How to watch USA-Sweden Olympic women’s hockey semifinals for free

The semifinals of the Winter Olympics women’s ice hockey tournament get underway today, Feb. 16 to decide which teams play for a gold medal later this week.

Things get started this morning with a matchup between two 5-0 teams, the United States and Sweden.

Team USA had an incredibly strong showing in their 6-0 quarterfinal victory over host country Italy, putting them within one win of the gold medal game. They’ve mostly gone untested in their undefeated Olympic run, but their opponents in today’s semifinal will be the toughest yet.

Sweden is also unbeaten, going 4-0 in the group stage before beating Czechia 2-0 in the quarterfinals. Just like Team USA, Sweden has won every game so far with a multi-goal lead, and they have only allowed two goals against in five games (Team USA only has one goal against).

USA vs. Sweden women’s hockey start time

Today’s USA vs. Sweden women’s hockey semifinal is scheduled to begin at 10:40 a.m. ET.

How to watch USA vs. Sweden women’s hockey for free

If you don’t have cable, you’ll need a live TV streaming service to stream Olympic hockey live for free.

DIRECTV is our top pick for watching TV live for free — its five-day free trial includes NBC (plus every other channel you’ll need for the rest of the Winter Olympics). When the trial is over, you’ll pay as low as $49.99/month and gain access to over 90 live channels.

Sling TV is another affordable way to stream the Winter Olympics; its Select plan includes NBC and starts at $19.99/month.

2026 WINTER OLYMPICS

Team USA and Sweden women’s hockey rosters

Olympics 2026 women’s hockey schedule

Following the quarterfinals, the remaining teams will be re-seeded to determine semifinal matchups.

• Semifinal 1: USA vs. Sweden – Feb. 16, 10:40 a.m. ET (NBC)
• Semifinal 2: Canada vs. Switzerland – Feb. 16, 3:10 p.m. ET (USA Network)
• Bronze Medal Game: TBD vs. TBD – Feb. 19, 8:40 a.m. ET (Peacock)
• Gold Medal Game: TBD vs. TBD – Feb. 19, 1:10 p.m. ET (USA Network)

When do the Winter Olympics end?

The 2026 Winter Olympics end with the closing ceremony on Feb. 22 at 2:30 p.m. ET.

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This article was written by Angela Tricarico, Commerce Streaming Reporter for Post Wanted Shopping, Page Six, and Decider.com. Angela keeps readers up to date with cord-cutter-friendly deals, and information on how to watch your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and movies on every streaming service. Not only does Angela test and compare the streaming services she writes about to ensure readers are getting the best prices, but she’s also a superfan specializing in the intersection of shopping, tech, sports, and pop culture. When she’s not writing about (or watching) TV, movies, and sports, she’s also keeping up on the underrated perfume dupes at Bath & Body Works and testing headphones. Prior to joining Decider and The New York Post in 2023, she wrote about streaming and consumer tech at Insider Reviews.