2026 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

The 2026 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (2026 WJC) will be the 50th Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. The top division will begin on December 26, 2025, and will end with the gold medal game being played on January 5, 2026.^[1]

2026 IIHF World Junior Championship

Tournament details
Host country	United States
City	Minneapolis–Saint Paul
Venue(s)	Xcel Energy Center and 3M Arena at Mariucci
Dates	December 26, 2025 – January 5, 2026
Teams	10
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Top Division

Background

The tournament will be returning to Minnesota after last being hosted there in 1982. This will mark the seventh time that the United States will host the WJC and first time since 2018.^[2][3]

Venues

The tournament games will be played at the Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild and the Minnesota Frost, and 3M Arena at Mariucci, located at the University of Minnesota.^[4][5][6]

Saint Paul	Minneapolis–Saint Paul		Minneapolis
Xcel Energy Center Capacity: 17,954			3M Arena at Mariucci Capacity: 10,257

Seeding

Group A
(Xcel Energy Center)

•  United States (1)
•  Sweden (4)
•  Slovakia (6)^[a]
•   Switzerland (8)
•  Germany (9)

Group B
(3M Arena at Mariucci)

•  Finland (2)
•  Czechia (3)
•  Canada (5)^[a]
•  Latvia (7)
•  Denmark (11-Promoted)

1. The organizer swapped Slovakia and Canada in the group alignments.^[7]

Division I

Main article: § Division I

Group A

The Division I, Group A tournament will take place in Bled, Slovenia between December 7–13, 2025.

•  Austria
•  France
•  Kazakhstan – relegated from Top Division
•  Norway
•  Slovenia
•  Ukraine – promoted from Division I B

Group B

The Division I, Group B tournament will take place in Milan, Italy between December 8–14, 2025.

•  Estonia
•  Hungary – relegated from Division I A
•  Italy
•  Japan
•  Lithuania – promoted from Division II A
•  Poland

Division II

Main article: § Division II

Group A

The Division II, Group A tournament will take place in Bucharest, Romania between January 4–10, 2026.

•  China
•  Croatia
•  Great Britain
•  Romania
•  South Korea – relegated from Division I B
•  Spain – promoted from Division II B

Group B

The Division II, Group B tournament will take place in Belgrade, Serbia between January 18–24, 2026.

•  Australia
•  Iceland
•  Israel
•  Netherlands – relegated from Division II A
•  New Zealand – promoted from Division III A
•  Serbia

Division III

Main article: § Division III

Group A

The Division III, Group A tournament will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria between January 19–25, 2026.

•  Belgium – relegated from Division II B
•  Bosnia and Herzegovina
•  Bulgaria
•  Chinese Taipei
•  Thailand – promoted from Division III B
•  Turkey

Group B

The Division III, Group B tournament will take place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan between January 18–24, 2026.

•  Hong Kong – new participants
•  Iran – new participants
•  Kyrgyzstan
•  Luxembourg
•  Mexico – relegated from Division III A
•  South Africa