2026 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships – Division II

Last updated
2026 IIHF U20 World Championship
Division II
Tournament details
Host countriesFlag of Romania.svg  Romania
Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia
Venues2 (in 2 host cities)
Dates4–10 January 2026
18–24 January 2026
Teams12
  2025
2027  

The 2026 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship Division II will consist of two international under-20 ice hockey tournaments organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Division II A represents the fourth tier and Division II B the fifth tier of the IIHF World Junior Championship. For each tier's tournament, the first-placed team will be promoted to the next higher division, while the bottom-placed team will be relegated to a lower division.

Contents

To be eligible as a junior player in these tournaments, a player couldn't be born earlier than 2005.

Division II A

2026 IIHF U20 World Championship
Division II A
2026 IIHF U20 World Championship Division II A logo.png
Tournament details
Host countryFlag of Romania.svg  Romania
City Bucharest
Venue1 (in 1 host city)
Dates4–10 January 2026
Teams6
Official website
www.iihf.com

The Division II A tournament will be played in Bucharest, Romania, from 4 to 10 January 2026. [1] [2]

Participating teams

TeamQualification
Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea placed 6th in Division I B last year and were relegated
Flag of Romania.svg  Romania (hosts)placed 2nd in Division II A last year
Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia placed 3rd in Division II A last year
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain placed 4th in Division II A last year
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China placed 5th in Division II A last year
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain placed 1st in Division II B last year and were promoted

Standings

PosTeamPldWOTWOTLLGFGAGDPtsPromotion or relegation
1Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 000000000Promotion to the 2027 Division I B
2Flag of Romania.svg  Romania (H)000000000
3Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 000000000
4Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 000000000
5Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia 000000000
6Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 000000000Relegation to the 2027 Division II B
First match(es) will be played: 4 January 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

Results

All times are local (Eastern European Time; UTC+2).

4 January 2026
12:30
Croatia  Flag of Croatia.svgvFlag of South Korea.svg  South Korea Berceni Arena, Bucharest
4 January 2026
16:00
Spain  Flag of Spain.svgvFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Berceni Arena, Bucharest
4 January 2026
19:30
Romania  Flag of Romania.svgvFlag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China Berceni Arena, Bucharest

5 January 2026
12:30
South Korea  Flag of South Korea.svgvFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Berceni Arena, Bucharest
5 January 2026
16:00
China  Flag of the People's Republic of China.svgvFlag of Spain.svg  Spain Berceni Arena, Bucharest
5 January 2026
19:30
Romania  Flag of Romania.svgvFlag of Croatia.svg  Croatia Berceni Arena, Bucharest

7 January 2026
12:30
South Korea  Flag of South Korea.svgvFlag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China Berceni Arena, Bucharest
7 January 2026
16:00
Croatia  Flag of Croatia.svgvFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Berceni Arena, Bucharest
7 January 2026
19:30
Romania  Flag of Romania.svgvFlag of Spain.svg  Spain Berceni Arena, Bucharest

8 January 2026
12:30
China  Flag of the People's Republic of China.svgvFlag of Croatia.svg  Croatia Berceni Arena, Bucharest
8 January 2026
16:00
Spain  Flag of Spain.svgvFlag of South Korea.svg  South Korea Berceni Arena, Bucharest
8 January 2026
19:30
Great Britain  Flag of the United Kingdom.svgvFlag of Romania.svg  Romania Berceni Arena, Bucharest

10 January 2026
12:30
Great Britain  Flag of the United Kingdom.svgvFlag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China Berceni Arena, Bucharest
10 January 2026
16:00
Croatia  Flag of Croatia.svgvFlag of Spain.svg  Spain Berceni Arena, Bucharest
10 January 2026
19:30
South Korea  Flag of South Korea.svgvFlag of Romania.svg  Romania Berceni Arena, Bucharest

Division II B

2026 IIHF U20 World Championship
Division II B
Tournament details
Host countryFlag of Serbia.svg  Serbia
City Belgrade
Venue1 (in 1 host city)
Dates18–24 January 2026
Teams6
Official website
www.iihf.com

The Division II B tournament will be played in Belgrade, Serbia, from 18 to 24 January 2026. [3] [4]

Participating teams

TeamQualification
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands placed 6th in Division II A last year and were relegated
Flag of Israel.svg  Israel placed 2nd in Division II B last year
Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia (hosts)placed 3rd in Division II B last year
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia placed 4th in Division II B last year
Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland placed 5th in Division II B last year
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand placed 1st in Division III A last year and were promoted

Standings

PosTeamPldWOTWOTLLGFGAGDPtsPromotion or relegation
1Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 000000000Promotion to the 2027 Division II A
2Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 000000000
3Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia (H)000000000
4Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 000000000
5Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 000000000
6Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 000000000Relegation to the 2027 Division III A
First match(es) will be played: 18 January 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

Results

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

18 January 2026
12:30
New Zealand  Flag of New Zealand.svgvFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade
18 January 2026
16:00
Israel  Flag of Israel.svgvFlag of Iceland.svg  Iceland Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade
18 January 2026
19:30
Serbia  Flag of Serbia.svgvFlag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade

19 January 2026
12:30
Iceland  Flag of Iceland.svgvFlag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade
19 January 2026
16:00
Netherlands  Flag of the Netherlands.svgvFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade
19 January 2026
19:30
Israel  Flag of Israel.svgvFlag of Serbia.svg  Serbia Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade

21 January 2026
12:30
Netherlands  Flag of the Netherlands.svgvFlag of Iceland.svg  Iceland Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade
21 January 2026
16:00
Israel  Flag of Israel.svgvFlag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade
21 January 2026
19:30
Serbia  Flag of Serbia.svgvFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade

22 January 2026
12:30
New Zealand  Flag of New Zealand.svgvFlag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade
22 January 2026
16:00
Australia  Flag of Australia (converted).svgvFlag of Israel.svg  Israel Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade
22 January 2026
19:30
Iceland  Flag of Iceland.svgvFlag of Serbia.svg  Serbia Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade

24 January 2026
12:30
Australia  Flag of Australia (converted).svgvFlag of Iceland.svg  Iceland Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade
24 January 2026
16:00
Netherlands  Flag of the Netherlands.svgvFlag of Israel.svg  Israel Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade
24 January 2026
19:30
Serbia  Flag of Serbia.svgvFlag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade

References