Latvia upsets USA to win bronze at 2023 World Hockey Championship for first time ever

History made.

For the first time in Latvia’s history at any top-level IIHF event, Latvia has won bronze after beating the United States 4-3 in overtime.

After losing 6-0 to Canada and 2-1 to Slovakia to open the tournament, Latvia went on to win eight games in a row to win bronze in a tournament they co-hosted. Among the most notable victories, Latvia beat Czechia for the first time, ended Switzerland’s perfect record to finish the round-robin and advance before beating Sweden to advance to the final four for the first time ever. Yesterday, Latvia led multiple times against Canada but came up short, sending them to the bronze medal game today.

Latvia scored early and led twice in the first period, thanks to goals from Roberts Bukarts and Janis Jaks. USA got two goals from Rocco Grimaldi and a third from Matt Coronato, giving USA the 3-2 lead at 46:19. That lead lasted until 54:21, when Calgary Flames prospect Kristians Rubins scored with six minutes to go to force overtime. Then, just 1:22 into the extra frame, Rubins scored to make it 4-3, giving Latvia the historic victory in front of a Latvian-heavy crowd.

Before today, Latvia had never finished higher than seventh in the World Championship, failing to make it out of the quarterfinals every year previous. Latvia failed to qualify for the playoff round in the three previous events, including the 2021 tournament in Riga.

USA has only won gold at the World Championship twice, first in 1933 and again in 1960 when the Olympics took over as the tournament that year. USA has finished on the podium 13 times, most recently in 2021.

Canada and Germany will play for gold at 1:20 PM ET, with Canada looking to return to the top step since that same event in 2021. Germany has never played in the championship game.