Team Ukraine U18 Opens the 2025 Junior World Hockey Championship: Tournament Essentials
Team Ukraine U18 crushed Hungary at the start of the World Hockey Championship, Division IA — winning 7:1.
For the second year running, the national team is trying to break into the world championship's elite division — which requires winning out against five other teams. In 2024, the Ukrainians already came close to reaching the 'elite,' but ultimately lost to Team Germany.
In 2025, Ukraine was seeded against Kazakhstan, Austria, Denmark, Slovenia, and Hungary, the tournament's host nation. Against the hosts specifically, the Ukrainians had played a friendly match ahead of the World Championship, losing 2:1. So the start of the world championship gave Oleksandr Bobkin's squad a chance to make up for it.
How the Ukraine U18 — Hungary U18 Match Went at the 2025 Junior World Hockey Championship
- Just as in their last meeting, the Ukrainians conceded first — in the seventh minute of the first period, Mark Osztojkics opened the scoring.
- But just four minutes later, the 'yellow-and-blues' equalized on the power play, thanks to Danyil Kuraiev, and near the end of the first 20 minutes, they took the lead — Matvii Shevtsov found the net.
- Ukraine added two more goals to its tally in the second period, with Illia Shybinskyi and Myroslav Spaskin extending the lead, and in the decisive final stretch of the match, opened up a six-point gap — helped by Sviatoslav Vasiak, Andrii Vystavkin, and Mykhailo Haponenko.
2025 Junior World Hockey Championship (Division IA). Round 1
Hungary — Ukraine 1:7 (1:2, 0:2, 0:3)
Goals: Osztojkics, 06:24 — Kuraiev, 10:08, Shevtsov, 17:57, Shybinskyi, 25:35, Spaskin, 33:15, Vasiak, 51:35, Vystavkin, 57:24
As a result, the national team opened the U18 World Hockey Championship with a convincing win, and Matvii Shevtsov leads the tournament's scoring race under the goals-plus-assists system after the first round — with one goal and two assists to his name.
2025 U18 World Hockey Championship Division IA Standings After Round 1
- Ukraine — 3 points (1 match), 7:1 (goal difference)
- Denmark — 3 (1), 5:3
- Slovenia — 2 (1), 3:2
- Kazakhstan — 1 (1), 2:3
- Austria — 0 (1), 3:5
- Hungary — 0 (1), 1:7
Ukraine's next match at the 2025 World Championship, Division IA, takes place tomorrow against the group's provisional second-place team — Denmark. Start time: 13:30 Kyiv time.
Team Ukraine U18's Match Schedule at the 2025 Junior World Hockey Championship
- Monday, April 21, 13:30. Ukraine — Denmark
- Wednesday, April 23, 13:30. Ukraine — Austria
- Thursday, April 24, 13:30. Slovenia — Ukraine
- Saturday, April 26, 20:30. Kazakhstan — Ukraine
Broadcasts of every Team Ukraine match at the 2025 Junior World Hockey Championship are available on Suspilne Sport.