2025 IIHF World Junior Championship: What you need to know about the tournament
Steven Perez
Dailysports's expert
Very soon, on December 26, the new 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship will begin. This time, the tournament returns to the birthplace of hockey—Canada. Our team has prepared key information about the event.
The 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship will be the 49th edition of the tournament for junior national teams. It will take place from December 26, 2024, to January 5, 2025, in a single Canadian city—Ottawa.
Two arenas will host the tournament: Canadian Tire Centre, with a capacity of 18,655, and TD Place Arena, with a capacity of 8,585. This marks the 19th time Canada has hosted the World Junior Championship and the fourth time in the past six years.
Tournament Format
The tournament’s format has remained unchanged for many years. It features 10 teams divided into two groups of five. The preliminary round consists of a round-robin group stage.
Each team plays four matches in their group, and the top four teams advance to the playoff stage. Teams finishing fifth enter the relegation round.
Teams in the relegation round compete for a spot in next year’s elite championship, while the losing team is relegated to Division B.
In the playoffs, the top four teams compete in crossover quarterfinals:
- 1A vs. 4B
- 1B vs. 4A
- 2A vs. 3B
- 2B vs. 3A
Winners of the semifinals advance to the gold medal game, while the losing teams compete for bronze.
2025 World Junior Championship Groups
- Group A: USA, Finland, Canada, Latvia, Germany
- Group B: Sweden, Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Kazakhstan
Reminder: The defending champion of the IIHF World Junior Championship is Team USA. They decisively defeated Sweden 6–2 in the final, securing their sixth championship title and third in the past seven years.
By the way, very soon, in February 2025, the Four Nations Ice Hockey Tournament will take place. Four teams will take part in the competition: Canada, USA, Finland and Sweden. All teams have already announced their squads for the tournament.
