🇸🇪 Sweden 4-2 Czechia 🇨🇿
World Junior Championship Gold Medal Game
Grand Casino Arena, Saint Paul 🇺🇸
Monday, 05 January 2026

Sweden slowly and surely built a 3-0 lead by the early part of the third period and barely withstood a wild Czech rally in the dying minutes to win World Junior Championship Gold with a thrilling 4-2 win.

It was their third ever Gold medal at the World Juniors (1981, 2012) and their fifth medal in the last nine years.

In defeat, the Czechs won a medal for the fourth year running (Silver, Bronze, Bronze, Silver) and are proving their program, after a dormant period, is back better than ever. Their last Gold came in 2001.

“It’s incredible,” said Anton Frondell. “It was time for a Gold, and we did it. It’s amazing. We’re a big family. We love each other. We did the right things for the team to win. It was not about individuals scoring goals or anything. It was just about the Gold medal, and we did a great job all the way to the end, even though they scored two goals.”

The Sweden win avenges a shootout loss to the Czechs in last year’s Bronze medal game.

“I think Sweden played better from the beginning,” admitted Czech coach Patrik Augusta. “Our legs weren’t going and the game against Canada last night took a lot of energy from us, not just physically but mentally. We were looking for a little spark, and it didn’t come until the last couple of minutes, which was too late.”

Ivar Stenberg had a goal and two assists, while Viktor Eklund had a goal and an assist. Captain Jack Berglund and Viggo Björck both had a pair of assists.

The first period was a mostly tentative 20 minutes of cautious play, close checking, and few mistakes. It almost wasn’t. Leo Sahlin Wallenius snapped a point shot off the post after a faceoff win just half a minute after the game’s start, but after that near miss conservative play ruled.

The first break came to the Czechs, who had a power play later in the period, but that advantage changed quickly. Casper Juustovaara had the stick knocked out of his hand coming in over the Czech blue line, but as the referee raised his hand to call a penalty the Swedes maintained possession.

Härenstam came to the bench and Juustovaara picked up his stick and went to the net. Meanwhile, captain Jack Berglund gained possession behind the Czech net, and he got the puck to Juustovaara in the blue ice. He smacked it in for a goal that was both a short-handed goal and goal on a delayed penalty.

Adam Jiříček had a great chance to tie the game early in the second, but his shot rattled off the post and stayed out. The Swedes kept playing their close-checking style, limiting not only shots but puck possession. They doubled their lead midway through the period despite the best efforts from Michal Oršulák.

Moving the puck around on the power play, Anton Frondell had a sensational chance in close only to be denied by a spectacular save from the Czech goalie. Moments later, however, Viktor Eklund whacked home a loose puck at 9:21 on the same 5-on-4 to make it a 2-0 game.

Things got only worse for the Czechs, who surrendered a third goal early in the final period. Ivar Stenberg played an effective game of keepaway in the Czech end, circling around inside the blue line before spotting Sascha Boumedienne. Boumedienne took the pass and rifled a missile high over Oršulák’s shoulder at 3:47 to make it 3-0 and effectively seal the victory. Or so the Swedes thought.

Moments later, Berglund hit the post, a fortuitous moment for the Czechs and a sign they still had life in the game. They pulled Oršulák with more than three minutes left and finally got to Härenstam at 17:36 when Adam Jiříček fired a one-timer in the open side.

The Czechs put everything they had into the finish and got one more with 23.3 seconds left, another cross-ice pass opening the net for Matěj Kubiesa and making for a wild finish. Stenberg put that to rest, though, with an empty netter and only eight seconds remaining to confirm the Gold.

A game that started with hesitation ended in pandemonium, and the Swedes finished the tournament with seven wins and no losses – and a Gold medal.

“They played very well with structure and defence,” noted Adam Jiříček. “So it was hard. We didn’t play our best from the beginning. So that was the reason why we were always one step behind. It was the last game and we tried to put everything into it. But we didn’t succeed. That’s hockey.”

BOXSCORE
1st Period
08:44 – 🇸🇪 PEN – Stenberg, holding
13:44 – 🇸🇪 PEN – Boumedienne, delay of game
14:46 – 🇸🇪 EA SH GOAL – Juustovaara (Berglund)

2nd Period
28:31 – 🇨🇿 PEN – Čihař, cross checking
29:21 – 🇸🇪 PP GOAL – Eklund (Berglund, Stenberg)
32:40 – 🇸🇪 PEN – Krantz, interference

3rd Period
43:47 – 🇸🇪 GOAL – Boumedienne (Stenberg, V. Björck)
45:18 – 🇸🇪 PEN – Eriksson, holding
57:36 – 🇨🇿 EA GOAL – Jiříček (Fibigr, Nestrašil)
59:36 – 🇨🇿 EA GOAL – Kubiesa (Fibigr, Čihař)
59:52 – 🇸🇪 EN GOAL – Stenberg (Eklund, V. Björck)

GOALTENDERS
W: 🇸🇪 Härenstam (27-29)
L: 🇨🇿 Oršulák (31-34)

SHOTS ON GOAL
🇸🇪 10+18+7 = 35
🇨🇿 6+5+18 = 29

ROSTERS
🇸🇪 Goaltenders: Love Härenstam, Herman Liv. Defence: Sascha Boumedienne, Felix Carell, Alfons Freij, William Håkansson, Victor Johansson, Leo Sahlin Wallenius (A), Felix Öhrqvist. Forwards: Jack Berglund (C), Viggo Björck, Wilson Björck, Liam Danielsson, Victor Eklund (A), Linus Eriksson, Anton Frondell, Eddie Genborg, Casper Juustovaara, Loke Krantz, Eric Nilson, Lucas Pettersson, Ivar Stenberg.
🇨🇿 Goaltenders: Matyáš Mařík, Michal Oršulák. Defence: Vladimír Dravecký, Jakub Fibigr (A), Tomáš Galvas, Adam Jiříček (A), Matyáš Man, Radim Mrtka, Max Pšenička. Forwards: Adam Benák, Danny Chludil, Maxmilian Curran, Vojtěch Čihař, Samuel Drančák, Štěpán Hoch, Jiří Klíma, Matěj Kubiesa, Václav Nestrašil, Adam Novotný, Tomáš Poletín, Petr Sikora (C), Adam Titlbach.

Article Credit: 2026 World Junior Championship
Photo Credit: 2026 World Junior Championship – IIHF – HHOF – IOC