2025-26 IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championship: Full Schedule, Date, Times of every game.

The 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship will take place in Minnesota, USA, with games hosted at Grand Casino Arena (Saint Paul) and 3M Arena (Minneapolis). The tournament begins on Friday, December 26, 2025, and concludes with the Gold Medal Game on Monday, January 5, 2026.

MORE: World Junior Hockey Champions: Full Winners List, History since 1977

Group A – Saint Paul (Grand Casino Arena)

United States (USA)

Sweden (SWE)

Slovakia (SVK)

Germany (GER)

Switzerland (SUI)

Group B – Minneapolis (3M Arena)

Canada (CAN)

Finland (FIN)

Czechia (CZE)

Denmark (DEN)

Latvia (LAT)

Preliminary Round (December 26–31, 2025)

Friday, December 26

Sweden 3, Slovakia 2

Finland 6, Denmark 2

USA 6, Germany 3

Canada 7, Czechia 5

Saturday, December 27

Slovakia 4. Germany 1

Canada 2, Latvia 1 (OT)

USA 2, Switzerland 1

Czechia 7. Denmark 2

Sunday, December 28

Switzerland 2-4 Sweden

Finland 8 - 0 Latvia

Monda4 y, December 29

Sweden 8 - 1 Germany

Czechia 2 - 1 Finland

United States 6 - 5 Slovakia

Denmark 9 - 1 Canada

Tuesday, December 30

Switzerland 4 - 0 Germany

Latvi 6 - 3 Denmark (Minneapolis)

Wednesday, December 31

12:00 PM CST — Switzerland vs Slovakia (Saint Paul)
2:30 PM CST — Latvia vs Czechia (Minneapolis)
5:00 PM CST — Sweden vs United States (Saint Paul)
7:30 PM CST — Canada vs Finland (Minneapolis)

Knockout Stage

Friday, January 2, 2026

10:00 AM CST — Relegation Game (Minneapolis)
12:00 PM CST — Quarterfinal 1 (Saint Paul)
2:30 PM CST — Quarterfinal 2 (Minneapolis)
5:00 PM CST — Quarterfinal 3 (Saint Paul)
7:30 PM CST — Quarterfinal 4 (Minneapolis)

Sunday, January 4, 2026

3:30 PM CST — Semifinal 1 (Saint Paul)
7:30 PM CST — Semifinal 2 (Saint Paul)

Monday, January 5, 2026

3:30 PM CST — Bronze Medal Game (Saint Paul)
7:30 PM CST — Gold Medal Game (Saint Paul)

Tournament Notes

Quarterfinal matchups: A1–B4, A2–B3, B1–A4, B2–A3.
USA will play in Semifinal 1 if qualified.
Canada will play in Semifinal 2, provided it does not conflict with USA’s placement.
If neither qualifies, the highest-ranked team from the preliminaries takes SF1.