Brad Jacobs ended Canada’s 12-year gold medal drought at the Winter Olympics last month in Cortina, Italy.
Matt Dunstone will now look to do the same at the World Men’s Curling Championship in Ogden, Utah.
Fresh off winning his first Brier Tankard, Dunstone and his Winnipeg-based rink of third Colton Lott, second E.J. Harnden and lead Ryan Harnden will attempt to win Canada’s first men’s world title since Brad Gushue accomplished the feat nearly a decade ago when he defeated Swedish rival Niklas Edin in the 2017 final from Edmonton.
Matt Dunstone Matt Dunstone (Curling Canada)
Canada has reached the final on five occasions since – including four by Gushue and one by Kevin Koe – losing each time.
The action takes place at the Weber County Ice Sheet, the host venue for the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Dunstone finally overcame his Brier burden in St. John’s, Nfld., earlier this month – edging Team Koe in the championship game – after the 30-year-old lost the 2023 and 2025 finals in heartbreaking fashion in addition to the final of November’s Canadian Curling Trials.
After many seasons of coming up short at the Brier, Gushue, who is now retired from competitive curling, won his first of six Tankards at the 2017 Canadian men’s curling championship, which also took place on The Rock.
A few weeks later, Gushue’s rink won the World Men’s Curling Championship in their first appearance.
Must See: ‘He is the heartbreak kid no more’ – Dunstone wins his first career Brier Matt Dunstone clears both of Kevin Koe’s rocks out of the house with his final stone to secure the first Brier title of his career.
Could a similar fate be in store for Dunstone and company?
This will be the first men’s world championship for Dunstone and Lott, but the Harnden brothers are well-versed in the event. In their first appearance, the power-sweeping duo earned silver at the 2013 worlds as members of Team Jacobs, dropping the final to Team Edin.
E.J. Harnden picked up two more silver medals at the men’s worlds in 2023 and 2024 as part of Team Gushue. Both brothers also attended the event as alternates.
This is likely the last major curling event for E.J. Harnden as the 42-year-old native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., plans on retiring at season’s end.
Dunstone’s crew is rounded out by alternate Geoff Walker and coaches Caleb Flaxey and Jeff Stoughton.
Against a wide-open field, the gold medal will be right there for the taking for the Canadians.
Team Dunstone, No. 4 in the world, is the highest-ranked team at the world championship followed by Scotland’s Team Ross Whyte at No. 5.
The last time Canada won gold at both the Olympics and worlds in men’s curling during the same season was 2010 when Kevin Martin and Koe stood atop the podiums.
Dunstone: ‘This exact moment feels way better than I ever could have imagined it would’ Matt Dunstone joins TSN’s Bryan Mudryk to discuss what it means to win his first career Brier, how much his team meant to him on this journey, and getting a chance to represent Canada at the World Curling Championships. Dunstone’s teammate E.J. Harnden also joins TSN’s Bryan Mudryk to share what it means to win a Brier in front of his family.
Overall, Team Dunstone is 44-22 in 2025-26, winning three major events, including the Brier, PointsBet Invitational and Masters on the Grand Slam circuit. They’ve made the playoffs in seven of 10 events, dropping Grand Slam finals in Lake Tahoe and Nisku, Alta.
Following a 12-game round robin, the top two seeds advance directly to the semifinals while the next four highest ranked teams square off in the qualifiers.
Let’s take a closer look at Team Dunstone’s path to gold in Utah.
Game 1 – South Korea (Soo-hyuk Kim)
Friday, March 27 at 3:30 p.m. ET
World Ranking: 40
Soo-hyuk Kim Soo-hyuk Kim
Dunstone and Team Canada kick things off against the South Koreans, led by 41-year-old veteran skip Soo-hyuk Kim.
Kim will make his sixth appearance at the men’s worlds and first since 2022 when his team finished with a 6-6 record, his best result at the event.
The Uiseong native has regularly finished near the bottom of the standings.
Team Kim’s lone win of the season came at the Korean national championship way back in June. They own a record of 37-21, missing the playoff round at both the Pan Continental Curling Championship and Olympic Qualification Event.
Canada will be the favourites in this opening contest as South Korea will be long shots to make the final six.
Game 2 – Italy (Stefano Spiller)
Friday, March 27 at 9 p.m. ET
World Ranking: 7 (with Joel Retornaz skipping)
Amos Mosaner and Sebastiano Arman Amos Mosaner and Sebastiano Arman (Steve Seixeiro/Curling Canada)
The Italians will have a new look at this year’s World Men’s Curling Championship.
