Czechia became the first team to qualify for the semi-finals of the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Men’s World Championship, holding on to beat Finland 2-1 before 1,299 fans at Vladimir Dzurilla Ice Arena in Bratislava.
Finland outshot Czechia 36-19 in the game, but Martin Psohlavec was brilliant in the Czech goal.
“We had a great team effort,” said Psohlavec. “Not everything was positive about this game. The Finnish players played very well, but luck was on our side.”
“He’s been amazing throughout the year but he’s been having his best games in this tournament, and I hope he keeps going because he’s holding the team in it,” said Adam Klaus, who scored Czechia’s first goal and assisted on the winner. “I think he’s gonna be great in the semi-finals too.”
“I think we had the best game of our tournament today,” said Paavo Fugleberg, the Finnish goal scorer. “For 50 minutes, I think we were the better team, but the Czechs were more effective today and their goalie was unbelievable.”
The first period was played evenly and rather cautiously, with each team registering seven shots on goal. The only goal of the opening period came seven minutes in, on a fortuitous bounce of the puck. With Dominik Ripa carrying the puck into the Finnish zone, a Finnish defenceman swept the puck off his stick, but it landed right on the stick of Klaus, who had a clear path to the net. Klaus slid the puck through the pads of Oskari Ahmajarvi for the goal.
“The D just pinched him, I just took the puck and went 1-on-1 with the goalie and put it between his legs,” said Klaus.
Finland got some momentum going on a power play early in the second period and tied the game at 24:56. There was a mad scramble in Psohlavec’s crease and Fugleberg managed to force the puck across the goal line just before the net was dislodged. The referee immediately waved off the goal for goaltender interference, but Finnish coach Tuomo Ropo challenged the call. That challenge was upheld and the goal was given, making the score 1-1.
“It was kind of a broken play,” Fugleberg described. “We had a power play, it was 3-on-1 in front of the net, we won the rebound and scored.”
Momentum stayed with the Finns, who continued to push offensively and had several chances to take the lead, but Psohavec made some fine saves off of Ilari Makinen, Fugleberg, Max Laatikainen and Vilho Vanhatalo.
“I had a few very good chances … but not today,” Fugleberg sighed.
“I can’t pick one,” Psohlavec replied when asked about his best save. “A lot to choose from, but every save was important.”
With just under a minute to go in the middle frame, the Czechs regained the lead. Once again it was Klaus and Ripa combining to set up a brilliant shot from defenceman Tadeas Cifka, which sailed into the top corner.
“Tadeas just sniped it,” said Klaus. “My job was to make the first pass and then drive to the net but there was no rebound. His goal was pretty amazing too.”
For the first half of the third period, the Finns went back on the attack but couldn’t break through. Ahmajarvi also did what he had to do to keep his team close, making a big save off Jakub Vanecek with under nine minutes to play.
Finland called its 30-second timeout and pulled Ahmajarvi with 2:53 remaining. But despite some chaotic moments in the last couple of minutes, the Finns didn’t really get any great shots. Their best chance was when the puck ended up on the stick of Oliver Suvanto on his way to the net, but his stick broke as he tried to shoot. A couple of shot blocks in the last 10 seconds secured the Czech victory.
“It feels amazing!” Klaus said when reminded he was on his way to Trencin for the semi-finals. “It’s close to Czechia, so there are many fans here supporting us here and hopefully they’re gonna follow us there. We’re just gonna keep going.”
