After months of anticipation, the 2026 IIHF World Championship finally got underway in Fribourg and Zurich, Switzerland on Friday with four games featuring some of the top nations hitting the ice, including the defending gold medalists, the United States, along with Sidney Crosby and Canada.
In the early game in Group A, Aleksander Barkov played his first game in nearly 11 months as Finland took on Moritz Seider and Germany, while over in Group B, Sidney Crosby, Macklin Celebrini and the Canadians faced 2026 top prospect Ivar Stenberg and Sweden. The afternoon games (Eastern Time) saw a rematch of last year’s gold medal game as the United States battled the hosts Switzerland and 40-year-old Roman Cervenka, playing in his 13th IIHF World Championship with Czechia, faced Denmark, who surprised many last May by finishing fourth.
Finland (3) vs Germany (1) F
After three straight quarterfinal exits at the IIHF World Championship, Finland is hoping to compete for a medal at this year’s tournament. The Finns got off on the right foot in Friday’s game against Germany, with Florida Panthers forward Anton Lundell scoring the opening goal 8:33 into the opening frame.
Finland got into some penalty trouble in the second period, with Ottawa Senators defenseman Nikolas Mantipalo accounting for six of his nation’s eight penalty minutes, but Justus Annunen stood tall and didn’t allow a single goal through 40 minutes. The Finns led Germany after two periods 1-0, but added to their lead in the third.
Three minutes into the third period, former fourth overall pick Jesse Puljujarvi extended Finland’s lead to 2-0, with Teuvo Teravainen of the Chicago Blackhawks picking up his second assist of the game. Five minutes later, Germany would cut Finland’s lead to one as Stefan Loibl scored in his first IIHF World Championship contest in four years. The Finns added a third with less than five minutes remining in the game thanks to Vancouver Canucks forward Aatu Raty, which helped securing a 3-1 victory for his nation on the opening day of the tournament.
Scoring Summary:
Finland
- Anton Lundell (1). Assists: Teuvo Teravainen, Aleksander Barkov.
- Jesse Puljujarvi (1). Assists: Teuvo Teravainen, Anton Lundell.
- Aatu Raty (1). Assists: Saku Maenalanen, Jesse Puljujarvi.
Germany
- Sefan Loibl (1). Assists: Leon Gawanke, Leon Huttl.
Canada (5) vs Sweden (3) F
It’s been three years since Canada won their last medal at the IIHF World Championship – gold in 2023, but with the roster their management group has put together this time around, they should have a decent chance of bringing home some hardware later this month. Canada opened up their preliminary round schedule on Friday against Sweden, who have won the bronze medal in the last two tournaments and are looking for their first gold medal since 2018.
Canada got off to a relatively quick start against the Swedes as Toronto Maple Leafs forward John Tavares scored his 19th career IIHF World Championship goal a little over two minutes into the first period. Later on in the opening frame, Ryan O’Reilly extended Canada’s lead to 2-0 and that’s where we stood after 20 minutes.
In the second period, Sweden battled back as Jacob Larsson and Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond scored less than three minutes apart to tie the game at 2-2. Dylan Holloway of the St. Louis Blues regained the lead for Canada with less than six minutes left in the period, but it didn’t last long as Edmonton Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm tied things up 1:17 later.
Less than four minutes into the third period, Connor Brown, who led the tournament in points in 2021, scored his first of the 2026 IIHF World Championship to give Canada a 4-3 lead. Then with seven minutes remaining, Dylan Cozens got on the board, putting his nation ahead 5-3 as Canada picked up an all important regulation win against a tough opponent to open the tournament.
Scoring Summary:
Canada
- John Tavares (1). Assists: Darnell Nurse, Robert Thomas.
- Ryan O’Reilly (1). Assists: Gabe Vilardi, Morgan Rielly.
- Dylan Holloway (1). Assists: Fraser Minten, Dylan DeMelo.
- Connor Brown (1). Assists: Porter Martone, Fraser Minten.
- Dylan Cozens (1). Assists: Porter Martone, Darnell Nurse.
Sweden
- Jacob Larsson (1). Assist: Jack Berglund.
- Lucas Raymond (1). Assists: Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jack Berglund.
- Mattias Ekholm (1). Assists: Linus Karlsson, Simon Holmstrom.