Joel Retornaz has skipped the nation at the past eight men’s worlds but has decided not to play this year’s event and will instead focus on the upcoming Rock League event in April.
The 42-year-old skipped Italy at their recent home country Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, missing the playoffs with a 4-5 record.
Italy will instead be led by 20-year-old Stefano Spiller. Spiller claimed silver at the 2026 World Junior Curling Championship earlier this month, dropping the final to Team Caden Hebert of the United States. He won gold at the 2025 World Junior Mixed Doubles Curling Championship alongside partner Lucrezia Grande.
Spiller, ranked 43rd in the world with his regular team, will skip third Amos Mosaner and second Sebastiano Arman, both longtime members of Team Retornaz.
Alberto Pimpini, who also skips his own team on Tour, will play lead while Mattia Giovanella, the regular front end player for Retornaz, will serve as the alternate.
Pimpini, 29, is ranked 144th in the world with his regular team and served as Retornaz’s alternate at the Olympics.
Retornaz has not announced any retirement plans, but the move, in part, seems to indicate a desire to give the next generation of Italian men’s curlers some reps on the international stage.
Despite Mosaner and Arman being veterans of the world championship, this will be the first taste of elite-level international curling for Spiller and Pimpini.
We’ll have to see what types of growing pains Spiller experiences in Ogden as the youngest skip in the field. With Retornaz at the helm, the Italians have been perennial playoff contenders at worlds for a while now, finishing third in 2022 and 2024.
There’s a good chance the 2026 men’s worlds will be more of a developmental year for the Italians.
Game 3 – Scotland (Ross Whyte)
Saturday, March 28 at 4 p.m. ET
World Ranking: 5
Ross Whyte’s time has finally arrived.
After spending much of his curling career in the shadow of countryman Bruce Mouat, the 27-year-old will finally get the opportunity to skip his own rink at the World Men’s Curling Championship.
Despite winning three straight Scottish Championships, the country’s curling governing body has selected the talented Mouat and his Stirling rink for six of the past seven men’s worlds and last two Olympics.
Mouat has earned the right to be the No. 1 choice, winning gold medals at the world championship in 2023 and 2025 in addition to back-to-back silver medals at the Olympics.
But with Team Mouat just finishing another long Olympic run, Team Whyte will now get their opportunity.
Whyte has served as Mouat’s alternate at two previous world championships in 2019 and 2021.
The rink from Dumfries is currently ranked fifth in the world and has been in the top 10 for a few years now.
Team Whyte is having a very strong 2025-26 season with a 48-18 record, winning four events, including the Players’ Championship, the crown jewel of the Grand Slam circuit. They also made the Canadian Open and Masters finals, losing to Team Dunstone in the latter. Whyte has made the playoffs in all but one of his team’s 12 events.
This squad should be highly motivated to show they belong as a win in Utah could lead the way to further selections to major events by Scottish Curling.
The early round-robin matchup could be a gold-medal preview as both sides are considered co-favourites to win it all.
Game 4 – United States (John Shuster)
Sunday, March 29 at 4 p.m. ET
World Ranking: 8
John Shuster and Chris Plys John Shuster and Chris Plys
If capturing the gold medal in stunning fashion at the 2018 Olympics in South Korea is the top moment of American John Shuster’s career, then winning a world title on home ice would likely be a very close second.
The 43-year-old, who has represented the United States at an incredible five Olympics and 12 world championships, is in the twilight of his career and will look to give it another shining moment with a win in Utah.
Shuster’s best performance at the men’s worlds came in 2016 when he finished third.
Ranked No. 8 in the world, Minnesota’s Team Shuster has posted a 51-18 record in 2025-26, winning the national championship in March by beating Team Andrew Stopera in the final.
They dropped a best-of-three final at the United States Olympic Trials to Team Daniel Casper, the future of men’s curling in the country.
Team Shuster has been consistent all season long, making the playoffs in every one of their 11 events, including six final appearances. They made the semis of the Grand Slams’ Canadian Open.
The future of this squad, featuring third Christopher Plys, second Colin Hufman and lead Matt Hamilton, is a little murky as this could be their last event together.
Shuster will be determined to play well in front of home country fans. He has the horses and results from this season to make it happen. Team Shuster will be a strong podium contender and will give Canada a good match on Sunday afternoon.
