Sweden's U18 ice hockey team, Småkronorna, won the world championship gold by defeating Slovakia 4–2 in the final in Trencin. It is the team's third gold in eight years. Goalkeeper Kevin Törnblom called the victory indescribable.
Småkronorna secured the gold in a packed arena in Trencin, Slovakia, beating the host nation 4–2. The match seemed decided with Sweden leading 4–0 midway through the third period, but Slovakia pulled two goals back late to make it 4–2 and played six against four after pulling their goalie.
Wiggo Sörensson opened the scoring with 1–0 after 5.53 minutes via a backhand. Elton Hermansson made it 2–0 in the second period from a tight angle after a pass from Axel Elofsson, commenting: ”I called that ’backdoor’ is always open and Axel made a damn good move and it became a good goal.” Adam Andersson scored 3–0 in the third, followed by Ola Palme's 4–0 shortly before the end.
After the final buzzer, the players celebrated with hugs at goalkeeper Kevin Törnblom. ”It is completely indescribable,” he told Aftonbladet. ”We have incredible chemistry on the ice and a lot of fun off it. It is a great group and we really show it in the playoffs.” Medals were presented by Miroslav Satan and other Slovak 2002 world champions, as the trophy was lifted to Queen's ”We are the Champions” in front of 6,059 spectators.
The gold is Småkronorna's third since 2019, following Juniorkronorna's world junior gold earlier this year.
