Team Canada made history in Stuttgart, Germany, claiming a World Record-breaking time in their Final battle against the United States and winning their first STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Team World Championship. The Chopperoos rounded out the medal positions by beating Poland in the Small Final, after a huge upset in a dramatic Semi Final defeat to the United States.
Celebrating 100 years of STIHL, the season has rounded off with the 16th Team World Championship. The Championship saw 20 of the best wood chopping and sawing nations around the globe once again come together to battle in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 6,000 in the Porsche-Arena in Stuttgart, Germany, in a knockout format across four of the six TIMBERSPORTS® disciplines: Stock Saw, Underhand Chop, Single Buck and Standing Block Chop.
Team Canada turned on the style in Stuttgart, winning the 2026 Team World Championships for the first time and ending the dominance of the Chopperoos who missed out on the final battle for the top spot. The Canadians looked strong from the very beginning, dominating their opponents from the word go with Captain Ben Cumberland playing a key role in the team's win.
Canada hit the ground running with a convincing time of 52.41 seconds to win over Romania followed by an improved time of 48.66 to wave Switzerland goodbye.
The United States dominated their Quarter-Final heat against Sweden securing a season and personal best before paving the way for a Semi-Final showdown against the reigning champions. After a tight battle, Team USA came out victorious against the powerhouse team of Australia, breaking their winning streak of six titles in a row.
Australia fought back in the Small Final, edging past Poland to claim a bronze medal.
Despite Poland’s heroic efforts from achieving a personal best in the round of 16 against Hungary to defeating New Zealand with a 47.46 win in their Quarter-Final contest before falling short in the Semi-Finals to Canada.
New Zealand had glimpses of hope as they came head-to-head with Poland in the Quarter-Finals but came unstuck in the single buck, which cost them a place in the small final.
Home team Germany broke their national record in front of an ecstatic crowd before faceing Team Australia in their toughest challenge yet in the Quarter Finals. Ultimately the defending champions proved too tough to beat and the home team was eliminated.
The Round of 16 delivered high-stakes action, with fine margins between progression and elimination. It came down to the tightest of results with last year’s Champions, who fought out a close match with Belgium until the underhand chop, but there were no problems for the Chopperoos at this stage. Poland held standout performances with a 54.06 win against Hungary before a close call in their Quarter-Final tie with New Zealand, securing a PB of 47.46.
Elsewhere, another time penalty in the Round of 16 saw France's chance end abruptly in their challenge against Switzerland after a stock saw nightmare, resulting in a 15-second penalty.
Stirling Hart, of Team World Champions Canada, commented: “I don’t think it really gets too much better than this. A lot of us have been on this team together, some of us for 10 years now, we’ve been to Stuttgart before and have come close to World Championship titles in the past. Our semi-final run didn’t go the way we planned it, but we came here as a team, and I think that’s what pulled us through in the end.”
Matt Cogar, of runners-up Team United States, said: “We are super happy today. We got off to a good start and tried to give our best, even against Australia in the semi-final. Knocking them out has been great. It was an amazing day, with personal bests left and right. Coming away with a personal best ourselves – I couldn’t be more proud of this team. At the moment, we’re just happy. We can look at what to improve later on."
Brayden Meyer, of bronze medalists Australia, said: “Yeah, we are still a bit disappointed with tonight, but we cut really well and just got beaten by a better team. The semi-final was pretty tough, with some ups and downs. They had the lead, we had the lead, and in the end they won. This is how TIMBERSPORTS goes. Poland really pushed us in the small final. They are an up-and-coming team, so we are really happy to finish third.
Having witnessed a show-stopping Team competition, the Porsche-Arena will be packed again on Saturday as the top 12 athletes in the world return to compete across all six disciplines in the Individual World Championship.
Full results and final standings for the Team World Championship can be found on the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® database.
