TAMPERE, Finland – The U.S. Men’s National Team will face Czechia here on Thursday (May 25) in the quarterfinals of the 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championship with the opening faceoff set for 4:20 p.m. local/9:20 a.m. ET. The game can be seen live on NHL Network in the U.S.

Team USA earned the top spot in Group A after winning all seven of its preliminary-round games in the tournament for the first time ever. Czechia won four of its seven games in preliminary round play and finished fourth in Group B.

“Czechia is an excellent team and we’ll have our hands full,” said David Quinn, head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team. “I’m proud of what this team has accomplished so far, but we didn’t just come here to win our group. We came here to win a gold medal and there’s more work to be done.”

The teams are meeting for the 19th time ever in the world championship and the U.S. is 6-2-1-8-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L-T). The teams last faced off in the bronze medal game of last year’s world championship with the Czechs earning an 8-4 victory. There have been six previous quarterfinal engagements between the U.S. and Czechs, with the teams each having won three times. The U.S. has won the last two quarterfinal contests played between the two squads, the last coming by a 3-2 count in 2018.

Team USA is in the quarterfinals of the world championship for the 12th straight year, and in 24 previous quarterfinal appearances is 8-3-3-11 (W-OTW-OTL-L). The U.S. has won three of its last four quarterfinal tilts, including a 3-0 victory over Switzerland a year ago.

The other quarterfinals match-ups include Switzerland vs. Germany; Canada vs. Finland; and Sweden vs. Latvia. After the quarters, the teams will be re-seeded based on point totals in the preliminary round to set Saturday’s semifinal match-ups, with the top seed facing the fourth seed and the two and three seeds meeting.

Team USA Stats Through Seven Games