2026 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III

2026 IIHF U18 World Championship Division III
Tournament details
Host countries Hong Kong
 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Venues2 (in 2 host cities)
Dates2–8 March 2026 (A)
13–19 February 2026 (B)
Teams12
See also: 2026 IIHF World U18 Championships

The 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship Division III consisted 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
CityHong Kong
Venue1 (in 1 host city)
Dates2–8 March 2026
Teams6
Tournament statistics
Games played15
Goals scored152 (10.13 per game)
Attendance4,650 (310 per game)
Scoring leader Emin İnandı (20 points)
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  Uzbekistan 5 4 1 0 0 37 16 +21 14 Promotion to the 2027 Division II B
2  Hong Kong (H) 5 4 0 0 1 33 14 +19 12
3  Israel 5 3 0 0 2 30 23 +7 9
4  Turkey 5 2 0 1 2 29 25 +4 7
5  Bulgaria 5 1 0 0 4 15 32 −17 3
6  New Zealand 5 0 0 0 5 8 42 −34 0 Relegation to the 2027 Division III B
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 9–5
(2–1, 1–2, 6–2)		 BulgariaDB Ice Rink
Attendance: 225
Game reference
4 minPenalties8 min
51Shots22
2 March 2026
16:30		Turkey 10–2
(2–2, 4–0, 4–0)		 New ZealandDB Ice Rink
Attendance: 245
Game reference
14 minPenalties12 min
51Shots28
2 March 2026
20:30		Uzbekistan 6–2
(2–1, 2–1, 2–0)		 Hong KongDB Ice Rink
Attendance: 450
Game reference
8 minPenalties12 min
37Shots34
3 March 2026
13:00		Turkey 5–6
(2–1, 2–1, 1–4)		 IsraelDB Ice Rink
Attendance: 175
Game reference
8 minPenalties10 min
32Shots49
3 March 2026
16:30		New Zealand 2–13
(1–5, 0–4, 1–4)		 UzbekistanDB Ice Rink
Attendance: 230
Game reference
10 minPenalties8 min
19Shots65
3 March 2026
20:30		Bulgaria 0–11
(0–3, 0–2, 0–6)		 Hong KongDB Ice Rink
Attendance: 450
Game reference
4 minPenalties4 min
17Shots65
5 March 2026
13:00		Bulgaria 5–3
(0–1, 3–1, 2–1)		 New ZealandDB Ice Rink
Attendance: 125
Game reference
2 minPenalties8 min
54Shots23
5 March 2026
16:30		Turkey 6–7 OT
(2–2, 1–4, 3–0)
(OT: 0–1)		 UzbekistanDB Ice Rink
Attendance: 270
Game reference
33 minPenalties12 min
45Shots36
5 March 2026
20:30		Israel 4–6
(0–2, 1–3, 3–1)		 Hong KongDB Ice Rink
Attendance: 475
Game reference
12 minPenalties47 min
61Shots47
6 March 2026
13:00		Uzbekistan 5–3
(3–0, 1–2, 1–1)		 BulgariaDB Ice Rink
Attendance: 130
Game reference
4 minPenalties8 min
41Shots15
6 March 2026
16:30		New Zealand 1–8
(0–6, 1–0, 0–2)		 IsraelDB Ice Rink
Attendance: 190
Game reference
2 minPenalties0 min
23Shots60
6 March 2026
20:30		Hong Kong 8–4
(2–2, 4–2, 2–0)		 TurkeyDB Ice Rink
Attendance: 500
Game reference
8 minPenalties6 min
47Shots39
8 March 2026
13:00		Israel 3–6
(1–1, 1–4, 1–1)		 UzbekistanDB Ice Rink
Attendance: 350
Game reference
6 minPenalties10 min
50Shots47
8 March 2026
16:30		Bulgaria 2–4
(1–2, 1–1, 0–1)		 TurkeyDB Ice Rink
Attendance: 235
Game reference
6 minPenalties10 min
34Shots42
8 March 2026
20:30		Hong Kong 6–0
(1–0, 4–0, 1–0)		 New ZealandDB Ice Rink
Attendance: 600
Game reference
6 minPenalties8 min
77Shots15

Division III B

2026 IIHF U18 World Championship Division III B
Tournament details
Host country Bosnia and Herzegovina
CitySarajevo
Venue1 (in 1 host city)
Dates13–19 February 2026
Teams6
Tournament statistics
Games played15
Goals scored135 (9 per game)
Attendance1,570 (105 per game)
Scoring leader Theetachthan Luang-On (16 points)
Official website
www.iihf.com

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

This tournament was 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 faced all three opponents from Group B, and vice versa. The top two teams from each group advanced to the semifinals, which were 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 3 2 0 0 1 19 6 +13 6 Semifinals
2  Bosnia and Herzegovina (H) 3 1 1 0 1 13 18 −5 5
3  South Africa 3 1 0 0 2 12 11 +1 3 Relegation round
Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) total goals; 4) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

Group B

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Thailand 3 3 0 0 0 20 7 +13 9 Semifinals
2  Turkmenistan 3 1 0 0 2 5 11 −6 3
3  Luxembourg 3 0 0 1 2 10 26 −16 1 Relegation round
Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) total goals; 4) seeding before tournament.

