Israel rose to the occasion when it mattered most, securing gold at the 2026 IIHF World Championship, Division II Group B in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Five different scorers tallied for Israel in a 5-2 final-day victory over Iceland, as the Israelis finished the tournament undefeated at the Winter Sports Palace to seal top spot. 

"Winning gold means a lot to us. Iceland is a strong and hard playing team, but we have a few new players on this year´s team and they´ve helped us a lot," said Israel forward Michael Levin.

With gold on the line for the winner, Israel and Iceland squared off on the final day. Israel quickly seized control, scoring twice in quick succession. On the power play, Nikita Zitserman fired from the blueline, with Shon Kazinets converting spectacularly past Iceland goaltender Helgi Ivarsson at 2:53. Just 12 seconds later, Gleb Khvoles weaved through the static Icelandic defence to double the Israeli lead.

Unni Runarsson replied for Iceland, scoring on the power play with 12 seconds left in the opening frame to cut the deficit.

Operating in a class of their own in special play, Israel scored the only goal of the middle frame on a man-on-advantage as Kirill Polozov extended the Israeli lead to 3–1.

Seven World Championship debutants featured for Israel in Sofia and two of those combined for their crucial fourth goal. Sean Voshilo did the hard work to set up Henadz Malashchanka as Israel stretched their lead to 4–1 and leaving Iceland with an uphill battle.

Viktor Mojzyszek briefly restored Icelandic hopes with a wrister to make it 4–2 with 6:45 remaining. Iceland pulled their goalie with over three minutes left, but Levin sealed the Israeli win with an empty netter to close the scoring at 5–2.

The victory marked a winning debut behind the Israeli bench for coach Jevgeni Gusin. A legendary figure in Israeli hockey with 16 World Championship tournaments as a goaltender, he would have been pleased with the performance of his current netminder.

Outshot in four of their five games en route to the gold, Israel´s goalie Maksim Kaliaev was named as the tournament´s top goaltender, posting a 91.91 save percentage and 2.77 goals against average. His teammate, Henadz Malashchanka led the tournament in scoring on 12 points.

New Zealand leapfrogs Iceland to clinch silver

New Zealand arrived in Bulgaria after an arduous journey via North America. Following one point from their first two games, the Ice Blacks then clicked into gear, winning all their remaining games to finish second. 

In their final game against newly promoted Kyrgyzstan, a spirited New Zealand team rallied back from an early three-goal deficit to secure a thrilling 5–4 victory. As the tournament´s highest-scoring team (29), New Zealand was led in offense by rising star Jacob Carey and Colin McIntosh. Separated by 18 years and four months, each recorded eleven points to finish second and third in overall scoring. 

20-year-old Carey was named as the tournament´s top forward, while his teammate and captain Stefan Amston excelled on the blueline to earn the top defender accolade. 

Final standings:
1. Israel – 13 points 
2. New Zealand  – 10 points
3. Iceland – 9 points
4. Bulgaria – 6 points
5. Kyrgyzstan – 4 points
6. Chinese Taipei  – 3 points 

Game results:
6 April: NZL 6-7 ISR (OT), ISL 6-5 TPE, KGZ 5-3 BUL
7 April:   ISL 6-2 NZL, TPE 5-1 KGZ, ISR 4-2 BUL
9 April: ISR 6-1 TPE, ISL 6-3 KGZ, NZL 7-1 BUL
11 April: KGZ 3-4 ISR (OT), BUL 3-1 ISL, TPE 2-9 NZL
12 April:  ISR 5-2 ISL, NZL 5-4 KGZ, BUL 6-4 TPE