Game 5 – Poland (Konrad Stych)
Monday, March 30 at 11 a.m. ET
World Ranking: 90
Australia made its debut at the World Women’s Curling Championship this year in Calgary. Now it will be Poland’s turn at the World Men’s Curling Championship.
Kondrad Stych captains the 90th ranked Poles, the lowest-ranked team in the field, in the country’s tournament debut.
Team Stych, 18-28 in 2025-26, qualified via their 3-6 performance at the European Curling Championship in November, placing seventh.
The Aussies were able to leave Calgary with a win and Poland has a chance to accomplish that goal as well in Ogden but will be long shots to contend for a playoff spot.
Game 6 – Japan (Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi)
Monday, March 30 at 9 p.m. ET
World Ranking: 16
Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi (michael burns photo/Curling Canada/michael burns photo)
Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, 41, is set to represent Japan at his ninth World Men’s Curling Championship.
His squad, featuring last-rock thrower Riku Yanagisawa, went 5-7 at last year’s men’s worlds in Moose Jaw.
Yanagisawa is just 24 and this will be his third men’s worlds showing.
Yamaguchi and company have been busy this season, posting a total record of 55-24 with three bonspiel wins and 12 playoff appearances across 13 events. They finished third at the Canadian Open Tier 2, Pan-Continental Championship and the Olympic Qualification Event where they came up short on their goal of earning a spot at Milano Cortina 2026.
Japan has never earned a medal at the men’s world championship, finishing fourth in both 2016 and 2019. Yamaguchi was a second on the 2016 team.
With this year’s field being more wide-open than usual, Japan’s Team Yanagisawa has a chance to sneak into the playoffs as one of the more experienced “fringe” teams.
Game 7 – China (Xu Xiaoming)
Tuesday, March 31 at 11 a.m. ET
World Ranking: 12
Xu Xiaoming Xu Xiaoming (michael burns photo/Curling Canada/michael burns photo)
China’s Team Xu Xiaoming can contend for the podium at the men’s worlds or miss the playoffs all together.
We’ll have to see which version of this rink shows up in Ogden.
The Beijing side went 8-4 in the round robin at last year’s world championship before losing to Canada’s Team Brad Jacobs, 11-2, in a bronze medal game rout. They went 2-7 at the Olympics this year, tied with Sweden for last place.
Team Xiaoming owns a mediocre 42-34 record with their most impressive finish being third at the Players Championship’ Grand Slam event in January.
Despite the inconsistency over the past calendar year, Xiaoming’s rink has earned enough points to sit 12th in the world, the fourth highest ranked team that will compete for the world title.
Xiaoming, 41, has been to eight previous men’s worlds, although China has never reached the podium.
A playoff appearance will be the goal for this squad and there’s a good chance they get there if they can find their game.
Game 8 – Sweden (Niklas Edin)
Tuesday, March 31 at 9 p.m. ET
World Ranking: 13
Team Niklas Edin Team Niklas Edin (Misper Apawu)
Niklas Edin and his veteran Swedish rink will be highly motivated to get back on the podium at the men’s world championship.
Team Edin had a miserable week at Milano Cortina 2026 as they finished tied for last with a 2-7 record. After a slow 0-2 start, things really went off the rails in their third game when Oskar Eriksson called out Canadian third Marc Kennedy for “double touching” the stone during his release. Kennedy responded with numerous expletives that went viral on social media. The Swedes were later accused of intentionally attempting to catch Kennedy and the Canadians in the act with a camera set up at the hog line.
How controversy at Olympics motivated Brad Jacobs and Team Canada to win gold In Episode 23 of Film Never Lies, Luke Willson is joined by Canadian curler Brad Jacobs to discuss his experience at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, winning Olympic gold for the second time, how brutal it was to go through the ‘double-touch’ controversy with Sweden during the games, the memes that went viral of his teammate Marc Kennedy, and what it takes to be a skip at the highest level.
The surreal curling moment helped propel Canada to the top of the podium while Sweden continued to struggle as the 2022 Olympic champions didn’t find their game all week.
“It’s tough to deal with,” Edin said of the controversy. ”We maybe should have done something different and could have dealt with it differently, too.
“It would have been nice to just blank our minds and forget about it. But that was easier said than done. So a little lack of sleep, a little lack of focus on the right things, and it turned into a horrible week.”
Now the 40-year-old Edin, considered one of the greatest curlers of all-time, will look to turn things around in Ogden in his 15th appearance at the World Men’s Curling Championship.
