The semi-final round of the 2026 World Junior Hockey Championship takes place on Sunday in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Canada will play the Czech Republic in the semi-finals on Sunday, January 4.
Both semi-final games of the 2026 World Junior Hockey Championship will be broadcast on the NHL Network and can be streamed live on DirecTV Stream (Free Trial), fuboTV and other live television services.
Here’s what you need to know:
What: 2026 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship
WHO: Canada vs. Czechia
When: 8:30 PM ET on Sunday, January 4, 2025
Where: Grand Casino Arena, Saint Paul, Minnesota
TV: NHL Network
Tickets: From $38.10
Semi-final program
Sunday January 4th
Sweden vs. Finland, 4:30 p.m. ET
Canada vs. Czech Republic, 8:30 p.m. ET
>> Complete tournament schedule
Here’s a recap of Canada’s win over Slovakia on Friday from the Post-Bulletin in Rochester, Minn., via Tribune News Service:
This year, for the first time since 2023, a new IIHF World Junior Champion will be crowned.
As many predicted before the tournament, it could very well be Canada.
The Canadians are seeking their first gold medal in three years and have won three of the last six WJCs. The US claimed three more, most recently in 2025 and 2024.
With Finland knocking the Americans out of the tournament with a 4-3 overtime win in the quarterfinals on Friday, the path to gold is even clearer for Team Canada.
The first 13 minutes of the first period of the quarter-final match between Canada and Slovakia were rather quiet at the 3M Arena in Mariucci on Friday night.
With seven minutes left in the first, the shots were just 5-4 in favor of Canada.
But all that changed relatively quickly.
In the final six minutes and two seconds of the first period, the Canadians did what they do best, finding the back of the net five times. If you looked away for a few seconds after one goal, you risked missing the next one.
The first period was certainly the most eventful, but the Canadians added two more goals in the second en route to a 7-1 victory.
There is a lot of talk about Canada being the tournament favorite, but the players are blocking out the noise.
“We just came into this game wanting to win, we weren’t worried about the media and stuff like that,” forward Michael Misa said.
All of those first-period goals came from various forwards and NHL draft picks — Cole Reschny (University of North Dakota, Calgary Flames), Tij Iginla (Kelowna Rockets, Utah Mammoth), Misa (San Jose Barracuda, San Jose Sharks), Sam O’Reilly (London Knights) and Greundhos Martin Bay, S. Nashville Predators).
“Yeah, I mean, that’s right, it was like one after the other, and that increased our momentum for the next two periods,” answered Míša when asked if the scoring was contagious. “So yeah, happy with our group.
This trend of alternating goals continued in the second. Canadian captain and Michigan State forward Porter Martone made it 6-0 at 9:31 of the second. Then forward Cole Beaudoin (Barrie Colts) made it 7-0 just 70 seconds later.
Slovakia finally got on the board thanks to forward Jan Chovan (Sudbury Wolves) with 3:10 left in the second.
Canadian defensemen Keaton Verhoeff (University of North Dakota) and Zayne Parekh (Calgary Flames) each had two assists in the win. At the end of the night, 14 different Canadian players finished with at least one point.
“It was fun,” Iginla said. “We had a great start and we came out flying. And I think scoring goals early like that is discouraging for the other team. We didn’t stop at one, two or three. We just kept going.”
Canada entered the quarterfinals a perfect 4-0 with pool-play wins over the Czech Republic, Latvia, Denmark and Finland. The Canadians have scored seven or more goals in four of their five games in this tournament.
Slovakian goalkeepers Michal Pradel and Alan Lendak combined for 36 saves. Canadian netminder and Nashville Predator draft pick Jack Ivankovic didn’t have to do as much work as his opponents, making 21 total saves.
Ivankovic, who is in his first season at Michigan, earned his second start at the tournament on Friday.
“I feel like I play my best when the stage is pretty big,” Ivankovic said, “so I’m very excited.”
Slovakia had seven shots on net to Canada’s 20 in the second. During the 40 minutes of play, shots were 36:13 in favor of the Canadians.
Slovakia was limited to just 22 total SOGs, while Canada finished with double that number.
Canada will face the Czech Republic in the WJC semifinals at the Grand Casino Arena in St. Petersburg on Sunday, January 4. Paul. Only two victories separate the Canadians from the gold medal they have been aiming for since 2024.
“It’s a privilege to wear this jersey and a privilege for us to be in Minnesota and try to get back on the podium and win a gold medal,” Martone said. “We’ve been really excited the whole time and now we’re even more excited to get to the semi-finals.”
Where to watch the 2026 IIHF World Junior Hockey Tournament live and on demand for free
Non-cable viewers can watch the games live and on demand for free when they sign up for a trial offer from DIRECTV or Fubo.
What are the differences between streaming services?
DIRECTV – Watch live TV from major broadcast and popular cable networks. Enjoy local and national live sports, breaking news and must-see shows as they air. Included: unlimited DVR cloud storage so you can record as many shows as you want and stream them from anywhere. DTV starts as low as $19.99 per month after a 5-day free trial when you purchase their customizable genre packs.
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Get up to $40 off your first month and enjoy local and national live sports, breaking news and must-see shows.
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