The pinnacle of Junior hockey in the world returned on December 26 with the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship—nestling deeply into the United States' hockey nucleus that are Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.

After Team USA secured their second WJC in a row last year, all eyes were on the red, white, and blue to see if they could pull off a three-peat just weeks before the 2026 Winter Olympics kick off in Italy. Their dreams were ended by Finland in the quarterfinals, however.

• Follow FloHockey's Coverage Of The 2026 World Junior Championship

Ten teams qualified for the 2026 WJC and were split into two groups of five. The played each team in their group and based on the standings of the Group Stage, the top four advanced to the quarterfinals. The two teams in fifth, Denmark and Germany, will play in a relegation game.

Games are played between two locations: Grand Casino Arena, home of the the Minnesota Wild and Minnesota Frost, and the University of Minnesota's 3M Arena at Mariucci.

The 2026 World Juniors hockey tournament kicked off on December 26 in Minnesota. Here's the full schedule and how to follow the action live on FloHockey.

2026 World Junior Championship Schedule

View the full schedule below for the Group Stage and Knockout rounds of the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship in Minnesota.

Friday, December 26

• 1:00 p.m. ET - Sweden vs Slovakia
• 2:30 p.m. ET - Denmark vs Finland
• 6:00 p.m. ET - Germany vs USA
• 8:30 p.m. ET - Czechia vs Canada

Saturday, December 27

• 2:00 p.m. ET - Slovakia vs Germany
• 4:30 p.m. ET - Latvia vs Canada
• 6:00 p.m. ET - USA vs Switzerland
• 8:30 p.m. ET - Denmark vs Czechia

Sunday, December 28

• 2:00 p.m. ET - Sweden vs Switzerland
• 4:30 p.m. ET - Finland vs Latvia

Monday, December 29

• 1:00 p.m. ET - Germany vs Sweden
• 3:30 p.m. ET - Finland vs Czechia
• 6:00 p.m. ET - Slovakia vs USA
• 8:30 p.m. ET - Canada vs Denmark

Tuesday, December 30

• 2:00 p.m. ET - Switzerland vs Germany
• 4:30 p.m. ET - Latvia vs Denmark

Wednesday, December 31

• 1:00 p.m. ET - Switzerland vs Slovakia
• 3:30 p.m. ET - Czechia vs Latvia
• 6:00 p.m. ET - USA vs Sweden
• 8:30 p.m. ET - Canada vs Finland

Friday, January 2

• 12:30 p.m. ET - Germany vs Denmark
• 2:00 p.m. ET - Sweden vs Latvia
• 4:30 p.m. ET - Czechia vs Switzerland
• 6:00 p.m. ET - USA vs Finland
• 8:30 p.m. ET - Canada vs Slovakia

Sunday, January 4

• 4:30 p.m. ET - Sweden vs Finland
• 8:30 p.m. ET - Czechia vs Canada

Monday, January 5

• 4:30 p.m. ET - Bronze Medal Game
• 8:30 p.m. ET - Gold Medal Game

2026 World Junior Championship Teams

View the list of teams, by group, for the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Group A

• USA
• Germany
• Switzerland
• Sweden
• Slovakia

Group B

• Canada
• Czechia
• Latvia
• Denmark
• Finland

Follow FloHockey's Coverage Of The 2026 World Junior Championship

FloHockey will be on site for complete coverage of the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. You can expect game-by-game coverage of both Team USA and Team Canada from FloHockey's experts, interviews with key players and coaches and much more. Follow FloHockey's WJC coverage here.

NHL Prospect Coverage On FloHockey

The best, and most complete, coverage of the NHL minor league hockey and NHL Draft is found on FloHockey. Don't miss the latest new prospect guides, rankings and more from Chris Peters and the FloHockey staff.

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