Finland overcame a stubborn Norway to open its 2026 IIHF Men’s U18 World Championship campaign with victory in Trencin.

A hat-trick from 16-year-old Luca Santala, four assists from Paavo Fugleberg, and a play involving twins Anttoni and Eelis Uronen powered the Finns to a 6-1 win at the Pavol Demitra Stadium.

“This was a very important win. It was big for our team,” said Anttoni Uronen. Brother Eelis added: “We had a little slow start but in the second and third periods we got on our game and that was it.” 

Niklas Aaram Olsen, who made his senior debut in Sweden with Orebro this season, scored Norway’s goal. “I thought we played a pretty solid game at the start,” he offered, acknowledging that Finland had too much in the closing stages.

The Norwegians, heavily beaten by Finland in last year’s tournament, got an early boost with a first-minute power play. That gave their top prospect, Aaram Olsen an early sight of goal, but the Finnish penalty kill worked well.

At the other end, it took time for Tuomo Ropo’s team to find its game. Finland struggled to establish possession in front of Felix Timraz-Westin’s net and a well-drilled Norwegian defence kept play to the perimeter. Indeed, Norway had the first clear scoring chance when a breakdown in centre ice sent Berge Bergaard through on goal, only for the puck to slip away from him before he could test Oskari Ahmajarvi.

Gradually, though, Finland stepped up the pressure. There was more offensive possession and signs that forwards were beginning to get open in front of the net. Finally, that brought an opening goal on 18:39 when Fugleberg picked out Santala and the Kiekko Espoo prospect did well to evade the attentions of Rafael Johansen before sliding the puck home.

Thus far, the game echoed the 2025 meeting, in which Finland led 1-0 at the first intermission before easing away.

And this year’s encounter followed a similar pattern in the middle frame as the Finns opened a 3-0 advantage. HIFK’s rising stars Anttoni and Eelis Uronen combined on the second goal midway through the frame. Defender Eelis was among the assists before forward Anttoni circled around the zone and stick-handled his way into the slot to score from between the hash marks.

"I just gave him the puck," Eelis laughed. "I don't even know how he made a goal out of it!"

Then Finland’s third line struck again: Fugleberg’s shot redirected home by Santala for his second of the game. That’s a U18 debut that might garner attention in Florida, where the Panthers employ Luca’s dad Tommi as a European scout.

Norway refused to give up and Kim Veisten’s team had a big power play chance when Ilari Makinen was ejected from the game for a cross check late in the middle frame. The major penalty straddled the second intermission, offering a way back into the game.

And early in the third, Aaram Olsen reached for that lifeline, rifling home a shot through traffic from the top of the circle to reduce the deficit.

That goal will only add to the buzz around the Orebro forward, who could become only the third Norwegian to go in the first round of the draft. But it didn’t pave the way for a Norwegian fightback. At the other end, Fugleberg completed a hat-trick of helpers as defender Max Laatikainen’s point shot made it 4-1 for the Finns in the 45th minute.

And as Norway tired, Finland pulled away. The devastating Fugleberg-Santala pairing brought a fifth goal on the power play on 52 minutes. Then, 29 seconds later, Noel Pakarinen got free at the back door to convert Laatikainen's feed for number six, again on the PP. 

That saw Maximillian Aas take over from Timraz-Westin in the Norwegian net. He began his six-minute shift with a smart stick save and prevented any further scoring despite Finnish pressure in the closing stages.

Norway is back in action tomorrow against host nation Slovakia – “That’s probably the game we’re most looking forward to,” noted Aaram Olsen – while Finland has a day’s rest before facing Latvia on Friday evening.