Denmark earns promotion to top division of 2026 World Juniors

Dec 15, 2024, 10:45 EST

Credit: Photo from Steven Ellis/Euro Hoc

Denmark is heading back to the top division of the World Junior Championship in 2026 after edging out Austria 5-4 on the final day of the 2025 Division IA tournament in Bled, Slovenia.

Denmark needed the victory to overtake the Austrians to advance, and a big three-goal first period helped make it happen. Oscar Fisker Molgaard scored the opening goal at 4:32 before Ian Scherzer answered back for the Austrians/ Anton Linde and Phillip Rubin both added goals to give Denmark a 3-1 lead in the opening period – something that would prove crucial after Florian Lanzinger and Adrian Gesson scored the next two goals for Austria.

The game remained tied until 51:11, when Linde scored his second of the outing to make it 4-3. Oliver Larsen scored less than a minute later to give the Danes the big two-goal lead – and the game-winning goal. Johannes Neumann added one for the Austrians at 55:22, but it wasn’t enough to get them in the lead, handing the win to the Danes.

The Danes last qualified for the top division tournament in 2019, but was relegated for the following year. The team nearly got relegated to Division IB three years in a row during a dark few years for the U-20 national team, bu they bounced back with bronze in 2024. This year, though, helped them earn promotion for the first time since 2014. The Danes finished as high as fifth place back in 2017, with a team that had a handful of mid-level NHL prospects at the time. Their 2025 team had Nikolaj Ehlers and Oliver Bjorkstrand up front, marking the team’s most dangerous scoring group they’ve ever had.

Denmark will replace the team that gets relegated from the top tournament in Ottawa, with the relegation game coming Jan. 2, 2025. Kazakhstan was the most recent team to earn promotion after winning the Division IA tournament in 2023.

Denmark can bring back 10 players for 2026 when the event shifts to Minnesota, but it will not include Molgaard, a Seattle Kraken prospect. Denmark’s U-18 team will play in Division IA for 2025.