Action from the group stage meetings between the semi-finalists at the 2026 IIHF U18 Men's World Championship.
photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION
There’s an unfamiliar look to the final four contenders at the 2026 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship.
For the first time since the tournament adopted a playoff format in 2003, this is effectively a European championship with Canada and the USA already on their way home.
Instead we have three teams hoping for a first ever World U18 gold and one of them, Latvia, looking for a first ever medal of any colour.
Slovakia vs Latvia, 15:00
When Slovakia took a 5-2 win over the Latvians in the group stage, not many people imagined the countries would be meeting again in the final four.
But Latvia’s upset of the USA in Bratislava on Wednesday means there’s a rematch in prospect.
The first game was closer than the final score suggested. Latvia’s hopes were undermined by penalties: four of the five Slovak goals came on the PP, including two in a minute following a five-on-three power play.
“Their power play really made the difference,” said Kristers Obuks. “For a long time we were pretty close, but we couldn’t score.”
The Slovak PP is running at 46%, by some margin the best in the competition. Nonetheless, the host nation felt that it was too tentative against Latvia, at least until the third period. Things were different in the quarter-final against Denmark, where a powerful four-goal blast in the opening frame set the tone for a lopsided encounter. With the special teams heating up, and scoring leader Timothy Kazda in fine form, there’s confidence around this team.
Kazda himself believes the team is ready for the challenge. “We played them a couple days ago so we’ll try to get prepared for that style of hockey again,” he said. And fellow forward Ivan Matta, who had a goal and an assist against Denmark, added: “We have to prepare for the Latvians, and I believe we can do it!”
Czechia vs Sweden, 19:00
Jakub Vanecek’s goal 21 seconds before the hooter gave the Czech victory when the teams met in Group B. That 2-1 verdict helped secure second place for Czechia in a group stage where the Swedes often looked beleaguered.
But this is a new Sweden. Following the lows of a 1-9 thrashing from the USA came the bounce-back 10-1 success over Denmark and a huge 4-2 takedown of defending champion Canada in the quarters.
That has changed the mood in the Swedish camp, as goalie Kevin Tornblom explained. “We found our way back to how we played at the start of the season,” he said. “I don’t know what happened against the USA, but that wasn’t us.”
The start of the season brought silver for Sweden at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup; the end is shaping up for more hardware in Trencin.
But the Czechs, without a World U18 medal since 2014, has some good grounds for optimism. Jan Tomejko’s team has dealt with all of the fancied opponents it encountered in Bratislava, beating the USA for the first time since 2022 and edging out Finland in a hard-fought quarter-final.
Goalie Martin Psohlavec has impressed, winning each of the three games he started and allowing just three goals so far. His 95.38% save ratio is the best in the tournament, and includes keeping Sweden at bay in the teams’ previous meeting. Czechia’s strong defence is coping well despite an injury to Jiri Kamas, reckoned to be a key figure on the blue line.
For the first time since the tournament adopted a playoff format in 2003, this is effectively a European championship with Canada and the USA already on their way home.
Instead we have three teams hoping for a first ever World U18 gold and one of them, Latvia, looking for a first ever medal of any colour.
Slovakia vs Latvia, 15:00
When Slovakia took a 5-2 win over the Latvians in the group stage, not many people imagined the countries would be meeting again in the final four.
But Latvia’s upset of the USA in Bratislava on Wednesday means there’s a rematch in prospect.
The first game was closer than the final score suggested. Latvia’s hopes were undermined by penalties: four of the five Slovak goals came on the PP, including two in a minute following a five-on-three power play.
“Their power play really made the difference,” said Kristers Obuks. “For a long time we were pretty close, but we couldn’t score.”
The Slovak PP is running at 46%, by some margin the best in the competition. Nonetheless, the host nation felt that it was too tentative against Latvia, at least until the third period. Things were different in the quarter-final against Denmark, where a powerful four-goal blast in the opening frame set the tone for a lopsided encounter. With the special teams heating up, and scoring leader Timothy Kazda in fine form, there’s confidence around this team.
Kazda himself believes the team is ready for the challenge. “We played them a couple days ago so we’ll try to get prepared for that style of hockey again,” he said. And fellow forward Ivan Matta, who had a goal and an assist against Denmark, added: “We have to prepare for the Latvians, and I believe we can do it!”
Czechia vs Sweden, 19:00
Jakub Vanecek’s goal 21 seconds before the hooter gave the Czech victory when the teams met in Group B. That 2-1 verdict helped secure second place for Czechia in a group stage where the Swedes often looked beleaguered.
But this is a new Sweden. Following the lows of a 1-9 thrashing from the USA came the bounce-back 10-1 success over Denmark and a huge 4-2 takedown of defending champion Canada in the quarters.
That has changed the mood in the Swedish camp, as goalie Kevin Tornblom explained. “We found our way back to how we played at the start of the season,” he said. “I don’t know what happened against the USA, but that wasn’t us.”
The start of the season brought silver for Sweden at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup; the end is shaping up for more hardware in Trencin.
But the Czechs, without a World U18 medal since 2014, has some good grounds for optimism. Jan Tomejko’s team has dealt with all of the fancied opponents it encountered in Bratislava, beating the USA for the first time since 2022 and edging out Finland in a hard-fought quarter-final.
Goalie Martin Psohlavec has impressed, winning each of the three games he started and allowing just three goals so far. His 95.38% save ratio is the best in the tournament, and includes keeping Sweden at bay in the teams’ previous meeting. Czechia’s strong defence is coping well despite an injury to Jiri Kamas, reckoned to be a key figure on the blue line.