on the top trio with veteran legend Sidney Crosby and captain Macklin Celebrini. The 19-year-old Celebrini was named an Olympic all-star when Canada took the silver medal in Milan in February, and finished with a team-high 14 points in 10 games here.
Other elite NHL names on Canada's roster included Mark Scheifele, John Tavares, and Ryan O'Reilly, underscoring the magnitude of this Norwegian upset.
"I didn't bury the chances I got," Celebrini said of the bronze game. "We made a couple of mistakes that cost us. Credit to them. They stuck to their structure."
Just 16 seconds in, Canada got the first power play when Norwegian assistant captain Christian Kaasastul high-sticked Martone. Celebrini zinged one off the post.
The Norwegians picked up their pace around the five-minute mark and persistence paid off. A forechecking Pettersen stole the puck from Greaves behind the net and opened the scoring on a wraparound at 6:44.
When Norwegian captain Andreas Martinsen took a boarding minor on Crosby, the Canadians couldn’t respond on the power play. Norway took a 1-0 lead to the dressing room despite being outshot 18-9 through 20 minutes.
In the second period, Canada continued its trend of misfires, missed passes, and lost puck battles. Canada’s defensive coverage was spotty and the Norwegians used their speed effectively.
Solberg doubled Norway's lead at 12:29 with a centre-point wrister that deflected in off defender Zach Whitecloud's calf. Solberg, a robust 20-year-old defender who plays for the AHL's San Diego Gulls as an Anaheim prospect, notably tallied a hat trick last year in a 6-5 overtime loss to the eventual champion Americans.
With 19 seconds left in the middle frame, Haukeland slid across to deny Crosby on a wicked one-timer set up by Celebrini.
Not just sitting back, Norway came out hungry for more offence in the third. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard hit the post on a 2-on-1 rush with Tinus Luc Koblar, and Greaves denied Patrik Elvsveen on a partial breakaway.
"We feel we can beat anyone," said Ostby. "Our plan today was to just go for it."
Greaves was pulled for the extra attacker in the dying moments, and finally Canada broke through. Eirik Salsten was unable to clear the puck in the slot and Thomas took advantage, scoring on a high shot at 18:44.
Norway could have secured a victory in regulation, but Pettersen missed scoring into an empty net by a hair with 22 seconds left. Thomas made it 2-2 when he barged to the crease to bang in the puck.
"When you play a team like that, we all know they wouldn’t stop playing," Martinsen said of Canada. "Had somebody told us that our last game would be a bronze medal game and that it’d go into overtime, we would’ve taken it."
This was history all around as Norway played for the first time ever in a top-division IIHF World Championship medal game.
Canada won its all-time record 28th gold medal in 2023, defeating Germany 5-2 in the final. That was the last time the Canadians have medaled at the Worlds.
This is the second straight time that Canada's medal hopes have been dashed by an unlikely Nordic foe. Host Denmark edged Canada 2-1 in the 2025 quarter-final in Herning on Nick Olesen's late goal. Crosby and Celebrini also headlined that squad along with Colorado superstar Nathan MacKinnon.
All in all, 2026 has been a tough year for Hockey Canada.
Norway defied all expectations with an excellent 2026 Worlds. In the group stage, the Polar Bears also beat Sweden 3-2 – marking their first regulation-time win over Tre Kronor ever – and Czechia 4-1. Haukeland registered his third shutout of these Worlds with 35 saves in the 2-0 quarter-final victory over Latvia.
Steen raced in on a 2-on-1 rush with Sander Hurrod and zapped a glove-side wrister past Canadan goalie Jet Greaves. The Orebro HK forward celebrated his seventh goal -- tying him with Latvia's Rudolfs Balcers for the overall lead -- by sliding on his knees as his teammates mobbed him.
It is Norway's first medal in IIHF history in any top-division tournament.
"I didn't even know what I feel right now," said Steen. "It's beyond words! I’m so proud of this group, and that we’ve pulled this off together. We’re worth this, and the feeling that we’ve earned this is a great feeling."
"This is huge," said Norway's Kristian Ostby. "Hockey fever is back in Norway. Hopefully we are starting something new today and can get more people to play, build more rinks. Hopefully this is a turning point."
Norwegian goalie Henrik Haukeland, who shares the tournament shutouts lead (three) with Switzerland's Leonardo Genoni, was brilliant with 44 saves. In regulation time, Emilio Pettersen and Stian Solberg scored for Norway.
