The Ukrainian youth national team snatched victory over Poland in a World Cup match. In the fourth round match, the “blue and yellow” won with a score of 6:3.
Ukraine started this year's World Cup with a strong victory, defeating Slovenia 4:2. But in the next two matches, the “blue and yellow” lost in high-scoring matches against Hungary and Kazakhstan.
Suspilne Sport is the official broadcaster of Ukraine U18 matches at the IIHF World Championship. Watch live broadcasts of Ukraine's games on the Suspilne Sport platforms and local Suspilne channels.
The next opponent of the Ukrainian national team was Poland. The Poles also approached the head-to-head match, having one victory in three matches. The youth national teams of Ukraine and Poland last met in 2022, when the “blue-yellow” celebrated the victory with a score of 6:1.
How was the match?
- Poland took the lead in the match first. In the eighth minute of the first period, Polish striker Stanislav Lewandowski beat the Ukraine U18 goalkeeper and sent the puck into the net.
- A minute later, the Ukrainian national team managed to fight back: the “blue and yellow” found themselves in the majority on the ice, and Sokol forward Denys Zherebko restored parity in the match.
- In the middle of the second period, the Polish team took the lead for the second time: they scored the majority of the goals through the efforts of Antoni Galant.
- At the start of the third period, Zherebko outplayed the opponent's players with individual actions and eventually tied the match. But before the middle of the period, the teams exchanged goals again.
- The victory for the Ukrainian national team was brought by Danylo Olifirchuk, who scored three goals against Poland in the second half of the third period and made the score 6:3.
2026 Junior World Cup. Division IA. Fourth round
Ukraine — Poland 6:3 (1:1, 0:1, 5:1)
2026 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship. Division IA: standings
- Switzerland — 12 points, 4 matches (24:6 — goal difference)
- Kazakhstan — 9 points, 4 matches (22:10)
- Ukraine — 6 points, 4 matches (17:16)
- Slovenia — 3 points, 4 matches (12:20)
- Hungary — 3 points, 3 matches (11:19)
- Poland — 3 points, 4 matches (10:25)
Ukraine U18 will play their last match on Friday, April 24, against Switzerland (kick-off at 5:00 p.m.). The Ukrainians have already lost their chances of reaching the elite division of the World Cup.