Sweden broke home hearts to take gold at the IIHF 2026 U18 Men’s World Championship in Trencin. The 2025 silver medalist went one better this year, collecting its third title since a maiden triumph in 2017.

Goals from Wiggo Sorensson and Elton Hermansson built a 2-0 lead before Adam Andersson and Ola Palme padded the margin in the third. But there was a late rally as Slovakia pulled two goals back, ensuring a nervous finish.

Elton Hermansson, who scored the second Swedish goal, said: “It’s an incredible feeling. I’m so happy. To win this championship with these guys is something I’ll take with me all my life.”

Slovakia’s run to its first final since 2003 was fairytale stuff, but Sweden had its own redemption arc to complete.

No team has suffered a loss as heavy as the 1-9 drubbing Team USA handed the Swedes in the group stage and gone on to lift the trophy.
 
But after plumbing the depths in Bratislava, Sweden hit the heights in Trencin, claiming a 2-0 verdict to sink the Slovaks and crash the party set up by the passionate home crowd.

“A lot of people doubted us after that game but we came together as a group and we played a heck of a tournament out there,” added Hermansson. “Tonight  we played a great game. They scored two great goals at the end there, but we played really good hockey.”

After 20 minutes, nothing was going to Slovakia’s script. Sweden was playing the pantomime villain in this Cinderella story.

It wasn’t just the early goal for the Tre Kronor, nor their ability to create better chances. It was the almost complete absence of any threat to Kevin Tornblom’s net that subdued the host nation. Slovakia had just three shots on target in the first period; the closest to a goal came in the first minute when tournament MVP Timothy Kazda clipped the outside of the post. For the Swedes, Hermansson alone brought four saves out of Samuel Hrenak.

“In the first period we gave them a lot of ice to skate,” admitted tournament MVP Timothy Kazda. “When you give them the ice they’re so skilled, they’re going to make plays. 

“In the second we started playing our hockey more and we got a lot better but it wasn’t enough today.”

Sweden got in front on 5:53 as Sorensson scored another big goal in Trencin. His tally against Czechia tied up Friday night’s semi-final; today he opened the scoring, stuffing the puck home from close range after Palme’s long-range effort squirmed under Hrenak. There was a momentary hush in the arena, then the ultras drummed an even louder tattoo to try to lift the home heroes.

During the break, Slovakia clearly talked about generating more offence. Four shots in the first four minutes of the middle frame represented a greater threat than the entire first period.

As Slovakia applied the pressure, the noise intensified. Filip Kovalcik almost created an opening in front of Tornblom, but the puck bounced awkwardly between Matus Valek and Lucian Bernat before bouncing to safety.

Then Ondrej Tariska had a huge chance to tie the game on 14:38. He produced an instant snipe off Adam Goljer’s astute feed from behind the net, only to meet Tornblom’s blocker and fly over the glass. There were a couple of two-on-one rushes for Bernat and Samuel Karsay, giving hope that Slovakia could recover.

But Sweden rolled with the punches and landed a hammer blow two minutes before the intermission. Elofsson did magnificently once more, carving a path deep into Slovak territory before pushing the puck wide for Hermansson to rifle home from a tight angle.

Slovakia did not give up, but struggled all night to get good looks at Tornblom. The Swedes might have been disrupted when Nordmark was ejected from the game in the 48th minute for throwing his equipment.

Instead, though, the Tre Kronor made the game safe midway through the final frame when Hjalmar Cilthe found Andersson free in the left-hand circle. With a clear view of the target, he wired an unstoppable effort into the top corner.

The Slovak crowd continued to bang the drums for its team, but even before Palme added a fourth it was more lament than battlecry.

That atmosphere changed in the last four minutes. First, Ivan Matta deprived Tornblom of his shut-out with four to play, sliding home the rebound after the goalie denied Jakub Floris, then Kazda.

And when Maxim Simko pulled another one back, getting net front and putting his stick on a Tomas Selic feed, the crowd began to believe in the impossible. A Slovak power play cranked up the decibels several more notches as the Swedes – playing four against six – hung on.

Goalie Thorblom insisted he was never worried. “I knew,” he said. “When I saw how we played against Canada [in the quarter-final] I knew no-one would beat us.”

Meanwhile, the clock was always in Sweden’s favour, and despite a ferocious effort at the death, the tournament host ran out of time. The celebrations belonged to the team in yellow, but Slovakia’s fans hailed a huge effort by their brave team.

“It was a great hockey game,” said Slovakia’s Bernat. The emotions are a little bit hard now for us. 

“The tournament was great for us from our side. In three or four days I think we’ll look back and be proud of ourselves. We’ve got to shake it off and go forward.”