It was the final day of the round robin at the 2026 World Junior Championships, featuring a full slate of games with plenty still to be decided in both groups. Every match-up carried important implications for the quarterfinals. Here’s how it all unfolded.

Switzerland entered the game coming off its first win of the tournament, while Slovakia was looking to bounce back after falling just short of an upset win over the United States.

The Swiss controlled much of the pace in the opening period and generated the majority of the quality scoring chances. Slovakia did a good job weathering the pressure until late in the frame, when it took a double-minor for high-sticking, sending Switzerland to a four-minute power play. The Swiss took full advantage, scoring twice in a 22-second span to take a two-goal lead into the first intermission.

The second period was tightly contested, but Slovakia struggled to generate sustained offence to cut into the deficit. Instead, Switzerland extended its lead to three, giving itself some breathing room heading into the third.

Slovakia pushed hard in the final frame and finally got on the board midway through the period to pull within two. With four minutes remaining, Slovakia pulled its goaltender, but Switzerland did an excellent job limiting chances and blocking shots. Despite extended zone time, Slovakia was largely kept to the outside and struggled to get pucks through.

With nine seconds remaining, a shot finally found its way through traffic and into the net, giving Slovakia a brief glimmer of hope. Slovakia took their timeout to try and draw up a play but there just wasn’t enough time to generate another opportunity, and Switzerland held on for the 3-2 victory.

With the win, Switzerland secured third place in Group A, while Slovakia finished fourth.

Czechia took an early penalty in the game, putting Latvia on the power play, and it was Latvia that struck first. Kristers Ansons one-timed a shot to capitalize with the man advantage and open the scoring. The lead didn’t last long, however. At the midway point of the period, Czechia tied the game after the puck bounced around in front of the net.

Coming off a highlight-reel goal against Finland, Adam Jiříček stayed hot and scored on the power play to give Czechia a 2-1 lead.

From that point on, and through the remainder of the second period, Czechia controlled the pace of play. They added a third goal when a shot from Max Pšenička deflected off a Latvian defender and into the net. Through two periods, Czechia held a commanding 23-7 edge in shots on goal.

Latvia entered the third period in a familiar but manageable position, trailing by two goals. Penalty trouble for Czechia shifted the momentum slightly, and on their second power play of the period, Latvia pulled within one on a goal from Markuss Sieradzkis.

It appeared Czechia was about to give Latvia a prime opportunity to tie the game after taking a boarding penalty, but before play could be whistled down, Latvia was assessed a too-many-men penalty, negating the chance.

With the net empty late, Latvia pushed for another dramatic equalizer similar to its game against Canada, but couldn’t solve the Czech goaltender. Václav Nestrasil sealed the result with an empty-net goal.

The loss confirmed Latvia as the fourth-place finisher in Group B, while Czechia will wait on the result of Canada versus Finland to determine its final standing.

This was the first matchup between two powerhouses in the tournament, and it delivered. In a packed and loud arena, it was a fast, physical and intense game, with first place in Group A on the line.

The opening period was evenly contested. Both teams recorded 10 shots, there were no penalties, and it was Sweden that found the lone goal to take a 1-0 lead.

The second period was a wild one. American forward Ryker Lee was assessed a goaltender-interference penalty on what had been one of the United States’ best scoring chances. On the ensuing power play, Eddie Genborg was left with a wide-open net from the faceoff circle and made no mistake to put Sweden up by two.

Just three minutes later, after several more strong Swedish chances, Lucas Pettersson scored off the rush to make it 3-0 and silence the home crowd.

With Sweden carrying all the momentum, Swedish forward Eric Nilson took an unnecessary offensive-zone penalty. On the power play, the Americans generated a flurry of chances and eventually broke through when Chase Reid found the back of the net, breathing life back into the arena and pulling the United States within two.

Sweden soon found itself back on the penalty kill after its goaltender was called for embellishment following contact from a skate. This time, it was Sweden that struck. Lucas Pettersson picked up a loose puck and scored shorthanded in similar fashion to his earlier goal, restoring the three-goal cushion.

Another American penalty followed, and the Swedes capitalized again. Viggo Björck delivered a perfect pass to Eddie Genborg, who buried his second goal of the game.

