It all came down to the final day in Tallinn.
When the final three games of the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division I, Group B were complete at Tondiraba Ice Arena on Friday, Austria had claimed gold and earned promotion. Also, the Estonian hosts had staved off relegation.
To reach the top of the table and get back to Division IA after a one-year absence, Austria needed a final-day regulation win over first-place Lithuania. Coming off back-to-back second-place finishes, Mario Durocher’s squad had amassed a record of 3-0-1-0 for 10 points heading into Friday’s game, with its only blemish coming in a 3-2 shootout loss to Italy on Thursday.
Austria sat second in the standings with eight points thanks to regulation wins over Italy and Estonia, an overtime victory over Korea and a 3-1 loss to France on the tournament’s second day. With a record of 2-1-0-1, only three points would get the job done.
Lithuania jumped out to the early lead on Friday, with Ignas Kaupaitis tallying his third goal of the tournament just nine seconds into the first power play of the game at 7:50 of the first period.
Austria quickly answered back with a power-play goal of its own from captain Jonathan Oschgan. With just one second remaining in the opening frame, Luc van Ee beat Dmitrij Svec for what proved to be the game-winning goal.
In the second, Oschgan added another power-play tally. With 1:44 remaining in the third, Lennart Leitner finished off the scoring four seconds after Svec was pulled for the extra attacker, sealing Austria’s 4-1 win.
Finishing with 10 points, Lithuania claimed its third-straight silver medal. France also finished with a record of 3-1-0-1 but finished in the bronze-medal spot due to their opening-day head-to-head loss against Lithuania.
In the tournament's final game on Friday, fans in Tallinn were treated to a thriller. After the host team from Estonia opened with three losses, a 3-2 shootout win over France on the second-last day put them in position to move up the standings if they could close with a regulation win over Italy.
The teams traded goals in the first, with Artjom Orlov opening the scoring for Estonia and Italian captain Philipp Winkler quickly replying with his third of the tournament.
But Estonia dominated play in the final 40 minutes, outshooting Italy 18-8. Ruslan Heitkov tallied the game winner just 37 seconds into the second period, and Pavel Blitstein added an insurance marker in the third.
With the 3-1 win, Estonia moved ahead of both Italy and Korea to finish fourth in the final standings.
Lithuanian players captured two of the tournament’s three Directorate Awards.
As the leading scorer with five goals and nine points, Deimantas Sulinskis was named top forward.
Svec earned top goalkeeper honours as the only netminder to play every minute for his team. He allowed 11 goals on 127 shots for a 91.34% save percentage and 2.18 goals-against average.
The tournament’s best defender was Paulin Hostein of France. In a top-pairing role, Hostein finished with a tournament high plus-minus of plus-6. At even strength, he was on the ice for seven French goals for, and just one goal against.
1. Austria – 11 points (promoted to 2027 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division I, Group A)
2. Lithuania – 10 points
3. France – 10 points
4. Estonia – 5 points
5. Italy – 5 points
6. Korea - 4 points (relegated to 2027 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division II, Group A)
25 April: Austria 4 – Italy 1; Lithuania 3 – France 2; Korea 4 – Estonia 2
26 April: France 3 – Austria 1; Lithuania 5 – Estonia 2; Italy 4 – Korea 0
28 April: Lithuania 3 – Korea 1; France 4 – Italy 0; Austria 7 – Estonia 4
30 April: Italy 3 – Lithuania 2 (SO); Austria 4 – Korea 3 (OT); Estonia 3 – France 2 (SO)
1 May: Austria 4 – Lithuania 1; France 4 – Korea 2; Estonia 3 – Italy 1
When the final three games of the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division I, Group B were complete at Tondiraba Ice Arena on Friday, Austria had claimed gold and earned promotion. Also, the Estonian hosts had staved off relegation.
To reach the top of the table and get back to Division IA after a one-year absence, Austria needed a final-day regulation win over first-place Lithuania. Coming off back-to-back second-place finishes, Mario Durocher’s squad had amassed a record of 3-0-1-0 for 10 points heading into Friday’s game, with its only blemish coming in a 3-2 shootout loss to Italy on Thursday.
Austria sat second in the standings with eight points thanks to regulation wins over Italy and Estonia, an overtime victory over Korea and a 3-1 loss to France on the tournament’s second day. With a record of 2-1-0-1, only three points would get the job done.
Lithuania jumped out to the early lead on Friday, with Ignas Kaupaitis tallying his third goal of the tournament just nine seconds into the first power play of the game at 7:50 of the first period.
Austria quickly answered back with a power-play goal of its own from captain Jonathan Oschgan. With just one second remaining in the opening frame, Luc van Ee beat Dmitrij Svec for what proved to be the game-winning goal.
In the second, Oschgan added another power-play tally. With 1:44 remaining in the third, Lennart Leitner finished off the scoring four seconds after Svec was pulled for the extra attacker, sealing Austria’s 4-1 win.
Finishing with 10 points, Lithuania claimed its third-straight silver medal. France also finished with a record of 3-1-0-1 but finished in the bronze-medal spot due to their opening-day head-to-head loss against Lithuania.
Estonia Stays Up
In the tournament's final game on Friday, fans in Tallinn were treated to a thriller. After the host team from Estonia opened with three losses, a 3-2 shootout win over France on the second-last day put them in position to move up the standings if they could close with a regulation win over Italy.
The teams traded goals in the first, with Artjom Orlov opening the scoring for Estonia and Italian captain Philipp Winkler quickly replying with his third of the tournament.
But Estonia dominated play in the final 40 minutes, outshooting Italy 18-8. Ruslan Heitkov tallied the game winner just 37 seconds into the second period, and Pavel Blitstein added an insurance marker in the third.
With the 3-1 win, Estonia moved ahead of both Italy and Korea to finish fourth in the final standings.
Players of the Tournament
Lithuanian players captured two of the tournament’s three Directorate Awards.
As the leading scorer with five goals and nine points, Deimantas Sulinskis was named top forward.
Svec earned top goalkeeper honours as the only netminder to play every minute for his team. He allowed 11 goals on 127 shots for a 91.34% save percentage and 2.18 goals-against average.
The tournament’s best defender was Paulin Hostein of France. In a top-pairing role, Hostein finished with a tournament high plus-minus of plus-6. At even strength, he was on the ice for seven French goals for, and just one goal against.
Final Standings
1. Austria – 11 points (promoted to 2027 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division I, Group A)
2. Lithuania – 10 points
3. France – 10 points
4. Estonia – 5 points
5. Italy – 5 points
6. Korea - 4 points (relegated to 2027 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division II, Group A)
Game results
25 April: Austria 4 – Italy 1; Lithuania 3 – France 2; Korea 4 – Estonia 2
26 April: France 3 – Austria 1; Lithuania 5 – Estonia 2; Italy 4 – Korea 0
28 April: Lithuania 3 – Korea 1; France 4 – Italy 0; Austria 7 – Estonia 4
30 April: Italy 3 – Lithuania 2 (SO); Austria 4 – Korea 3 (OT); Estonia 3 – France 2 (SO)
1 May: Austria 4 – Lithuania 1; France 4 – Korea 2; Estonia 3 – Italy 1