Scotland Wins 2025 Worlds Gold as Olympic Spots Split

Scotland beat Switzerland 5-4 in the gold medal game of the BKT World Men’s Curling Championship 2025 on April 6 in Moose Jaw. Skip Bruce Mouat drew to an open house in the tenth end at Temple Gardens Centre, a second world title for his rink after 2023.

Canada’s new Brad Jacobs rink had gone 11-1 in the round robin on home ice, then lost the semi-final to those same Scots. China finished fourth and still left Saskatchewan without a direct ticket to Milano Cortina 2026.

Gold on a Four-Foot Draw in the Tenth

The final stayed tight through every end. Switzerland’s fourth, Benoit Schwarz-Van Berkel, hit out a Scottish stone in the sixth to score two and lead 3-2, and Mouat answered with a tap-up for two in the seventh. Schwarz-Van Berkel drew for one in the eighth to tie the game 4-4, Scotland blanked the ninth, and Mouat’s last draw in the tenth produced the 5-4 win and the world title.

We’ve had some really high highs this week, and some lows, but this is definitely the highest of the highs. Yesterday, we had to come out and play against two really tough teams and then today we came down the last with a four-foot draw, so you couldn’t ask for much more.

Bruce Mouat, Scotland skip, after the gold medal game

It was a seventh world championship for Scotland, and a second for this lineup of Mouat, third Grant Hardie, second Bobby Lammie, lead Hammy McMillan and alternate Kyle Waddell, coached by Michael Goodfellow. Switzerland, skipped by Yannick Schwaller with Schwarz-Van Berkel throwing fourth, was chasing a first gold since 1992. Schwaller said his team felt comfortable and hoped to come out on top next time.

Scotland had finished the round robin at 8-4, tied with China and Sweden, and was seeded fifth on head-to-head. The title still ran through three win-or-go-home games in two days.

SCOTLAND’S THREE KNOCKOUT WINS

• April 5, qualifier: Scotland 8-7 Sweden, to reach the semi-finals.
• April 5, semi-final: Scotland 7-4 Canada, after the hosts had sat first all week.
• April 6, gold medal game: Scotland 5-4 Switzerland, on Mouat’s tenth-end draw.

World Curling confirmed the eight men’s Olympic places at the end of that medal ceremony, with two more still to be filled in Kelowna in December.

Canada’s 11-1 Week Ends With Bronze

Jacobs, the 2014 Olympic champion, skipped a new Calgary Glencoe Club rink with Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant, Ben Hebert and alternate Tyler Tardi. They opened with a 7-3 win over Japan and a 7-5 hold against Germany, then dropped their only round-robin game on March 31, 6-5 in an extra end to Mouat.

They answered that loss with an 8-6 win over Niklas Edin’s Sweden and a 4-2 win over Italy, and an 8-2 rout of Austria on April 4 locked first place and a bye to the semi-finals. Canada shot 91.9 percent as a team, scored 90 and allowed 42, and took the top seed at 11-1.

CANADA’S MOOSE JAW LINE

• Round robin: 11-1, first of 13 teams, bye to the semi-finals.
• Team shooting: 91.9 percent, 90 points for and 42 against.
• Semi-final: 4-7 loss to Scotland on April 5.
• Bronze medal game: 11-2 win over China on April 6, in eight ends.

The bronze game was over early. Jacobs’s rink scored three in the first end and five in the fourth, and China, skipped by Xiaoming Xu, could not keep up. Jacobs said they wanted to come out strong, hold their heads high, and get on the podium for themselves and the fans. He also put the week on a longer run, saying the group was 30-4 in their last 34 games, with the four losses to Ross Whyte, Brad Gushue and twice to Mouat.

The twenty-session round robin ran from March 29 to April 4. The session-by-session Moose Jaw results show how that 11-1 week was built, and how the fifth seed still ended up throwing last rock in the final.

Sunday’s crowd helped push the total for the event to 77,985 in a city of just over 33,000, the first World Curling championship staged in Moose Jaw.

FEATURE | Moose Jaw certainly knows how to host an unforgettable BKT World Men's Curling Championship! 🤩

Read the full story about the #WMCC's impact on Moose Jaw here ➡️ https://t.co/7F0DXsmkZf#Curling pic.twitter.com/a1KnIpwng1

— World Curling (@worldcurling) April 6, 2025

Who Qualified Directly for Milano Cortina 2026?

Eight national Olympic committees locked men’s places off the 2024 and 2025 world championships, with Italy already in as host. Great Britain (through Scotland), Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Norway and Czechia joined them. Two spots stayed open for the Olympic Qualification Event in Kelowna, British Columbia, in December 2025.

The worlds table and that Olympic list were not the same. China finished fourth in Saskatchewan and still had to go to Kelowna. Czechia went 6-6 and missed the playoffs, and Germany went 5-7 after arriving as European champions, and both were named among the eight.

