TORONTO — Its roster and its uniforms are a patchwork. It is the only team at the World Cup of Hockey with no national anthem played before its games.

This motley collection of 23 players from eight countries has a head coach who runs an English soccer team.

This is Team Europe.

Before the tournament, some observers questioned whether this European team could compete with hockey powers like Canada, Russia, Sweden and Finland. Team Europe had been outscored by 9-1 through four periods of two warm-up games this month against Team North America, another composite team, made up of 23-and-under players from the United States and Canada.

But Team Europe’s players forged fast bonds — aided by a shared passion for soccer — and turned their play around, outscoring North America in the final two periods by 3-2 and beating Sweden, 6-2, in their final exhibition.