Edin has represented Sweden at every world championship since 2015, winning a record seven times.
Sweden went 8-4 last year in Moose Jaw, dropping the semifinal qualifier to eventual champion Team Bruce Mouat of Scotland.
Team Edin is 33-25 this season, winning the European Curling Championship in November. They’ve made the playoffs in just one of five Grand Slams, a rarity for this squad.
Despite their struggles over the past couple seasons, Team Dunstone can’t take Edin’s rink lightly as they could still be capable of putting a gold-medal run together.
Game 9 – Switzerland (Marco Hösli)
Wednesday, April 1 at 11 a.m. ET
World Ranking: 18
The Swiss will have a new look at this year’s World Men’s Curling Championship.
Marco Hösli, 25, will represent Switzerland at the event for the first time after defeating Yannick Schwaller’s rink in the best-of-three national championship.
Team Schwaller, who rank third in the world, took Game 1 before Hösli and company stormed back with two straight wins to complete the upset.
Schwaller and his team were just days removed from winning the bronze medal at Milano Cortina 2026. They also earned silver at the 2025 World Men’s Curling Championship.
In addition to their national title, Team Hösli won the Baden Masters in August and own a .500 record of 29-29 in 2025-26. They qualified for the playoffs in six of 13 events, including missing the playoffs in all four of their Grand Slam appearances.
Hösli calls the game while his 24-year-old brother, Philipp, throw last stones. The pair earned silver at the 2019 World Junior Curling Championship, falling to Canada’s Team Tyler Tardi.
Team Hösli saved their best play for nationals but haven’t had a great season overall. Still, if they can continue to trend in the right direction, a playoff spot will be in the cards for Switzerland.
Game 10 – Czechia (Lukáš Klíma)
Wednesday, April 1 at 9 p.m. ET
World Ranking: 28
Lukas Klima Lukas Klima
Lukáš Klíma is becoming a regular at the men’s worlds for Czechia as this will be his fifth straight appearance.
Team Klíma went 6-6 last year in Moose Jaw, just missing the playoffs for their best result at the tournament. Czechia has never reached the playoffs at the World Men’s Curling Championship across 12 appearances.
The 35-year-old Klima also made his Olympic debut this season, posting a 3-6 record in Cortina.
In 2025-26, Team Klima is 36-36 with no final appearances and six playoff appearances across 14 events.
Like Türkiye on the women’s side, Czechia has slowly trended up at the men’s worlds. They could be a dark horse for the playoffs if they can manage a few upsets in Utah.
Game 11 – Germany (Marc Muskatewitz)
Thursday, April 2 at 4 p.m. ET
World Ranking: 20
Marc Muskatewitz Marc Muskatewitz (michael burns photo/Curling Canada/michael burns photo)
Germany’s Marc Muskatewitz leads another rink which competed at the Olympics in February.
Team Muskatewitz went 4-5 in Italy.
This will be the eighth total and seventh straight world championship for 30-year-old Muskatewitz. His best performance came in 2024 when he made the playoffs with an 8-4 record before losing to Italy in a semifinal qualifier. Germany went 5-7 last year.
A European curling champion in 2024, Muskatewitz and company are 26-26 in 2025-26, making the playoffs in just four of 11 events.
Germany will likely be part of a large group competing for the fifth and sixth playoff spots at the men’s worlds. By this point of the tournament, Team Dunstone could be in line to clinch a spot in the semifinal and avoid the qualifiers for the teams ranked No. 3-6.
Game 12 – Norway (Andreas Hårstad)
Thursday, April 2 at 9 p.m. ET
World Ranking: 48
Canada wraps round-robin play against Norway, led by 27-year-old skipper Andreas Hårstad.
Hårstad is making his men’s worlds debut at the position after playing lead for Magnus Ramsfjell in 2019.
Ramsfjell’s teams have represented Norway at the past four World Men’s Curling Championships, but they weren’t selected this year after finishing fourth at Milano Cortina 2026.
The 28-year-old will still be in Ogden to provide guidance, however, serving as the alternate for Hårstad’s rink.
Team Hårstad owns a 27-16 record this season with a runner-up finish at the national playdowns, losing to Ramsfjell’s rink, being their best result.
With so many teams having a shot, there’s no reason to think Norway can’t contend for the sixth playoff spot despite their lack of experience. Dunstone and Team Canada will be gearing up for the playoffs at this point, potentially with a direct bye to the semifinal on the line.