Finland, seeking a third straight title, beat Slovakia 5-1 in a one-sided quarter-final at Helsinki Ice Hall.

They will meet the Czech Republic in the last eight after they thrashed Latvia 9-1, a victory which confirmed their place in the floorball event at next year's World Games in Birmingham, Alabama.

It took Finland nearly 17 minutes to open the scoring, with Ville Lastikka putting them ahead.

Rasmus Kainulainen doubled Finland's lead before Lukas Ujhelyi gave Slovakia a glimmer of hope by reducing the deficit.

But two goals in less than three minutes from Peter Kotilainen put Finland into a dominant position before Sami Johansson added a fifth late on.

The Czech Republic were only 3-0 up heading into the third period but six goals in the final stanza saw them blow Latvia away.

Marek Benes scored a hat-trick, while Filip Langer chipped in with two in a high-scoring display from the Czechs, who were beaten by Switzerland in the third-place playoff at the last World Championship in 2018.

The last two quarter-finals are due to be held tomorrow as Switzerland play Estonia and Sweden entertain Norway.