2026 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships – Division III

See also: 2026 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

2026 IIHF U20 World Championship
Division III

Tournament details
Host countries	Bulgaria   Kyrgyzstan
Venue	2 (in 2 host cities)
Dates	19–25 January 2026 18–24 January 2026
Teams	12
←  2025 2027  →

The 2026 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship Division III will be two international under-20 ice hockey tournaments organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Division III A represents the sixth tier and Division I B the seventh 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 from Group A will be relegated to Group B.

To be eligible as a junior player in these tournaments, a player couldn't be born earlier than 2006.

Division III A

2026 IIHF U20 World Championship
Division III A

Tournament details
Host country	Bulgaria
City	Sofia
Venue	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	19–25 January 2026
Teams	6
Official website
www.iihf.com

The Division III A tournament will be played in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 19 to 25 January 2026. ^{[1] [2]}

Participating teams

Team	Qualification
Belgium	placed 6th in Division II B last year and were relegated
Chinese Taipei	placed 2nd in Division III A last year
Bulgaria	hosts; placed 3rd in Division III A last year
Turkey	placed 4th in Division III A last year
Bosnia and Herzegovina	placed 5th in Division III A last year
Thailand	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	Belgium	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Promotion to the 2027 Division II B
2	Chinese Taipei	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Bulgaria (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Turkey	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Thailand	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegation to the 2027 Division III B

First match(es) will be played: 19 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

Schedule

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

19 January 2026 13:00

Thailand

v

Turkey

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

19 January 2026 16:30

Chinese Taipei

v

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

19 January 2026 20:00

Bulgaria

v

Belgium

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

---

20 January 2026 13:00

Bosnia and Herzegovina

v

Thailand

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

20 January 2026 16:30

Belgium

v

Turkey

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

20 January 2026 20:00

Chinese Taipei

v

Bulgaria

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

---

22 January 2026 13:00

Chinese Taipei

v

Thailand

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

22 January 2026 16:30

Belgium

v

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

22 January 2026 20:00

Bulgaria

v

Turkey

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

---

24 January 2026 13:00

Turkey

v

Chinese Taipei

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

24 January 2026 16:30

Bosnia and Herzegovina

v

Bulgaria

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

24 January 2026 20:00

Thailand

v

Belgium

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

---

25 January 2026 13:00

Turkey

v

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

25 January 2026 16:30

Belgium

v

Chinese Taipei

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

25 January 2026 20:00

Bulgaria

v

Thailand

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

Division III B

2026 IIHF U20 World Championship
Division III B

Tournament details
Host country	Kyrgyzstan
City	Bishkek
Venue	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	18–24 January 2026
Teams	6
Official website
www.iihf.com

The Division III B tournament will be played in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, from 18 to 24 January 2026. ^{[3] [4]}

Participating teams

Team	Qualification
Mexico	placed 6th in Division III A last year and were relegated
Kyrgyzstan	placed 2nd in Division III B last year
South Africa	placed 3rd in Division III B last year
Luxembourg	placed 4th in Division III B last year
Hong Kong	first participation in World Championship
Iran	first participation in World Championship

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Promotion to the 2027 Division III A
2	Kyrgyzstan (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	South Africa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Luxembourg	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Hong Kong	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Iran	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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

Schedule

All times are local (Kyrgyzstan Time; UTC+6).

18 January 2026 13:00

South Africa

v

Mexico

Gorodskoi Katok, Bishkek

18 January 2026 16:30

Iran

v

Luxembourg

Gorodskoi Katok, Bishkek

18 January 2026 20:00

Kyrgyzstan

v

Hong Kong

Gorodskoi Katok, Bishkek

---

19 January 2026 13:00

Mexico

v

Luxembourg

Gorodskoi Katok, Bishkek

19 January 2026 16:30

Hong Kong

v

Iran

Gorodskoi Katok, Bishkek

19 January 2026 20:00

Kyrgyzstan

v

South Africa

Gorodskoi Katok, Bishkek

---

21 January 2026 13:00

South Africa

v

Luxembourg

Gorodskoi Katok, Bishkek

21 January 2026 16:30

Mexico

v

Hong Kong

Gorodskoi Katok, Bishkek

21 January 2026 20:00

Kyrgyzstan

v

Iran

Gorodskoi Katok, Bishkek

---

22 January 2026 13:00

Hong Kong

v

South Africa

Gorodskoi Katok, Bishkek

22 January 2026 16:30

Iran

v

Mexico

Gorodskoi Katok, Bishkek

22 January 2026 20:00

Luxembourg

v

Kyrgyzstan

Gorodskoi Katok, Bishkek

---

24 January 2026 13:00

Luxembourg

v

Hong Kong

Gorodskoi Katok, Bishkek

24 January 2026 16:30

South Africa

v

Iran

Gorodskoi Katok, Bishkek

24 January 2026 20:00

Mexico

v

Kyrgyzstan

Gorodskoi Katok, Bishkek

References

1. Division III A official website, www.iihf.com
2. Division III A statistics, stats.iihf.com
3. Division III B official website, www.iihf.com
4. Division III B statistics, stats.iihf.com

External links

• Official website of IIHF