WORLDS FINISH AGAINST THE OLYMPIC ROUTE

Italy, skipped by Joel Retornaz, finished 5-7 and was already in as host. The United States, skipped here by Korey Dropkin, finished 4-8 and joined China on the Kelowna draw. Japan, also 5-7, went to the qualifier too and did not take an Olympic place.

Fourth Place Was Not Enough for China

Xu’s rink had won the 2024 Pan Continental title and was back at the worlds for the first time since 2021. That gap was the problem. Olympic places were set by points from two world championships, so a week in fourth in Moose Jaw could not cover a missed 2024 championship.

China still played like a medal team in Saskatchewan. The rink went 8-4, took third seed on head-to-head among the 8-4 group, and beat Norway 8-7 in the qualifier on April 5. Switzerland then beat them 7-3 in the semi-final, and Canada beat them 11-2 for bronze.

They went to Kelowna in December, won through that event with the United States, and reached Cortina anyway. The worlds week had already shown the ceiling and the floor: good enough to sit above Sweden and Scotland in the round robin, not good enough to skip the extra tournament.

Edin, Austria and the Teams That Missed the Cut

Sweden arrived as Olympic and world champions, with Edin on a fourteenth worlds appearance and seven prior golds. They went 8-4, took fourth seed, and lost 8-7 to Scotland in the Saturday qualifier, so the defense ended before the medal games.

Thirteen teams had qualified through the 2024 Pan Continental Championship or the 2024 European Championship. Several of the other ten left with a result that did not match the preview billing.

THE REST OF THE FIELD

• Czechia: Lukas Klima’s rink went 6-6, one win short of the playoffs, and still took a direct Olympic place.
• Germany: Marc Muskatewitz, the European champion, finished 5-7 in eighth and was named among the eight NOCs anyway.
• Italy: Last year’s bronze medallists went 5-7, with the host place already safe.
• Japan: Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi’s rink went 5-7 and had to try Kelowna.
• United States: Korey Dropkin finished 4-8, 11th of 13.
• Austria: Mathias Genner brought the country back for the first time since 2002 and went 1-11.
• Korea: Hyojun Kim’s first worlds at this level also ended 1-11.

Norway, skipped by Magnus Ramsfjell, went 7-5, lost that 8-7 qualifier to China, and still had enough two-year points to go to Italy. Vice-skip Martin Sesaker was voted the Collie Campbell Memorial Award winner by the players after the medals.

Jacobs Flips the Result in Cortina

The Olympic men’s field in February 2026 was the Moose Jaw argument played again, with two extra teams. Switzerland went 9-0 in the round robin, Canada 7-2, Great Britain and Norway 5-4. Mouat then beat the unbeaten Swiss 8-5 in the semi-final, and Jacobs beat Norway 5-4.

The gold medal game on February 21 was the rematch Moose Jaw never gave Canada in a final. Great Britain led 6-5 after eight ends. Canada scored three in the ninth when Mouat’s freeze left room, and Jacobs picked out the British stone to go 8-6. In the tenth, Mouat had to take out two Canadian stones to score two and force an extra end. His last strike was too straight, Canada stole one, and Jacobs had the title, beating Great Britain by 9-6.

I’m glad it’s over and we won. Very relieved, it’s a hard couple of weeks and we went through a lot and to persevere and get through that after everything that happened. I’m a big believer in the curling gods and we were meant to win this one.

Brad Jacobs, Canada skip, after the Olympic final

Mouat said two-time Olympic medallist sounded cool, and that he just wished it was the other colour. Switzerland took bronze 9-1 over Norway. China, the worlds fourth-place rink that had to qualify in December, went 2-7 in the Olympic round robin. Edin’s Sweden also went 2-7.

Jacobs became the first men’s skip with two Olympic titles, twelve years after Sochi. The rink that went 11-1 in Moose Jaw and lost the semi-final had the last shot of the cycle, against the team that had beaten it twice in Saskatchewan.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Won the Collie Campbell Memorial Award in 2025?

Norway vice-skip Martin Sesaker won the player-voted Collie Campbell Memorial Award after the medal ceremony in Moose Jaw, the honour given to the competitor who best shows sportsmanship and the spirit of curling.

When Did Canada Last Win the World Men’s Curling Championship?

Canada’s last world men’s title before Moose Jaw came in 2017 in Edmonton, skipped by Brad Gushue. Jacobs’s bronze was Canada’s first at this event since 2015.

Where Was the 2026 World Men’s Curling Championship Played?

The 2026 LGT World Men’s Curling Championship was held March 28 to April 5 in Ogden, Utah, the first worlds after the Moose Jaw title and the Cortina Olympic tournament.

How Did the United States Reach Milano Cortina After Finishing 11th in Moose Jaw?

Korey Dropkin’s 4-8 week ended any chance of a direct place. In Kelowna from December 6 to 11, 2025, a different US rink skipped by Daniel Casper went 6-1 in the round robin, beat China 9-4 in the first qualification game, and took one of the two remaining Olympic berths, with China taking the other by beating Japan.