photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION
The stars of tomorrow have touched down in the Baltics as the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I, Group B gets underway on Saturday in Estonia’s capital of Tallinn.
Six teams will face off in a single round-robin format at the modern Tondiraba Ice Arena from 25 April-1 May.
The top squad will earn promotion to Division I, Group A, while the last-place team will be relegated to Division II, Group A.
All games will be streamed on IIHF.tv.
Here’s a closer look at the competitors.
After two years in Division IA, a 4-3 loss to the host Hungarians saw Austria marked for relegation on the final day of the 2025 tournament in Szekesfehervar. For 2026, coach Peter Schweda has moved up from the U17 level to coach the U18s for the first time.
Returnees from 2025 include goalie Martin Haim, defenseman Paul Vaschauner and forwards Jonathan Oschgan, Paul Sintschnig, Luc van Ee and promising Niclas Micelli, who has 31 points in 28 games at the U20 level this year and doesn't turn 16 until 30 April.
After winning back-to-back silver medals in 2024 and 2025, the Lithuanians won’t have potential 2026 NHL first-round draft prospect Simas Ignatavicius in their lineup in Tallinn. Born in 2007, the right-winger has aged out after four previous U18 appearances.
Mario Durocher will be back for his third year behind the Lithuanian bench. On the ice, returnees from 2025 include goaltender Jokubas Spruntulis, defenders Darius Adakauskas, Mantas Avsejenko and Kajus Kazlauskas and forwards Joris Aukstakojis, Miron Borodin, Ignas Kaupaitis and Deimantas Sulinskas. He tied for second in tournament scoring last year with nine points.
Korea’s bronze-medal finish in 2025 was its best showing ever at this level, but most of that roster has now aged out. The only players who were eligible to return were defenseman Jeeahn Lee and forward Seohyeon Song.
Look for defenseman Geonu Ahn from the Anaheim Jr. Ducks program to make his Korean national team debut.
The French have recorded back-to-back fourth-place showings since dropping down to Division IB in 2024.
Last year, France’s strong suit was its goaltending, which tied now-promoted Poland with just 12 goals against in five games. The French will have two new faces in net this year, 17-year-olds Lois Gonnard and Thomas Boursier.
Up front, there will be a fair number of familiar faces from 2025. The list includes a pair of 16-year-old forwards, Darcy Terglav and Kilian Alves Periera, who also both suited up for France’s U20 team in the Division IA tournament last December in Slovenia.
Terglav’s older brother, Nolan, will also be on the ice in Tallinn. All told, the French roster features seven players born in 2009 who could be back in 2027.
Six teams will face off in a single round-robin format at the modern Tondiraba Ice Arena from 25 April-1 May.
The top squad will earn promotion to Division I, Group A, while the last-place team will be relegated to Division II, Group A.
All games will be streamed on IIHF.tv.
Here’s a closer look at the competitors.
Austria
After two years in Division IA, a 4-3 loss to the host Hungarians saw Austria marked for relegation on the final day of the 2025 tournament in Szekesfehervar. For 2026, coach Peter Schweda has moved up from the U17 level to coach the U18s for the first time.
Returnees from 2025 include goalie Martin Haim, defenseman Paul Vaschauner and forwards Jonathan Oschgan, Paul Sintschnig, Luc van Ee and promising Niclas Micelli, who has 31 points in 28 games at the U20 level this year and doesn't turn 16 until 30 April.
Lithuania
After winning back-to-back silver medals in 2024 and 2025, the Lithuanians won’t have potential 2026 NHL first-round draft prospect Simas Ignatavicius in their lineup in Tallinn. Born in 2007, the right-winger has aged out after four previous U18 appearances.
Mario Durocher will be back for his third year behind the Lithuanian bench. On the ice, returnees from 2025 include goaltender Jokubas Spruntulis, defenders Darius Adakauskas, Mantas Avsejenko and Kajus Kazlauskas and forwards Joris Aukstakojis, Miron Borodin, Ignas Kaupaitis and Deimantas Sulinskas. He tied for second in tournament scoring last year with nine points.
Korea
Korea’s bronze-medal finish in 2025 was its best showing ever at this level, but most of that roster has now aged out. The only players who were eligible to return were defenseman Jeeahn Lee and forward Seohyeon Song.
Look for defenseman Geonu Ahn from the Anaheim Jr. Ducks program to make his Korean national team debut.
France
The French have recorded back-to-back fourth-place showings since dropping down to Division IB in 2024.
Last year, France’s strong suit was its goaltending, which tied now-promoted Poland with just 12 goals against in five games. The French will have two new faces in net this year, 17-year-olds Lois Gonnard and Thomas Boursier.
Up front, there will be a fair number of familiar faces from 2025. The list includes a pair of 16-year-old forwards, Darcy Terglav and Kilian Alves Periera, who also both suited up for France’s U20 team in the Division IA tournament last December in Slovenia.
Terglav’s older brother, Nolan, will also be on the ice in Tallinn. All told, the French roster features seven players born in 2009 who could be back in 2027.
photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION
Estonia
Since earning promotion to Division IB in 2023, the host Estonians have finished fifth, third and fifth again at the U18 level.
Coach Balint Fekti is at the helm of the U18 national team for the sixth-straight year. He’ll be overseeing a young roster that’s divided almost equally between 16 and 17-year-olds.
Estonia will also feature two players born in 2010: defenseman Konstantin Kossenkov and forward Tristan Kookmaa, who played with the Jokerit program in Finland this year.
Italy
After a one-year visit to Division II Group A, Italy returns to Division IB after posting a perfect 5-0 record on home soil in Asiago in 2025. The Italians will be looking to climb back up the table after earning a pair of bronze medals in Division IB in 2022 and 2023.
This year’s Italian group will be comprised of mostly fresh faces, though. Only six 2008-born players were part of the 2025 squad.
Goalkeeper Manuel Bampi appeared in just one game while Filippo Matonti carried most of the load. Defender Ricardo Comminato suited up for just three of Italy’s five games but Philipp Winkler was prominent at forward, with four goals and an assist in Asiago.
Schedule
Here is the game schedule. All times are local (UTC+3).
Saturday, 25 April 2026
12:30 | ITA vs AUT
16:00 | FRA vs LTU
19:30 | EST vs KOR
Sunday, 26 April 2026
12:30 | AUT vs FRA
16:00 | LTU vs EST
19:30 | KOR vs ITA
Tuesday, 28 April 2026
12:30 | LTU vs KOR
16:00 | ITA vs FRA
19:30 | AUT vs EST
Thursday, 30 April 2026
12:30 | LTU vs ITA
16:00 | KOR vs AUT
19:30 | FRA vs EST
Friday, 1 May 2026
12:30 | AUT vs LTU
16:00 | KOR vs FRA
19:30 | EST vs ITA
Live scores and results will be available on IIHF.com.