The men's Olympic hockey tournament has entered the knockout stage, as each team is one lo s away from elimination. Unsurprisingly, the United States and Canada enter the playoffs as the two best and only undefeated teams remaining in the tournament. Canada won Group A, and the United States won Group C, and now there is the expectation that the two will face off before the Olympics is over. In order for that to happen, though, both teams have to win their remaining games, which could result in a much-anticipated gold medal game between Canada and the United States. Here's the only way in which the United States and Canada can face off in men's hockey. MORE 2026 OLYMPICS: | | Olympic hockeyseeds, explained After each team played three preliminary round games over the weekend, every team was ranked 1-12 based on their record and performance in those games. The first four teams automatically earned a bye to the quarterfinals on Wednesday, while teams 5-12 were forced to play in the qualifying playoffs, with the matchups being No. 5 vs. No. 12, No. 6 vs. No. 11, No. 7 vs. No. 10 and No. 8 vs. No. 9. Once Tuesday's games are over, Nolan Foote Jersey the winners will move on in a traditional bracket: No. 1 vs. No. 8/No. 9 No. 2 vs. No. 7/No.10 No. 3 vs. No. 6/No.11 No. 4 vs. No. 5/No.12 However, once the four semifinal teams are set, the bracket will re-seed so that the highest remaining seed plays the lowest remaining seed. MORE: Olympic hockey bracket Here's how the full bracket looked after the preliminary round games: 2026 Olympic Men's Hockey Playoff Bracket Quarterfinals on Wed. Feb. 18: 1. CAN vs. Winner CZE / DEN 2. USA vs. Winner SWE / LAT 3. SVK vs. Winner GER / FRA 4. FIN vs. Winner SUI / ITA Semifinals (Feb. 20) then re-seed based on these standings: Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) Switzerland and Germany won their preliminary round games, advancing them to the quarterfinals. Switzerland draws Finland and Germany will get Slovakia next. When will USA-Canada play in men's hockey? The only way that the United States and Canada can play in the men's hockey tournament is if the two meet in the gold medal games. Since Canada is ranked No. 1, and USA is ranked No. 2, there is no scenario where they could play each other in the quarterfinals or semifinals. Therefore, the United States and Canada must win both their quarterfinal and semifinal games in order to finally play the other on Sunday. Who will USA play next? The United States will play the winner of No. 7 Sweden vs. No. 10 Latvia in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Sweden is favored, so the U.S. could draw the NHL-heavy Swedish team, but a Latvia upset would mean the United States then gets the Latvians. In the group stage, the United States didn't play Sweden, but the team did beat Latvia 5-1 in its opening game. Who will Canada play next? As the No. 1 seed, Canada will play the winner of No. 8 Czechia vs. No. 9 Denmark in the quarterfinals. In the preliminary round, Canada opened with a 5-0 win against Czechia, while Denmark was in a different group for the first three games. Colton White Jersey