Team Canada seeks first men’s world curling title since 2017 and Olympic qualification 

On the heels of Team Homan’s second straight gold medal at the World Women’s Curling Championship, Team Canada is hungry for more hardware, this time on home ice at the 2025 World Men’s Curling Championship in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. 

More than a decade after his only previous world championship appearance, Brad Jacobs will be back holding the broom for Team Canada. One year before he skipped Canada to Olympic gold at Sochi 2014, he won silver at the 2013 World Championship.

Jacobs is skipping a new team this season, joining vice-skip Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant, and lead Ben Hebert, who have all been playing together since 2022-23. In December and January, they reached the final in back-to-back Grand Slam of Curling events, finishing as the runners-up at the National and the Masters. 

At the Brier in early March, Team Jacobs were undefeated in pool play. After losing in the page 1v2 qualifier game, they went on to win four straight pressure-packed elimination games to take the Canadian crown. 

READ: Team Jacobs is now Team Canada after victory at 2025 Brier

Although this is their debut season together, the four core members of Team Jacobs each have a great history of winning. 

Kennedy and Hebert will both be making their fifth world championship appearances. For many years, they formed a formidable front end duo. They won Olympic gold together at Vancouver 2010 as well as a couple of world titles in 2008 and 2016. 

Gallant won Olympic bronze with Team Gushue at Beijing 2022, the last season he played with the Newfoundland-based team. His success with them also included a world title in 2017 and world silver medals in 2018 and 2022. This is the first year since 2021 that Team Canada at the World Men’s Curling Championship is not skipped by Brad Gushue. 

Canada has won 36 gold medals all-time at the World Men’s Curling Championship—by far the most of any country—but none since Team Gushue’s triumph in 2017. Canada finished as the runner-up each of the last three years. 

Olympic qualification on the line 

Beyond medals, teams will have their eyes on securing Olympic spots for their countries. 

Seven countries will earn their entry into the men’s curling tournament at Milano Cortina 2026, joining host nation Italy. Points based on the final standings from the 2024 and 2025 World Championships will be added together to determine the first batch of Olympic qualified countries. Which team will become Team Canada for Milano Cortina 2026 will be determined at the Canadian Curling Trials in November 2025. 

Here is how the men’s Olympic qualification rankings stand heading into the 2025 World Championship: 

1- Italy – 11 points (qualified as host nation) 
2- Sweden – 15 points
3 – Canada – 13 points
4 – Scotland (Great Britain) – 10 points
5 – Germany – 9 points
6 – United States – 8 points 
7 – Switzerland – 7 points
8 – Netherlands – 6 points
9 – Czechia – 5 points
10 – Norway – 4 points
11 – Japan – 3 points
12 – South Korea – 2 points
13 – New Zealand – 1 point 

The 13 teams in attendance this year will all play each other in a round robin. The top six teams will advance to the playoffs. There are no tiebreaker games; ties are resolved based on head-to-head results, or if needed, pre-game Last Shot Draw distances.

The top two teams after the round robin advance directly to the semifinals. The third-place team will play the sixth-place team and the fourth-place team will play the fifth-place team in qualification games, with the winners moving on to the semis. The winning teams from those semifinals will play for gold while the two losing teams face off for bronze.

Team Canada’s top challengers

Team Bruce Mouat, representing Scotland, sits first in the world rankings, two spots ahead of Jacobs. Mouat was fourth at last year’s worlds after winning gold in 2023. His team claimed Olympic silver at Beijing 2022. Team Mouat was named as Team Scotland for this year’s world championship despite losing in the final of the Scottish Championships. 

Although Team Niklas Edin of Sweden is further down in the world rankings, they can never be counted out. The definition of a dynasty, they have won five of the last six world titles as well as Olympic gold at Beijing 2022. 

Joël Retornaz became an Italian folk hero during his Olympic debut nearly two decades ago at Turin 2006. Now heading into his 11th worlds, he skipped his team to bronzes at the 2022 and 2024 World Championships, which were the first medals ever for Italy at a curling worlds. 

Team Canada’s Schedule at World Men’s Curling Championship: 

Saturday March 29 – 2:00 p.m. CST / 4:00 p.m EDT – Japan 
Saturday March 29 – 7:00 p.m. CST / 9:00 p.m. EDT – Germany 

Sunday March 30 – 2:00 p.m. CST / 4:00 p.m. EDT – South Korea 

Monday March 31 – 2:00 p.m. CST / 4:00 p.m. EDT – Scotland 

Tuesday April 1 – 9:00 a.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. EDT – Sweden
Tuesday April 1 – 7:00 p.m. CST / 9:00 p.m. EDT – Italy 

Wednesday April 2 – 9:00 a.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. EDT – Norway
Wednesday April 2 – 7:00 p.m. CST / 9:00 p.m. EDT – Czechia 

Thursday April 3 – 9:00 a.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. EDT – China
Thursday April 3 – 7:00 p.m. CST / 9:00 p.m. EDT – Switzerland 

Friday April 4 – 2:00 p.m. CST / 4:00 p.m. EDT – Austria
Friday April 4 – 7:00 p.m. CST / 9:00 p.m. EDT – United States 

Saturday April 5 – 9:00 a.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. EDT – Qualification Playoff*
Saturday April 5 – 3:00 p.m. CST / 5:00 p.m. EDT – Semifinals* 

Sunday April 6 – 9:00 a.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. EDT – Bronze Medal Game*
Sunday April 6 – 3:00 p.m. CST / 5:00 p.m. EDT – Gold Medal Game*

*pending qualification

You can keep track of live scores, standings, and statistics thanks to World Curling. All of Canada’s round robin games and playoff games will be broadcast live on TSN.