Schedule announced for World Juniors

2026 WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS >> DEC. 26-JAN. 5 IN MINNESOTA

Prelims to be played at Xcel Energy Center and 3M Arena; semis, final will be at the X

Team USA celebrates a victory against Team Finland to win gold during the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship at Canadian Tire Centre on Jan. 5 in Ottawa, Ontario. MINAS PANAGIOTAKIS — GETTY IMAGES

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The International Ice Hockey Federation on Thursday released the schedule for the IIHF World Junior Championships being held Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The 29-game tournament for the world’s best players 20 and under will be played mostly at Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul (Group A) and 3M Arena at Mariucci (Group B) on the campus of the University of Minnesota.

Group A, comprising the U.S., Sweden, Slovakia, Switzerland and Germany, will play its preliminary round games at the X. Group B (Canada, Czechia, Finland, Latvia and Denmark) will play preliminary contests at Mariucci. Each team in each group will play the others once and the top four will advance to the quarterfinals.

Semifinals and gold medal games will be played at Xcel Energy Center from Jan 4-5. Tickets for all games can be purchased at https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2026/wm20/static/64823/tickets.