2026 IIHF World Championship Division II

See also: 2026 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships

2026 IIHF World Championship
Division II

Tournament details
Host countries	United Arab Emirates Bulgaria
Venues	2 (in 2 host cities)
Dates	20–26 April (cancelled) 6–12 April
Teams	12

The 2026 IIHF World Championship Division II consisted of two international ice hockey tournaments organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Divisions II A and II B represented the fourth and the fifth tier of the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships.

Israel won Group B and Chinese Taipei finished last and got relegated.

Group A tournament

2026 IIHF World Championship Division II A

Tournament details
Host country	United Arab Emirates
City	Al Ain
Venue	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	20–26 April (cancelled)
Teams	6

The Division II Group A tournament was scheduled to be played in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, from 20 to 26 April 2026. On 18 March 2026, the tournament was postponed due to the 2026 Iran war. On 7 April 2026 it was announced the tournament would not longer be postponed, but was cancelled. As a consequence no team will be demoted from Division I Group B, and no team will be promoted from Division II Group B, in the 2026 tournaments for 2027.

This tournament was to be played under a new format. The teams were divided into two groups of three using the serpentine system. In the group stage, each team from Group A will face all three opponents from Group B, and vice versa. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals, which will be played as A1 vs. A2, and B1 vs. B2.

Participants

Team	Qualification
Croatia	Placed 6th in Division I B in 2025 and were relegated.
Serbia	Placed 2nd in Division II A in 2025.
United Arab Emirates	Hosts; placed 3rd in Division II A in 2025.
Belgium	Placed 4th in Division II A in 2025.
Australia	Placed 5th in Division II A in 2025.
Georgia	Placed 1st in Division II B in 2025 and were promoted.

Group B tournament

2026 IIHF World Championship Division II B

Tournament details
Host country	Bulgaria
City	Sofia
Venue	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	6–12 April
Teams	6
Tournament statistics
Games played	15
Goals scored	124 (8.27 per game)
Attendance	1,664 (111 per game)
Scoring leader	Henadz Malashchanka (12 points)
Official website
Website

The Division II Group B tournament was played in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 6 to 12 April 2026. Because of the cancellation of the Group A tournament there was no promotion available in this tournament.

Participants

Team	Qualification
Israel	Placed 6th in Division II A in 2025 and were relegated.
Iceland	Placed 2nd in Division II B in 2025.
New Zealand	Placed 3rd in Division II B in 2025.
Bulgaria	Hosts; placed 4th in Division II B in 2025.
Chinese Taipei	Placed 5th in Division II B in 2025.
Kyrgyzstan	Placed 1st in Division III A in 2025 and were promoted.

Match officials

Four referees and seven linesperson were selected for the tournament.

Referees	Linesperson
Luboš Čamra Andreas Nygaard Vladislav Zotov Boštjan Groznik	Daniel Sparer Maarten Van Den Acker Martin Boyadjiev Xu Henhao Krešimir Polašek Johan Fauvel Luis Estirado

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Relegation
1	Israel	5	3	2	0	0	26	14	+12	13
2	New Zealand	5	3	0	1	1	29	20	+9	10
3	Iceland	5	3	0	0	2	21	18	+3	9
4	Bulgaria (H)	5	2	0	0	3	15	21	−6	6
5	Kyrgyzstan	5	1	0	1	3	16	23	−7	4
6	Chinese Taipei	5	1	0	0	4	17	28	−11	3	Relegated to the 2027 Division III A

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

Results

All times are local (UTC+3).

6 April 2026 13:00

New Zealand

6–7 OT (0–2, 3–3, 3–1) (OT: 0–1)

Israel

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia Attendance: 33

Game reference
	Joel Hasselman	Goalies	Maksim Kaliaev	Referee: Vladislav Zotov Linesmen: Luis Estirado Johan Fauvel
	0–1 05:12 – H. Malashchanka (Turner, Polozov) (PP) 0–2 08:30 – Levin (K. Malashchanka) (SH) 0–3 20:47 – H. Malashchanka (Turner, K. Malashchanka) (PP) 0–4 21:05 – Khubashvili Levin) Dalmatau (Simon, Devlin) – 21:43 1–4 Vesper (Dalmatau) – 27:18 2–4 McIntosh (Strayer, Harrison) – 37:49 3–4 3–5 39:44 – Polozov (K. Malashchanka, Spektor) Carey (Amston, Daigle) (PP) – 44:46 4–5 Strayer (McIntosh) – 56:29 5–5 5–6 56:35 – Levin (H. Malashchanka) Carey (Dalmatau, Daigle) – 56:54 6–6 6–7 62:31 – Polozov (K. Malashchanka, H. Malashchanka) (PP)
	12 min	Penalties	10 min
	35	Shots	40