United States (1) vs Switzerland (3) F
In a rematch of the gold medal game last May, the United States took on the hosts, Switzerland, in front of a sold-out Swiss Life Arena on Friday evening in Zurich. The Swiss sent a star-studded roster to this years tournament as they look to win gold on home ice after back-to-back silver medals in 2024 and 2025.
Swiss Life Arena erupted early on in the first period as St. Louis Blues forward Pius Suter put Switzerland up 1-0 just over two minutes in. Former Montreal Canadiens forward Sven Andrighetto, who assisted on Suter’s goal, added one of his own a little over nine minutes later as Switzerland took a 2-0 lead to the locker room after 20 minutes.
After a scoreless middle frame, the United States brought themselves within one nearly nine minutes into the third period thanks to Alex Steeves of the Boston Bruins. The United States continued to press for an equalizer, but Switzerland added a third goal with Ken Jager scoring less than five minutes to play and that’s how this one ended, 3-1 for the hosts.
Scoring Summary:
United States
- Alex Steeves (1). Assists: Ryan Lindgren, Will Borgen.
Switzerland
- Pius Suter (1). Assists: Sven Andrighetto, JJ Moser.
- Sven Andrighetto (1). Assists: Denis Malgin, Pius Suter.
- Ken Jager (1). Assists: Simon Knak, Dean Kukan.
Czechia (4) vs Denmark (1) F
A quarterfinal exit to the eventual bronze medalists, Sweden, dashed Czechia’s hopes of winning back-to-back gold medals last year, but they’re determined to get back on the podium in 2026, with last tournament’s surprise team, Denmark, being their first opponent in the preliminary round.
It was all Czechia in the first period as Dominik Kubalik and Daniel Vozenilek scored one minute and ten seconds apart to give their nation a 2-0 lead at the halfway mark of the opening frame. In that first period, Czechia outshot the Danes 12-1 and it wasn’t looking good early on for last year’s fourth place team.
Denmark looked a bit better in the second period, which was scoreless, as they outshot Czechia 11-7, and despite trying to carry that momentum into the final frame, it was the Czechs who took over. 40-year-old future IIHF Hall of Famer Roman Cervenka scored three minutes into the third period to give Czechia a 3-0 lead. Later on in the third, with close to two minutes remaining, Mikkel Aagaard got Denmark on the board, but it too little, too late, as the Czechs added an empty netter to win their opening game of the tournament by a score of 4-1.
Scoring Summary:
Czechia
- Dominik Kubalik (1). Assist: Jakub Flek.
- Daniel Vozenilek (1). Assist: David Tomasek.
- Roman Cervenka (1). Assists: Matej Blumel, David Tomasek.
- Matej Blumel (1). Assists: Lukas Sedlak, Roman Cervenka.
Denmark
- Mikkel Aagaard (1). Assists: Nick Olesen, Joachim Blichfeld.
Standings
Group A
| Nation | GP | W | OT/SOW | OT/SOL | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 4 | +18 | 12 |
| Finland | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 4 | +9 | 9 |
| Austria | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 14 | -2 | 9 |
| United States | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 13 | -1 | 5 |
| Hungary | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 8 | +/-0 | 3 |
| Latvia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | -2 | 3 |
| Germany | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 15 | -10 | 1 |
| Great Britain | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 15 | -12 | 0 |
Group B
| Nation | GP | W | OT/SOW | OT/SOL | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Czechia | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 10 |
| Canada | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 4 | +12 | 9 |
| Slovakia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 6 | +5 | 8 |
| Sweden | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 11 | +7 | 6 |
| Norway | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 6 |
| Slovenia | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 17 | -10 | 3 |
| Denmark | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 15 | -11 | 0 |
| Italy | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 17 | -15 | 0 |
My 3 Stars of Day 1
- Fraser Minten (Canada) – 2 assists vs Sweden.
- Sven Andrighetto (Switzerland) – 1 goal (GWG), 1 assist vs United States.
- Roman Cervenka (Czechia) – 1 goal, 1 assist vs Denmark.
Day 2 Schedule (Saturday, May 16th)
- Great Britain vs Austria (6:20 am ET)
- Slovakia vs Norway (6:20 am ET)
- Hungary vs Finland (10:20 am ET)
- Italy vs Canada (10:20 am ET)
- Switzerland vs Latvia (2:20 pm ET)
- Slovenia vs Czechia (2:20 pm ET)
(Image Source: Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images.)