The semi-final round of the 2026 World Junior Hockey Championship takes place on Sunday in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Sweden will play Finland 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: Sweden vs. Finland
When: 4:30 PM ET on Sunday, January 4, 2025
Where: Grand Casino Arena, Saint Paul, Minnesota
TV: NHL Network
Tickets: From $35.10
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 Finland’s win over the United States on Friday from the Star Tribune, via the Tribune News Service:
There’s a holiday hockey story to be written, one with all the joy of the season for a team that can find all the right gifts and win the World Junior Championship.
This story will not be written for Team USA.
The US team had won back-to-back titles heading into this year’s tournament, the first in the United States since 2018.
But Finland — which lost to Team USA in last year’s gold medal game — turned the story around in 2026, defeating the Americans 4-3 in overtime in the quarterfinal game on Friday night, Jan. 2, before an announced 11,779 at the Grand Casino Arena.
The American players, all teenagers, took it hard.
“I feel like we let our country down,” said team captain Brodie Ziemer, a sophomore for the Gophers.
Petteri Rimpinen was Finland’s goalkeeper last year when Teddy Stig’s goal lifted the United States to gold in Ottawa. Rimpinen made 28 saves on Friday.
“It’s not about revenge,” Rimpinen said. “It’s about rebounds. You look at last year’s final, it’s about rebounds. We got that one tonight.
“They fought right down to the wire. We came out with a big goal this time. We know what happened last time.”
The game-winner came with the teams skating 3-on-3 with just over two minutes left in OT. Arttu Valila blasted a shot from the right circle past goalkeeper Nick Kempf’s blocker.
“I just got the puck and shot and that’s it,” Valila said in halting English. “I have no words for it. Great feeling.”
Kempf had 21 stops and said of the game-winning goal, “I knew the guy to my left had a one-timer and I knew the shot was coming fast, but he just overdid it a little bit and gave him the other side.”
Finland will face arch-rivals Sweden in the semifinals on January 4 at 2:30 p.m., while tournament favorite Canada will face the Czech Republic at 7:30 p.m. Both matches are played at the Grand Casino Arena.
The tournament ends abruptly for the Americans, who had another advantage – or was it another pressure? — hosting the tournament. They played unevenly in earning the second seed in Group A, but their semi-final performance was arguably their best of the tournament.
“That’s the sport. When you’re in that situation, it breaks your damn heart,” United States coach Bob Motzko said. “Give it to Finland. One thing about the Finns, it never changes. Down or up, they play the same. They got the sticks on the puck and the game changed.”
Defenseman Cole Hutson, arguably Team USA’s best player, returned after missing two complete games with an injury when he was stretchered off the ice after a hard shot to the back of the head in Saturday’s win over Switzerland. He scored a goal and set up another against Finland.
The Americans were without collegiate scoring leader Max Plante of Minnesota Duluth, who left with an upper-body injury after a high hit in the first game of the tournament; he could return on Sunday, Motzko said. They began the tournament without Trevor Connelly, a professional winger who, along with Hutson and Plant, would have been among the nine returning players from the gold team.
Brendan McMorrow left in the second period Friday after breaking his finger while blocking a penalty shot.
“It’s going to sound bad, but injuries played a huge role,” Motzko said. “You lose players like that, they’re elite players. Injuries are just the worst part of the sport. These kids give their heart and soul, they train so hard, your heart just bleeds for the guys when it happens. It’s devastating for them. That’s the hardest part of the tournament.”
An unsung player to headline for the USA was forward Will Zellers, who led the team in scoring with five goals and three assists. Zellers, of Maple Grove, was a last-minute addition to the team after a strong start to his first season at North Dakota.
Zellers helped force overtime Friday after the Americans gave up a 2-1 lead and trailed 3-2 late. As Kempf drew another attacker, Zellers broke into the Finnish zone and created confusion that released the puck behind the net. James Hagens crossed for Ryker Lee to score with 1:33 left in regulation.
“It never ends,” said Lee, a freshman at Michigan State who played prep hockey at Shattuck-St. Mary is in Faribault. “You never give up. It was a great feeling and then…
“From day one, the guys on this team have been so close. Just being able to hang out with them has been super fun. . . . I just wish I could have gone through it a few more days.”
Motzko lamented that the USA was unable to get an insurance goal in the third period when they led 2-1.
“We had a number of chances with the right guys getting the puck and increasing the lead,” the Gophers coach said. “We had three or four that we had empty with the right guys.
Finland gets two goals in 55 seconds and leads 3-2. Leo Tuuva tipped in a savvy pass from team captain Aron Kiviharja at 12:43, then Tuuva crossed from behind the net and an unmarked Joona Saarelainen tapped past Kempf at 13:38.
A knee injury was the likely reason Kiviharju fell to the fourth round of the 2024 NHL Draft, where the Wild drafted him 122nd overall. He told Wild general manager Bill Guerin at the time that it was a steal, and he may have been right. The 5-10 defenseman captained Finland’s junior team for the past two tournaments and played his first game at the Wild’s home rink — “but I hope to play a lot more here,” he joked.
“We just went back to the simple things,” he said. “Winning involves repeating a lot of boring things, getting pucks deep, taking shots against, it’s not always pretty, but … you usually find a way to win when you do the simple things.”
Friday’s first period was scoreless before Hutson scored the game’s first goal 35 seconds into the second, driving a 35-footer past Rimpinen from the right circle.
Heikki Ruohonen equalized four minutes after Hutson’s goal to make it 1-1 when he beat Kempf from the left circle. Then Hutson set up Team USA’s power play goal at 10:15, cutting into the bottom of the left circle and finding Boston University teammate Cole Eiserman at the right point. Eiserman’s one-timer flew past Rimpinen for a 2-1 lead.
Hutson, the leading scorer in last year’s tournament, became the top-scoring US defenseman in tournament history with his 15th career point.
Kempf started in net for the USA ahead of Caleb Heil, who has eight goals on 52 shots in his two starts.
“Our guy was great,” Motzko said. “Kemper did a great job.
The match was the only close match between Friday’s quarter-finals and the American players were pleased with their performance after a spotty performance in the group stage.
“You wish you did, you wish you scored, but the game’s over,” said Hagens, who was on last year’s team. “For me it’s the greatest honor in the world, a dream come true. You grow up as a kid and you get to represent your country; it’s something you can’t take lightly.”
Motzko then worked in the American locker room, but he had a few words.
“You hug them. That’s it,” he said. “They don’t remember what I said. We thanked them for everything they did, but they don’t hear anything. All you do is walk around the room and hug them all.”
In other Friday matches:
Canada 7, Slovakia 1: Group B’s top seed scored five times in the first period to cruise to victory in front of 5,250 at the 3M Arena in Mariucci. Seven different players had goals for Canada.
Sweden 6, Latvia 3: Group A’s top seed Sweden got two goals from Anton Lundell and 13 saves from Love Harenstam to advance to the semi-finals in front of 4,946 at the Grand Casino Arena. Defender Leo Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and an assist for Sweden.
Czech Republic 6, Switzerland 2: The Czechs, seeded second in Group B, progressed with a narrow victory at Mariucci. Petr Sikora scored a goal and set up two more for the Czech Republic in front of 3,102 fans.
Germany 8, Denmark 4: The Germans won the relegation match matched by the lowest seeds in their groups. Lenny Boos and Dustin Willhoft had a goal and three assists for Germany.
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.
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