It came down to the last game and, in the end, the Hungarians took care of business.
After reeling off three straight wins at the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division I, Group B this week in Italy, Hungary dropped a game and trailed two other teams – Estonia and Lithuania – in the standings by one point. Hungary, needing only one point to tie those teams and win the championship on head-to-head tiebreaking rules, didn’t leave anything in doubt, soundly defeating Japan 6-1 on 14 December, the final day of the championship, at the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena.
With the win, Hungary moved to 11 points and secured the gold medal, earning a promotion to the IIHF U20 World Championship Division I, Group A tournament in 2027.
Kolos Feher opened the scoring on a breakaway 2:58 into the first period, when he took a nice backhand pass from Balint Lobenwein and went in alone on Japanese goaltender Yuichiro Takase and beat him with a snap shot glove side.
Hungary took a 2-0 lead at 12:16 of the first when Ferenc Laskawy fired a shot from the slot that went under the blocker arm of Takase and it was smooth sailing from there.
Doman Szongoth and Gergo Schwartz scored even-strength goals in the second period and Balazs Ven added a power-play goal as Hungary took control with a 5-1 lead. That fifth goal chased Takase from the Japanese goal, as he was replaced by Jei Yamabayashi.
Laskawy added his second of the game and fifth of the tournament in the third period to ice the Hungarian win.
Hungary kicked off its tournament with a 4-0 shutout win over Lithuania and then defeated Estonia 3-1. Perhaps the game of the championship came next, as Hungary edged Poland 4-3 on an overtime winner by Laskawy. Hungary’s only loss came 4-1 to host Italy, setting the stage for the Hungarians’ fifth and final game, the win over Japan.
Estonia takes silver, Lithuania wins bronze
Estonia and Lithuania each finished with nine points but the Estonians won silver thanks to a 4-1 win over Lithuania earlier in the tournament. The Estonians were led throughout the tournament by David Timofejev – who had seven goals and five assists for 12 points – and Maksim Burkov (3-6—9), who finished 1-2 in scoring among all players.
Organizers of the 2026 U20 World Championship Division I, Group B tournament will have to be pleased with the competition of the event, as the top four teams finished within three points of each other (Poland came in fourth with eight points).
Italy, despite that thrilling win over the eventual champions, finished last with three points and has been relegated to Division II Group A next year.
Final standings:
Game results:
8 December: EST 3-4 JPN (SO), POL 4-2 ITA, LTU 0-4 HUN
9 December: JPN 1-2 POL, HUN 3-1 EST, ITA 2-4 LTU
11 December: LTU 1-4 EST, HUN 4-3 POL (OT), JPN 5-1 ITA
13 December: EST 5-4 POL (OT), JPN 1-4 LTU, ITA 4-1 HUN
14 December: POL 0-1 LTU, ITA 2-5 EST, HUN 6-1 JPN
After reeling off three straight wins at the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division I, Group B this week in Italy, Hungary dropped a game and trailed two other teams – Estonia and Lithuania – in the standings by one point. Hungary, needing only one point to tie those teams and win the championship on head-to-head tiebreaking rules, didn’t leave anything in doubt, soundly defeating Japan 6-1 on 14 December, the final day of the championship, at the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena.
With the win, Hungary moved to 11 points and secured the gold medal, earning a promotion to the IIHF U20 World Championship Division I, Group A tournament in 2027.
Kolos Feher opened the scoring on a breakaway 2:58 into the first period, when he took a nice backhand pass from Balint Lobenwein and went in alone on Japanese goaltender Yuichiro Takase and beat him with a snap shot glove side.
Hungary took a 2-0 lead at 12:16 of the first when Ferenc Laskawy fired a shot from the slot that went under the blocker arm of Takase and it was smooth sailing from there.
Doman Szongoth and Gergo Schwartz scored even-strength goals in the second period and Balazs Ven added a power-play goal as Hungary took control with a 5-1 lead. That fifth goal chased Takase from the Japanese goal, as he was replaced by Jei Yamabayashi.
Laskawy added his second of the game and fifth of the tournament in the third period to ice the Hungarian win.
Hungary kicked off its tournament with a 4-0 shutout win over Lithuania and then defeated Estonia 3-1. Perhaps the game of the championship came next, as Hungary edged Poland 4-3 on an overtime winner by Laskawy. Hungary’s only loss came 4-1 to host Italy, setting the stage for the Hungarians’ fifth and final game, the win over Japan.
Estonia takes silver, Lithuania wins bronze
Estonia and Lithuania each finished with nine points but the Estonians won silver thanks to a 4-1 win over Lithuania earlier in the tournament. The Estonians were led throughout the tournament by David Timofejev – who had seven goals and five assists for 12 points – and Maksim Burkov (3-6—9), who finished 1-2 in scoring among all players.
Organizers of the 2026 U20 World Championship Division I, Group B tournament will have to be pleased with the competition of the event, as the top four teams finished within three points of each other (Poland came in fourth with eight points).
Italy, despite that thrilling win over the eventual champions, finished last with three points and has been relegated to Division II Group A next year.
Final standings:
- Hungary – 11 points (promoted to 2027 IIHF U20 Division I, Group A Championship)
- Estonia – 9 points
- Lithuania – 9 points
- Poland – 8 points
- Japan – 5 points
- Italy – 3 points (relegated to 2027 IIHF U20 Division II, Group A)
Game results:
8 December: EST 3-4 JPN (SO), POL 4-2 ITA, LTU 0-4 HUN
9 December: JPN 1-2 POL, HUN 3-1 EST, ITA 2-4 LTU
11 December: LTU 1-4 EST, HUN 4-3 POL (OT), JPN 5-1 ITA
13 December: EST 5-4 POL (OT), JPN 1-4 LTU, ITA 4-1 HUN
14 December: POL 0-1 LTU, ITA 2-5 EST, HUN 6-1 JPN