Robert Thomas scored twice for Canada with under two minutes to play to tie it up. Canadian goalie Jet Greaves had 21 stops.
"You have to give them a lot of credit," Thomas said of Norway. "They played hard. They took advantage of our mistakes, and we had a lot of chances we didn't score on. They played a really strong game, and we didn't play well enough."
The question after the semi-finals was whether Canada would bounce back after falling 4-2 to Finland or whether Norway could come up with one last upset after losing 6-0 to Switzerland. Clearly, the Norwegians wanted this medal more. They'd already shown they could compete with Canada in a 6-5 overtime loss in the group stage.
Canadian coach Misha Donskov shuffled his lines for this showdown, with Porter Martone replacing Dylan Cozens on the top trio with veteran legend Sidney Crosby and captain Macklin Celebrini. The 19-year-old Celebrini was named an Olympic all-star when Canada took the silver medal in Milan in February, and finished with a team-high 14 points in 10 games here.
Other elite NHL names on Canada's roster included Mark Scheifele, John Tavares, and Ryan O'Reilly, underscoring the magnitude of this Norwegian upset.
"I didn't bury the chances I got," Celebrini said of the bronze game. "We made a couple of mistakes that cost us. Credit to them. They stuck to their structure."
Just 16 seconds in, Canada got the first power play when Norwegian assistant captain Christian Kaasastul high-sticked Martone. Celebrini zinged one off the post.
The Norwegians picked up their pace around the five-minute mark and persistence paid off. A forechecking Pettersen stole the puck from Greaves behind the net and opened the scoring on a wraparound at 6:44.
When Norwegian captain Andreas Martinsen took a boarding minor on Crosby, the Canadians couldn’t respond on the power play. Norway took a 1-0 lead to the dressing room despite being outshot 18-9 through 20 minutes.
In the second period, Canada continued its trend of misfires, missed passes, and lost puck battles. Canada’s defensive coverage was spotty and the Norwegians used their speed effectively.
Solberg doubled Norway's lead at 12:29 with a centre-point wrister that deflected in off defender Zach Whitecloud's calf. Solberg, a robust 20-year-old defender who plays for the AHL's San Diego Gulls as an Anaheim prospect, notably tallied a hat trick last year in a 6-5 overtime loss to the eventual champion Americans.
With 19 seconds left in the middle frame, Haukeland slid across to deny Crosby on a wicked one-timer set up by Celebrini.
Not just sitting back, Norway came out hungry for more offence in the third. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard hit the post on a 2-on-1 rush with Tinus Luc Koblar, and Greaves denied Patrik Elvsveen on a partial breakaway.
"We feel we can beat anyone," said Ostby. "Our plan today was to just go for it."
Greaves was pulled for the extra attacker in the dying moments, and finally Canada broke through. Eirik Salsten was unable to clear the puck in the slot and Thomas took advantage, scoring on a high shot at 18:44.
Norway could have secured a victory in regulation, but Pettersen missed scoring into an empty net by a hair with 22 seconds left. Thomas made it 2-2 when he barged to the crease to bang in the puck.
"When you play a team like that, we all know they wouldn’t stop playing," Martinsen said of Canada. "Had somebody told us that our last game would be a bronze medal game and that it’d go into overtime, we would’ve taken it."
This was history all around as Norway played for the first time ever in a top-division IIHF World Championship medal game.
Canada won its all-time record 28th gold medal in 2023, defeating Germany 5-2 in the final. That was the last time the Canadians have medaled at the Worlds.
This is the second straight time that Canada's medal hopes have been dashed by an unlikely Nordic foe. Host Denmark edged Canada 2-1 in the 2025 quarter-final in Herning on Nick Olesen's late goal. Crosby and Celebrini also headlined that squad along with Colorado superstar Nathan MacKinnon.
All in all, 2026 has been a tough year for Hockey Canada.
Norway defied all expectations with an excellent 2026 Worlds. In the group stage, the Polar Bears also beat Sweden 3-2 – marking their first regulation-time win over Tre Kronor ever – and Czechia 4-1. Haukeland registered his third shutout of these Worlds with 35 saves in the 2-0 quarter-final victory over Latvia.
Bronze Medal Game: Canada vs Norway - 2026 IIHF Men's World Championship
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