World Men's Curling Championship

From the Scotch Cup to the world championship

The men's world championship in curling began in 1959 as the Scotch Cup, a duel between Canada and Scotland sponsored by a whisky maker. In the following years other countries joined, and the tournament developed into the official world championship. Today it is organised by World Curling.

Participants and qualification

The best nations in the world take part. Places are allocated via the continental championships – for Europe via the European championships, for the Americas and Asia-Pacific via their own tournaments. The host nation qualifies automatically. There is also a qualification event for further nations.

Format

At the men's world championship, teams first play a round robin in which every team plays every other. Playoffs to the final follow. Ties in the standings are broken by head-to-head results and the results of the last stone draws, the so-called draw shot challenge. The exact format, such as how many teams reach the playoffs, is set by World Curling for each edition.

Favourites

Canada has won the world championship by far the most often. Sweden, Scotland, Switzerland and Norway are also regular medal winners. Switzerland has won several world titles too. Germany takes part regularly and reached the playoffs in some years.

Significance

Alongside the Olympic Games, the world championship is the most important title. In the season before the Olympics it also awards points for Olympic qualification. Games are broadcast live, attracting great attention in Canada and Scotland.

Watching

A world championship game lasts around two and a half to three hours. Anyone watching for the first time should keep an eye on the hammer: it often decides how an end turns out. The skips' calls can be heard through microphones.

Game length and tactics

A world championship game is played over ten ends. Each team has limited thinking time, similar to chess, and can take one timeout per game. If its thinking time runs out, the team loses the game. That is why skips have to make their decisions quickly. A team that is behind can concede with a handshake, usually only after a minimum number of ends.

Venues

The world championship moves between continents. Frequent hosts are Canada, Scotland, Switzerland and Scandinavia. When it is held in Canada, the arenas are especially full.

Legends of the men's world championship

The early years were shaped by Canada's Ernie Richardson, who won four of the first five Scotch Cups with his family team. Later, skips such as Kevin Martin and Brad Gushue from Canada set the standard. In recent years Sweden's Niklas Edin has been one of the most successful skips in world championship history, with several world titles and Olympic gold in 2022.

Canada's route to the world championship

Canada does not send a national team in the classic sense. Instead, the winner of the national championship, the Brier, represents the country. The Brier has been held since 1927 and is a major event in Canada with thousands of spectators per game. Whoever wins the Brier is automatically a world championship favourite. Other countries select their teams via national championships, rankings or trials.

Relevance for Germany, Austria and Switzerland

For Germany and Austria, qualifying via the European championships is the biggest hurdle. Swiss teams, by contrast, are almost always in the field and have won the world championship several times. Many Swiss clubs, for example in Geneva, Bern or Biel, regularly produce teams at the top of the world.