Match results

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

13 February 2026
12:30		South Africa 3–4
(1–1, 1–2, 1–1)		 TurkmenistanSkenderija Sports Arena
Attendance: 50
Game reference
72 minPenalties8 min
33Shots32
13 February 2026
16:00		Luxembourg 1–12
(0–2, 0–4, 1–6)		 IcelandSkenderija Sports Arena
Attendance: 50
Game reference
33 minPenalties30 min
8Shots61
13 February 2026
19:30		Bosnia and Herzegovina 3–12
(0–4, 2–2, 1–6)		 ThailandSkenderija Sports Arena
Attendance: 250
Game reference
16 minPenalties18 min
25Shots36
14 February 2026
12:30		Iceland 5–1
(3–0, 2–1, 0–0)		 TurkmenistanSkenderija Sports Arena
Attendance: 50
Game reference
12 minPenalties18 min
55Shots21
14 February 2026
16:00		Thailand 4–2
(2–0, 1–1, 1–1)		 South AfricaSkenderija Sports Arena
Attendance: 50
Game reference
4 minPenalties14 min
43Shots19
14 February 2026
19:30		Bosnia and Herzegovina 7–6 OT
(5–0, 0–3, 1–3)
(OT: 1–0)		 LuxembourgSkenderija Sports Arena
Attendance: 300
Game reference
10 minPenalties8 min
33Shots33
16 February 2026
12:30		South Africa 7–3
(1–2, 2–0, 4–1)		 LuxembourgSkenderija Sports Arena
Attendance: 30
Game reference
12 minPenalties14 min
39Shots19
16 February 2026
16:00		Iceland 2–4
(1–1, 0–1, 1–2)		 ThailandSkenderija Sports Arena
Attendance: 30
Game reference
37 minPenalties10 min
32Shots25
16 February 2026
19:30		Turkmenistan 0–3
(0–0, 0–1, 0–2)		 Bosnia and HerzegovinaSkenderija Sports Arena
Game reference
8 minPenalties6 min
21Shots49

Playoffs

Brackets

Semifinals Final
      
B1  Thailand 14
B2  Turkmenistan 0
 Thailand (OT) 4
 Iceland 3
A1  Iceland 8
A2  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 Bronze medal game
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 4
 Turkmenistan 1
Relegation round
     
A3  South Africa 2 9 1
B3  Luxembourg 6 2 0

Relegation round

18 February 2026
12:30		South Africa 2–6
(1–2, 0–3, 1–1)		 LuxembourgSkenderija Sports Arena
Attendance: 30
Game reference
12 minPenalties14 min
33Shots34
19 February 2026
12:30		Luxembourg 2–9
(0–4, 1–1, 1–4)		 South AfricaSkenderija Sports Arena
Attendance: 30
Game reference
4 minPenalties14 min
31Shots41
An extra overtime period was played following the conclusion of the game since both teams had won one game each. Latita Ngqola scored at 4:59 to win the relegation round for South Africa.

Semifinals

18 February 2026
16:00		Thailand 14–0
(5–0, 5–0, 4–0)		 TurkmenistanSkenderija Sports Arena
Attendance: 30
Game reference
6 minPenalties16 min
58Shots12
18 February 2026
19:30		Iceland 8–2
(3–2, 3–0, 2–0)		 Bosnia and HerzegovinaSkenderija Sports Arena
Attendance: 200
Game reference
20 minPenalties10 min
45Shots23

Bronze medal game

19 February 2026
16:00		Bosnia and Herzegovina 4–1
(1–0, 3–0, 0–1)		 TurkmenistanSkenderija Sports Arena
Attendance: 100
Game reference
10 minPenalties20 min
28Shots25

Final

19 February 2026
19:30		Thailand 4–3 OT
(1–1, 0–1, 2–1)
(OT: 1–0)		 IcelandSkenderija Sports Arena
Attendance: 70
Game reference
6 minPenalties10 min
27Shots36

Source: Match schedule

Final standings

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1  Thailand 5 4 1 0 0 38 10 +28 14 Champions / Promoted to the 2027 Division III A
2  Iceland 5 3 0 1 1 30 12 +18 10 Runners-up
3  Bosnia and Herzegovina 5 2 1 0 2 19 27 −8 8 Third place
4  Turkmenistan 5 1 0 0 4 6 29 −23 3 Fourth place
5  South Africa 5 2 0 0 3 24 19 +5 6 Fifth place
6  Luxembourg 5 1 0 1 3 18 38 −20 4 Sixth place, possible 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.
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