Great Britain begin their World Championship campaign in Tampere this afternoon against Czechia, who are ranked seventh in the world (14:20 UK time face-off).

It’s day two of the tournament and both sides play their first game in the impressive 13,500-seater Nokia Arena.

Group B got under way yesterday afternoon as USA beat Latvia 4-1 and hosts Finland defeated Norway 5-0 in the evening game.

Team news
GB will have a full 25-man roster in Tampere and will name their 22-player matchday squad ahead of face-off.

Cade Neilson and Josh Waller are set to be the 424th and 425th players to represent Great Britain.

Ben O’Connor is set to become only the 12th player to reach 70 caps, while Ben Davies is set for his 40th cap.

Czechia have a much-changed roster from last year’s World Championship in Latvia, with only eight players returning from the 2021 edition.

There’s also a new Head Coach with Czechia now being led by Finn Kari Jalonen.

Recent meeting
The two sides met in Latvia in last year’s World Championship with Czechia winning 6-1 at the Olympic Sports Centre in Riga.

Lukas Klok gave Czechia a first-period lead before Filip Ronek, Libor Sulak and Filip Chytil made it 4-0.

Matthew Myers closed the gap with 21st goal on his 101st GB appearance, but Radan Lenc made it 5-1 and Sulak scored his second of the game to complete the scoring.

GB record v Czechoslovakia / Czech Republic / Czechia
P8 W4 L4
1926 European Championship – Lost 1-2
1934 World Championship – Won 2-1
1935 World Championship – Won 2-1
1936 Olympic Games – Won 5-0
1938 World Championship – Won 1-0
1939 World Championship – Lost 0-2
1948 Olympic Games – Lost 4-11
2021 World Championship – Lost 1-6

How to follow the game 
FreeSports
There’s live coverage on FreeSports. Commentary will come from six-time Olympic broadcaster Aaron Murphy and former GB forward Paul Adey who won 55 caps between 1995 and 2001, scoring 28 goals and contributing 24 assists for 52 points.

FreeSports is available free on Sky Channel 422, Virgin Media Channel 553, on Channel 64 on Freeview and BT and via the FreeSports Player.

GB social media
Twitter: @TeamGBicehockey
Facebook: @greatbritainicehockey
Instagram: @teamgbicehockey
TikTok: @gbicehockey

Live scoring
Click here for live scoring and statistics on the IIHF website.