6 April 2026 16:30

Iceland

6–5 (4–1, 0–2, 2–2)

Chinese Taipei

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia Attendance: 29

Game reference
	Helgi Ivarsson	Goalies	Hsiao Po-yu Lee Yi-cheng	Referee: Andreas Nygaard Linesmen: Martin Boyadjiev Krešimir Polašek
	Rúnarsson (Arnarsson) – 03:24 1–0 Rúnarsson (Leifsson, Pálsson) – 05:58 2–0 Al. Sveinsson (Maack, Arnarsson) (PP) – 08:48 3–0 Magnusson (At. Sveinsson, Leifsson) – 11:41 4–0 4–1 18:13 – Yang (Lin Yo., Wen) 4–2 28:36 – Wang 4–3 33:23 – Pan (Lin Yo., Peng M.) (PP) Rúnarsson (Leifsson, Magnusson) – 47:10 5–3 Maack (Arnarsson) – 54:10 6–3 6–4 58:16 – Lin J. (Chang) 6–5 59:07 – Lin Yo. (Pan, Yang)
	8 min	Penalties	6 min
	26	Shots	31

6 April 2026 20:00

Kyrgyzstan

5–3 (2–1, 0–1, 3–1)

Bulgaria

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia Attendance: 268

Game reference
	Alexander Petrov	Goalies	Ivan Stoynov Andrea Karabadjakov	Referee: Luboš Čamra Linesmen: Xu Henhao Maarten Van Den Acker
	Titov (Seifulov) – 02:52 1–0 1–1 06:14 – Hodulov (Tchalyiov) Seifulov (Abdyraev, Titov) – 15:09 2–1 2–2 25:31 – Nakov (Stamenov, Stanimirov) Titov (Seifulov) (PP) – 43:26 3–2 3–3 47:22 – Stanimirov (Dikov, Zaleev) (PP) Sapitov – 48:27 4–3 Seifulov – 53:15 5–3
	14 min	Penalties	12 min
	37	Shots	22

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7 April 2026 13:00

Iceland

6–2 (2–1, 3–0, 1–1)

New Zealand

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia Attendance: 41

Game reference
	Helgi Ivarsson Robert Steingrimsson	Goalies	Joel Hasselman	Referee: Boštjan Groznik Linesmen: Daniel Sparer Xu Henhao
	0–1 06:44 – Carey (Devlin) Arnarsson (Arason, Hafsteinsson) (PP) – 09:08 1–1 Þorsteinsson (Hafsteinsson) – 15:32 2–1 Þorsteinsson (Arason) – 22:53 3–1 Magnusson (Leifsson, Eggertsson) – 24:41 4–1 Rúnarsson (Magnusson, Leifsson) (PP) – 28:46 5–1 Þorsteinsson (Björgvinsson) – 41:38 6–1 6–2 49:40 – Amston (Orr, Flight)
	10 min	Penalties	8 min
	29	Shots	28

7 April 2026 16:30

Chinese Taipei

5–1 (2–0, 2–0, 1–1)

Kyrgyzstan

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia Attendance: 34

Game reference
	Hsiao Po-yu	Goalies	Alexander Petrov	Referee: Vladislav Zotov Linesmen: Luis Estirado Maarten Van Den Acker
	Lin Yi. (Liu, Li) – 00:28 1–0 Liu (Sang, Lin J.) (SH) – 07:51 2–0 Pan (Wen, Lin Yo.) – 32:23 3–0 Wen (Pan, Yang) – 37:34 4–0 4–1 40:39 – Titov (Abdyraev, Seifulov) Wang (PP) – 53:53 5–1
	14 min	Penalties	8 min
	17	Shots	50

7 April 2026 20:00

Israel

4–2 (1–1, 2–0, 1–1)

Bulgaria

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia Attendance: 267

Game reference
	Maksim Kaliaev	Goalies	Ivan Stoynov Filip Vitanov	Referee: Andreas Nygaard Linesmen: Johan Fauvel Krešimir Polašek
	0–1 02:04 – Kareev (Blinov) Levin (Spektor) – 18:56 1–1 Zitserman (Spektor, Goldshtein) (PP) – 34:28 2–1 Spektor (H. Malashchanka, Kazinets) – 39:53 3–1 Khubashvili (Charniak, Goldshtein) – 48:08 4–1 4–2 54:34 – Nakov (Stamenov, Hodulov) (PP, EA)
	8 min	Penalties	2 min
	26	Shots	39

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9 April 2026 13:00

Israel

6–1 (3–0, 3–0, 0–1)

