The United States will be battling history as well as Canada when the countries play in Sunday’s gold medal game (8:10 a.m. ET, NBC, Peacock) at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
That’s because Canada has the edge against the USA in recent championship games of best-on-best tournaments featuring NHL players.
You have to go all the way back to the 1996 World Cup of Hockey for the last time that the United States prevailed. In the meantime, Canada has won two Olympic gold medal game matchups and last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off.
The 2026 U.S. and Canada Olympic rosters are mostly made up of 4 Nations Face-Off players.
Here’s a look at how the USA has fared in the last five championship matchups against Canada:
2025 4 Nations Face-Off: Canada 3, USA 2 (OT)
There was hope for a victory after the United States won a fight-filled game in the round robin of the NHL-run tournament. But the championship game was a loss for the USA.
Tournament MVP Nathan MacKinnon opened the scoring, but Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson gave the USA the lead. That didn’t last long as Canada’s Sam Bennett tied the game less than seven minutes later. After a scoreless third period, the game went to overtime. Jordan Binnington made big saves on Auston Matthews and Tkachuk before Connor McDavid scored the winner.
The USA’s Matthew Tkachuk, who had missed the third game of the tournament with an injury, dressed for the final but couldn’t finish the game.
2010 Olympics: Canada 3, USA 2 (OT)
The Americans tied the game in Vancouver on a Zach Parise goal with 25 seconds left in regulation. Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby then scored the golden goal for Canada at 7:40 of overtime. That started an international run for Canada. The country won the 2014 Olympics (beating the USA in the semifinals) and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey (Crosby was MVP).
2002 Olympics: Canada 5, USA 2
The United States had the home crowd in Utah and the ‘Miracle on Ice’ coach in Herb Brooks. But Canada got big games from future Hall of Famers. Jarome Iginla and Joe Sakic each scored twice and Paul Kariya also scored as Canada overcame 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to win Olympic gold for the first time since 1952. Martin Brodeur made 31 saves.
1996 World Cup of Hockey: USA wins final series 2-1
This, along with the 1980 Olympics, is one of USA Hockey’s bigger moments. Canada won the opener of the best-of-three final in Philadelphia, then the Americans needed to win twice in Montreal for the title. They had two 5-2 victories and overcame two one-goal deficits. After Adam Foote put Canada ahead 2-1, the USA scored four times in the final four minutes to stun Canada in the final game. Keith Tkachuk, father of U.S. Olympians Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, scored five goals in that tournament.
1991 Canada Cup: Canada wins final series 2-0
Canada swept the final with 4-1 and 4-2 victories. Canada’s Steve Larmer had two goals (one short-handed) and an assist in the second game.