The Australian men’s national under-20 team have defeated the New Zealand men’s national under-20 team 13–1 in their opening game of the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division II Group B tournament in Belgrade, Serbia. Tyler Colev and Ivan Kuleshov led the scoring for Australia with three goals each, followed by Lachlan Sucher with two, and Thomas Garas, Jed Lake, Jack Mollee, Colby Shumak, and Dominik Trnka with one each.
The IIHF award for best Australian player of the match was given to forward Tyler Colev, forward Benjamin Shearer was named the hardest worker for the team, and forward Ivan Kuleshov was given the player’s player award. The result is an improvement compared to the last time the two teams met at the 2023 World Championships where Australia won 6–2 and improves on their recent exhibition game where Australia won 9–7.
In the other games of the day, Israel defeated Iceland 5–4 and the Netherlands shutout Serbia 5–0. At the end of the first round, Australia sits in first place on the standings, edging out the second placed Netherlands on goal difference. Australia takes on the Netherlands today for their second game of the tournament. The two teams last met at the 2006 World Championships where the Netherlands won 7–2.
Results
New Zealand
1–13
Australia
SOG: 15
(0–4, 1–6, 0–3)
SOG: 50
– Game details: 12:30, 18 January 2026, Pionir Ice Hall. Game card.
Israel
5–4
Iceland
SOG: 31
(3–2, 1–1, 1–1)
SOG: 21
– Game details: 16:00, 18 January 2026, Pionir Ice Hall. Game card.
Serbia
0–5
Netherlands
SOG: 15
(0–1, 0–3, 0–1)
SOG: 35
– Game details: 19:30, 18 January 2026, Pionir Ice Hall. Game card.
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