The 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship was the 27th such event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Teams participated at several levels of competition. These tournaments also served as qualifications for the 2027 competition. Teams from Russia and Belarus remained absent, and were set to remain absent for the 2027 competition as well based on a decision by the IIHF Disciplinary Board. However, this decision was annulled on 25 May 2026. The IIHF Council has decided to reintegrate the Belarusian team for 2027, and decided that Russian reintegration will be decided on an event-by-event basis. The impact on 2026 promotion and relegation has not been announced.
Top Division The Top Division tournament was played in Trenčín and Bratislava, Slovakia, from 22 April to 2 May 2026.
Participants Ten teams take part in the competition. Denmark return for the first time since 2019; they replaced Switzerland, who were relegated to Division I A for the first time since 2006, after finishing last in 2025. Qualification Host Dates Vacancies Qualified Top nine in 2025 Allen / Frisco 23 April – 3 May 2025 9 Promoted from Division I Székesfehérvár 20–26 April 2025 1
Summary of qualified teams TeamQualification methodAppearance(s)Previous best performance First in 2025 2002202524 Second in 2025199927 Third in 202527 Fourth in 20254 Fifth in 2025 27 Sixth in 2025 2 Seventh in 2025 27 Eighth in 2025 20077 Ninth in 2025 19994 Champions of Division I A 200420191
Preliminary round All times are local (Central European Summer Time; UTC+2).
Group A
Group B
Relegation round
Playoff round Winning teams in the quarterfinals will be reseeded according to their ranking:
higher position in the group higher number of points better goal difference higher number of goals scored for better seeding coming into the tournament (final placement at the 2025 IIHF World U18 Championships). + Rank Team Group Pos Pts GD GF Seed 1 B 1 10 +18 24 3 2 A 1 10 +8 17 4 3 A 2 9 +20 22 1 4 B 2 9 +9 16 7 5 A 3 8 +1 13 5 6 B 3 6 +5 19 2 7 A 4 3 −4 10 8 8 B 4 3 −16 6 10
Bracket
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Bronze medal game
Gold medal game
Final standings
Awards and statistics Awards Best players selected by the directorate: Best Goaltender: Patriks Plūmiņš Best Defenceman: Adam Goljer Best Forward: Elton Hermansson Source:
Media All-Stars: MVP: Timothy Kazda Goaltender: Patriks Plūmiņš Defencemen: Adam Goljer / Malte Gustafsson Forwards: Timothy Kazda / Elton Hermansson / Wyatt Cullen Sources:
Statistics Scoring leaders PosPlayerCountryGPGAPts+/−PIM 1 Timothy Kazda 7 6 6 12 +5 0 2 Elton Hermansson 7 4 8 12 +5 6 3 Wyatt Cullen 5 3 6 9 +3 6 4 Bosse Meijer 7 3 5 8 +6 0 5 Dominik Řípa 7 2 6 8 +8 2 6 Dima Zhilkin 5 5 2 7 +3 0 7 Alexander Command 7 3 4 7 +4 4 8 Lukas Zajic 5 5 1 6 +6 0 9 Martins Klaucans 7 5 1 6 0 6 10 Mikey Berchild 5 4 2 6 +3 0 10 Luca Santala 5 4 2 6 +1 0 GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus–minus; PIM = Penalties In MinutesSource: IIHF
Goaltending leaders (minimum 40% team's total ice time)
PosPlayerCountryTOIGAGAASASv%SO 1 Gavin Betts 223:19 4 1.07 75 94.67 2 2 Patriks Plūmiņš 295:38 8 1.62 150 94.67 0 3 Martin Psohlavec 249:18 7 1.68 95 92.63 0 4 Samuel Hrenák 296:44 8 1.62 107 92.52 1 5 Marek Sklenicka 188:53 6 1.91 76 92.11 0 TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SA = Shots against; Sv% = Save percentage; SO = ShutoutsSource: IIHF
Division I
Group A The Division I Group A tournament was played in Krynica-Zdrój, Poland, from 18 to 24 April 2026.
Group B The Division I Group B tournament was played in Tallinn, Estonia, from 25 April to 1 May 2026.
Division II
Group A The Division II Group A tournament was played in Târgu Secuiesc, Romania, from 12 to 18 April 2026.
Group B The Division II Group B tournament was played in Belgrade, Serbia, from 5 to 11 April 2026.
Division III
Group A The Division III Group A tournament was played in Hong Kong, China, from 2 to 8 March 2026.
Group B The Division III Group B tournament was played in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 13 to 19 February 2026.2026 IIHF U18 World Championship Division III B official website
References
External links Official website of IIHF