Chinese Taipei

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia Attendance: 35

Game reference
	Maksim Kaliaev	Goalies	Hsiao Po-yu Lee Yi-cheng	Referee: Luboš Čamra Linesmen: Krešimir Polašek Daniel Sparer
	Khubashvili (Khvoles, Spektor) – 04:58 1–0 H. Malashchanka (K. Malashchanka, Charniak) – 11:01 2–0 H. Malashchanka (Polozov, K. Malashchanka) – 12:57 3–0 Kerner (Zitserman) (SH) – 32:08 4–0 Polozov (K. Malashchanka) – 37:26 5–0 Khvoles (Turner) – 38:22 6–0 6–1 56:07 – Lin Yo. (Chen K.)
	10 min	Penalties	8 min
	28	Shots	35

9 April 2026 16:30

Iceland

6–3 (1–0, 2–1, 3–2)

Kyrgyzstan

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia Attendance: 52

Game reference
	Helgi Ivarsson	Goalies	Alexander Petrov	Referee: Vladislav Zotov Linesmen: Martin Boyadjiev Maarten van den Acker
	Al. Sveinsson (Arnarsson, Maack) – 16:47 1–0 Arnarsson (Al. Sveinsson, Maack) – 27:48 2–0 2–1 34:56 – Isamatov (Mirbekov, Sapitov) Magnusson (Eggertsson, Leifsson) – 38:08 3–1 Eggertsson (Arnarsson, Mojzyszek) – 41:33 4–1 Jonsson (Björgvinsson, Hafsteinsson) – 42:25 5–1 5–2 55:05 – Seifulov (PP) Maack (Sveinsson, Arnarsson) – 55:48 6–2 6–3 56:05 – Sapitov (Mirbekov, Popov)
	4 min	Penalties	8 min
	22	Shots	37

9 April 2026 20:00

New Zealand

7–1 (4–0, 2–1, 1–0)

Bulgaria

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia Attendance: 214

Game reference
	Joel Hasselman	Goalies	Filip Vitanov Andrea Karabadjakov	Referee: Boštjan Groznik Linesmen: Johan Fauvel Xu Hehao
	McIntosh (Daigle, Amston) (PP) – 07:40 1–0 Dalmatau (Devlin, Brown) – 10:48 2–0 Carey (Amson, Dalmatau) – 14:45 3–0 McIntosh – 16:56 4–0 4–1 22:36 – Stanimirov (Hodulov) Amson (Flight, MacDonald) – 24:07 5–1 McIntosh – 24:15 6–1 McIntosh (Daigle, Brown) – 51:59 7–1
	10 min	Penalties	12 min
	43	Shots	46

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11 April 2026 13:00

Kyrgyzstan

3–4 OT (1–1, 2–0, 0–2) (OT: 0–1)

Israel

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia Attendance: 35

Game reference
	Alexander Petrov	Goalies	Maksim Kaliaev	Referee: Boštjan Groznik Linesmen: Krešimir Polašek Xu Henhao
	Titov (Kudashev, Seifulov) – 09:28 1–0 1–1 17:58 – K. Malashchanka (H. Malashchanka) (PP) Abdyraev (PS) – 24:51 2–1 Abdyraev (Seifulov, Popov) (SH) – 31:25 3–1 3–2 47:36 – H. Malashchanka (SH) 3–3 51:27 – Polozov (H. Malashchanka, Zitserman) (PP) 3–4 60:50 – Polozov (K. Malashchanka, Spektor) (PP)
	14 min	Penalties	10 min
	33	Shots	26

11 April 2026 16:30

Bulgaria

3–1 (0–0, 1–0, 2–1)

Iceland

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia Attendance: 235

Game reference
	Ivan Stoynov	Goalies	Helgi Ivarsson	Referee: Andreas Nygaard Linesmen: Luis Estirado Maarten Van Den Acker
	Kareev (SH) – 35:20 1–0 Blinov (Kareev, Hodulov) (PP) – 40:47 2–0 2–1 57:15 – Al. Sveinsson (Mojzyszek) Tchalyiov (Hodulov) (EN) – 59:47 3–1
	10 min	Penalties	6 min
	25	Shots	34

11 April 2026 20:00

Chinese Taipei

2–9 (0–4, 2–1, 0–4)

New Zealand

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia Attendance: 29

Game reference
	Hsiao Po-yu Lee Yi-cheng	Goalies	Joel Hasselman	Referee: Luboš Čamra Linesmen: Martin Boyadjiev Daniel Sparer
	0–1 04:58 – Carey (Devlin, Blair) 0–2 07:23 – Devlin (Carey, Dalmatau) 0–3 07:55 – Devlin (Carey) 0–4 19:28 – Amston (McIntosh, MacDonald) (EA) Wen (Peng M.) (PP) – 32:54 1–4 1–5 38:10 – MacDonald (Amston) (SH) Pan (Lin Yo., Yang) – 39:59 2–5 2–6 41:57 – McIntosh (Orr, Amston) (EA) 2–7 44:50 – Carey 2–8 46:58 – Flight (Blair) 2–9 57:39 – March (Orr, Amston)
	6 min	Penalties	8 min
	31	Shots	27

