2026 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III

2026 IIHF U18 World Championship Division III

Tournament details
Host countries	Hong Kong   Bosnia and Herzegovina
Venues	2 (in 2 host cities)
Dates	2–8 March 2026 (A) 13–19 February 2026 (B)
Teams	12
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See also: 2026 IIHF World U18 Championships

The 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship Division III consists of two international under-18 ice hockey tournaments organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Divisions III A and III B represent the sixth and the seventh tier of the IIHF World U18 Championship.

Division III A

2025 IIHF U18 World Championship Division III A

Tournament details
Host country	Hong Kong
City	Hong Kong
Venue	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	2–8 March 2026
Teams	6
Official website
www.iihf.com

The Division III Group A tournament will be played in Hong Kong, China, from 2 to 8 March 2026. ^{[1] [2]}

Participating teams

Team	Qualification
Bulgaria	Placed 6th in Division II B last year and were relegated
Turkey	Placed 2nd in Division III A last year
Israel	Placed 3rd in Division III A last year
Hong Kong	Hosts; placed 4th in Division III A last year
New Zealand	Placed 5th in Division III A last year
Uzbekistan	Placed 1st in Division III B last year and were promoted

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Bulgaria	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Promotion to the 2027 Division II B
2	Turkey	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Israel	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Hong Kong (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	New Zealand	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Uzbekistan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegation to the 2027 Division III B

First match(es) will be played: 2 March 2026. Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

Match results

All times are local (Hong Kong Time; UTC+8).

2 March 2026 13:00

Israel

v

Bulgaria

DB Ice Rink

2 March 2026 16:30

Turkey

v

New Zealand

DB Ice Rink

2 March 2026 20:30

Uzbekistan

v

Hong Kong

DB Ice Rink

---

3 March 2026 13:00

Turkey

v

Israel

DB Ice Rink

3 March 2026 16:30

New Zealand

v

Uzbekistan

DB Ice Rink

3 March 2026 20:30

Bulgaria

v

Hong Kong

DB Ice Rink

---

5 March 2026 13:00

Bulgaria

v

New Zealand

DB Ice Rink

5 March 2026 16:30

Turkey

v

Uzbekistan

DB Ice Rink

5 March 2026 20:30

Israel

v

Hong Kong

DB Ice Rink

---

6 March 2026 13:00

Uzbekistan

v

Bulgaria

DB Ice Rink

6 March 2026 16:30

New Zealand

v

Israel

DB Ice Rink

6 March 2026 20:30

Hong Kong

v

Turkey

DB Ice Rink

---

8 March 2026 13:00

Israel

v

Uzbekistan

DB Ice Rink

8 March 2026 16:30

Bulgaria

v

Turkey

DB Ice Rink

8 March 2026 20:30

Hong Kong

v

New Zealand

DB Ice Rink

Source: Match schedule

Division III B

2026 IIHF U18 World Championship Division III B

Tournament details
Host country	Bosnia and Herzegovina
City	Sarajevo
Venue	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	13–19 February 2026
Teams	6
Official website
www.iihf.com

The Division III Group B tournament will be played in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 13 to 19 February 2026. ^{[3] [4]}

This tournament will be played under a new format. The teams were divided into two groups of three using the serpentine system. In the group stage, each team from Group A will face all three opponents from Group B, and vice versa. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals, which will be played as A1 vs. A2, and B1 vs. B2. ^[5]

Participating teams

Team	Qualification
Iceland	Placed 6th in Division III A last year and were relegated
Thailand	Placed 2nd in Division III B last year
Turkmenistan	Placed 3rd in Division III B last year
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Hosts; placed 4th in Division III B last year
South Africa	Placed 5th in Division III B last year
Luxembourg	placed 6th in Division III B last year

Group stage

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iceland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Semifinals
2	Bosnia and Herzegovina (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	South Africa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegation round

First match(es) will be played: 13 February 2026. Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Thailand	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Semifinals
2	Turkmenistan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Luxembourg	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegation round

First match(es) will be played: 13 February 2026. Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.

Match results

All times are local (Central European Time; UTC+1).

13 February 2026 12:30

South Africa

v

Turkmenistan

Skenderija Sports Arena

13 February 2026 16:00

Luxembourg

v

Iceland

Skenderija Sports Arena

13 February 2026 19:30

Bosnia and Herzegovina

v

Thailand

Skenderija Sports Arena

---

14 February 2026 12:30

Iceland

v

Turkmenistan

Skenderija Sports Arena

14 February 2026 16:00

Thailand

v

South Africa

Skenderija Sports Arena

14 February 2026 19:30

Bosnia and Herzegovina

v

Luxembourg

Skenderija Sports Arena

---

16 February 2026 12:30

South Africa

v

Luxembourg

Skenderija Sports Arena

16 February 2026 16:00

Iceland

v

Thailand

Skenderija Sports Arena

16 February 2026 19:30

Turkmenistan

v

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Skenderija Sports Arena

Playoffs

	Semifinals					Final
	A1
	A2
						WSF1
						WSF2
	B1
	B2					Bronze medal game
						LSF1
						LSF2

Relegation round

16 February 2026 12:30

3A

v

3B

Skenderija Sports Arena

18 February 2026 12:30

3A

v

3B

Skenderija Sports Arena

Semifinals

18 February 2026 16:00

v

Skenderija Sports Arena

18 February 2026 19:30

v

Skenderija Sports Arena

Bronze medal game

19 February 2026 16:00

LSF1

v

LSF2

Skenderija Sports Arena

Final

19 February 2026 19:30

WSF1

v

WSF2

Skenderija Sports Arena

Source: Match schedule

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Iceland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Champions / Promotion to 2027 Division III A
2	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Runners-up
3	South Africa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Third place
4	Thailand	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Fourth place
5	Turkmenistan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Avoided relegation
6	Luxembourg	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegation

Source: IIHF

References

1. 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship Division III A official website, www.iihf.com
2. 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship Division III A statistics, stats.iihf.com
3. 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship Division III B official website, www.iihf.com
4. 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship Division III B statistics, stats.iihf.com
5. "IIHF to trial new format for lower division tournaments". www.iihf.com.