Shortly after, on a delayed Swedish penalty, Will Zellers scored on a rebound to pull the United States back within three. The goal capped a six-goal second period, with Sweden carrying a 5-2 lead into the third.

The United States turned to its backup goaltender to start the final period in an effort to settle things down.

Penalties continued to be a factor. Sweden took an interference minor, giving the Americans an early power play. L.J. Mooney threaded a pass into the crease and Teddy Stiga redirected it home to cut the deficit to two.

More penalties followed, this time two. of them against the United States. On the ensuing five-on-three power play, Ivar Stenberg — who had been struggling to score this tournament — finally broke through to make it a three-goal game once again.

From there, the game settled down, at least in terms of penalties. The United States pushed, but neither team could add another goal, and Sweden closed out a 6-3 victory to claim first place in Group A.

If you thought the Sweden–United States game was wild, buckle up — Canada and Finland delivered another thriller with the Group B title on the line.

The chaos started early. Zayne Parekh continued his outstanding tournament by opening the scoring just 1:13 into the game. Finland responded a few minutes later, only for Brady Martin to restore Canada’s lead just 30 seconds after that. The back-and-forth wasn’t close to finished, as Finland tied the game again just over a minute later.

Things briefly settled for all of three minutes before Canada earned its first power play. On the advantage, Martin scored his second goal of the period to put Canada back in front. Moments later, Canada returned the favour by giving Finland its first power play of the night, and the Finns capitalized to tie the game once again.

That frantic stretch capped a six-goal opening period, with all six goals coming in the first 13 minutes of play.

The pace carried into the second period, where Finland ran into early penalty trouble. They killed off the first minor, but on the second Canadian power play, Parekh delivered a sensational pass from his own goal line to Tij Iginla at the far blue line, springing him on a breakaway. Iginla made no mistake, scoring to give Canada the lead yet again.

For Flames fans, there may not be a more heartwarming combination right now than a highlight-reel goal assisted by Parekh and finished by a player carrying the Iginla name.

Canada was finally able to create some separation when Cole Beaudoin scored to make it 5-3. The two-goal cushion didn’t last long, however, as Finland answered just 35 seconds later following a turnover in the Canadian zone. That capped another frantic period, with Canada taking a one-goal lead into the third.

After killing off a carryover penalty from the second period — and then another shortly afterward — Beaudoin scored his second of the game to restore Canada’s two-goal advantage. This time, Canada was able to hold the lead, shutting down the Finnish offence the rest of the way. Sam O’Reilly added an empty-net goal to seal the win and clinch first place in Group B.

By finishing atop Group B, Canada will face Slovakia in the quarterfinals. On paper, it may be the most favourable matchup available, though every team in Group A put together a strong round robin and none will be an easy win.

Cole Reschny didn’t find the scoresheet and wasn’t as noticeable offensively as some of his teammates, but he still played an important role in the victory. As usual, Reschny was trusted with key face-offs at even strength and on special teams. He finished third among Canadian forwards in ice time at 15:27, trailing only Sam O’Reilly and Cole Beaudoin. It’s been a strong tournament to this point, and there’s plenty of reason to be encouraged by his play. Hopefully he can continue that play and maybe get rewarded with a couple of points in the process.

Finding new ways to praise Zayne Parekh is becoming difficult. He has been nothing short of outstanding and a true game-changer for Canada. With a goal and two assists in this game, Parekh finished the round robin with eight points, tying him for the tournament lead and ranking first among defencemen. All eyes will be on what he can produce in the quarterfinals — and, potentially, beyond.

All teams will have New Year’s Day off before the relegation game and quarterfinals begin.

Relegation game
🇩🇰 Denmark vs. 🇩🇪 Germany — 10:30 a.m. MST

Quarterfinals
🇸🇪 Sweden vs. 🇱🇻 Latvia — 12 p.m. MST
🇨🇿 Czechia vs. 🇨🇭 Switzerland — 2:30 p.m. MST
🇺🇸 United States vs. 🇫🇮 Finland — 4 p.m. MST
🇨🇦 Canada vs. 🇸🇰 Slovakia — 6:30 p.m. MST

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