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12 April 2026 13:00

Israel

5–2 (2–1, 1–0, 2–1)

Iceland

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia Attendance: 37

Game reference
	Maksim Kaliaev	Goalies	Helgi Ivarsson	Referee: Luboš Čamra Linesmen: Martin Boyadjiev Daniel Sparer
	Kazinets (Zitserman, Spektor) (PP) – 02:53 1–0 Khvoles (Goldshtein) – 03:05 2–0 2–1 19:48 – Rúnarsson (Björgvinsson, Leifsson) (PP) Polozov (K. Malashchanka, H. Malashchanka) (PP) – 24:43 3–1 H. Malashchanka (Voshilo, Khvoles) – 46:26 4–1 4–2 53:15 – Mojzyszek (Jóhannsson, Kristjánsson) Levin (EN) – 59:13 5–2
	16 min	Penalties	18 min
	28	Shots	31

12 April 2026 16:30

New Zealand

5–4 (1–3, 4–0, 0–1)

Kyrgyzstan

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia Attendance: 32

Game reference
	Alexander Petrov	Goalies	Joel Hasselman	Referee: Vladislav Zotov Linesmen: Luis Estirado Xu Henhao
	0–1 03:44 – Abdyraev (Popov, Isamatov) 0–2 10:03 – Esenov 0–3 12:07 – Sapitov (Mirbekov, Esenov) Strayer (Daigle, McIntosh) (PP2, EA) – 19:04 1–3 Dalmatau (Simon, Devlin) – 27:27 2–3 Dalmatau (Carey, McIntosh) – 21:43 3–3 Carey (McIntosh, Strayer) – 36:27 4–3 Flight (Brown, MacDonald) – 37:36 5–3 5–4 45:52 – Esenov
	6 min	Penalties	10 min
	21	Shots	40

12 April 2026 20:00

Bulgaria

6–4 (1–0, 4–1, 1–3)

Chinese Taipei

Winter Sports Palace, Sofia Attendance: 323

Game reference
	Ivan Stoynov	Goalies	Hsiao Po-yu	Referee: Boštjan Groznik Linesmen: Johan Fauvel Maarten Van Den Acker
	Kareev (Blinov) (PP) – 02:11 1–0 Blinov (Nakov, Kareev) – 21:18 2–0 Kareev (Blinov, Stoilov) – 21:27 3–0 Tchalyiov (Hodulov) – 23:55 4–0 4–1 27:20 – Lin Yo. (Wang, Lin Yi.) Nakov (Kareev, Blinov) (PP) – 39:06 5–1 5–2 46:14 – Chen Y. (Lin J., Peng K.) 5–3 52:09 – Lin Yo. (SH) Blinov (Nakov, Kareev) (EN) – 59:28 6–3 6–4 59:48 – Wang (Wu, Chen K.) (EA)
	8 min	Penalties	10 min
	32	Shots	47

Statistics

Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM	POS
Henadz Malashchanka	5	6	6	12	+5	4	F
Jacob Carey	5	7	4	11	+7	0	F
Colin McIntosh	5	6	5	11	+2	6	F
Stefan Amston	5	4	6	10	+7	0	D
Kiryl Malashchanka	5	1	9	10	0	4	F
Kirill Polozov	5	6	2	8	+3	2	F
Semen Kareev	5	4	4	8	−1	10	F
Lin Yo-chen	5	4	4	8	+4	0	F
Mamed Seifulov	5	3	5	8	+3	2	F
Kári Arnarsson	5	2	6	8	+3	2	F

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalties in Minutes; POS = Position
Source: IIHF.com

Goaltending leaders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, are included in this list.

Player	TOI	GA	GAA	SA	Sv%	SO
Maksim Kaliaev	303:21	14	2.77	173	91.91	0
Ivan Stoynov	190:24	11	3.47	117	90.60	0
Helgi Ivarsson	292:56	15	3.07	144	89.58	0
Joel Hasselman	280:02	20	4.29	177	88.70	0
Hsiao Po-yu	175:41	18	6.15	117	84.62	0

TOI = time on ice (minutes:seconds); SA = shots against; GA = goals against; GAA = goals against average; Sv% = save percentage; SO = shutouts
Source: IIHF.com

Awards

Position	Player
Goaltender	Maksim Kaliaev
Defenceman	Stefan Amston
Forward	Jacob Carey