USA Loses to Latvia, Updated Hockey World Championship 2026 Results Ahead of KO Bracket
The United States is in danger of missing out on the knockout round of the 2026 IIHF Men's World Championship after a 4-2 preliminary-round loss to Latvia on Saturday.
Matthew Tkachuk cut Team USA's deficit to 3-2 with less than a minute left in regulation, but Latvia responded with the second of two empty-netters to seal the win.
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The victory allowed Latvia to leapfrog the United States for the final knockout-round slot in Group B.
The United States, with two group stage games remaining, will look to climb back into the top four before the knockout round begins Thursday.
Check back for Saturday's scores and updated group standings as the preliminary round of 2026 Worlds continues in Switzerland.
Saturday Scores
Latvia def. USA, 4-3
Denmark def. Slovenia, 4-0
Switzerland def. Hungary, 9-0
Czechia def. Slovakia, 3-2
Germany def. Austria, 6-2
Norway def. Sweden, 3-2
Group Standings
Teams get three points for regulation wins, two for overtime wins and one for overtime losses. The top four teams in each group advance to the knockout stage.
Group A
- Switzerland (18 points, 6-0)
- Finland (15 points, 5-0)
- Austria (9 points, 3-2)
- Germany (7 points, 2-4 with 1 OTL)
- Latvia (6 points, 2-3)
- United States (5 points, 2-3 with 1 OTW)
- Hungary (3 points, 1-4)
- Great Britain (0 points, 0-5)
Group B
- Canada (14 points, 5-0 with 1 OTW)
- Czechia (13 points, 4-1 with 1 OTL)
- Slovakia (11 points, 4-1 with 1 OTW)
- Norway (10 points, 3-2 with 1 OTL)
- Sweden (9 points, 3-3)
- Denmark (3 points, 1-4)
- Slovenia (6 points, 1-5 with 1 OTW and 1 OTL)
- Italy (0 points, 0-5)
Saturday Highlights
Latvia def. USA, 4-3
Latvian goaltender Kristers Gudļevskis stood strong against an offensive barrage from the United States.
Gudļevskis made 45 saves to backstop Latvia, which was outshot 47-22, to its first win of the tournament.
Latvia got on the board first before Tkachuk tied the game with his first goal of the tournament on a second-period power play.
After Gudļevskis weathered USA's comeback push, Latvia took back the lead in the third period with a go-ahead goal from Dennis Smirnovs.
Sandis Vilmanis scored an empty-netter for Latvia before Tkachuk's second goal of the game, then put another puck into the empty net to seal the win.
The United States will need to turn things around in upcoming group stage games against Hungary and Austria on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, in order to make it into the quarterfinals.
Denmark def. Slovenia, 4-0
Denmark earned its first win of the tournament thanks to a 13-save shutout from Mads Sogaard.
After Denmark completed a penalty kill late in the first to keep the game scoreless, Joachim Blichfeld broke the tie with a second-period power-play goal.
Patrick Russell scored twice to help pad the lead before Mikkel Aagaard recorded his fourth point of the game on an empty-netter. Denmark finished the win having outshot their opponents 30-13.
Switzerland def. Hungary, 9-0
The home team remained on top of the preliminary round Saturday with another blowout win.
Roman Josi opened scoring late in the first period, then completed a natural hat trick on a power play early in the second to give the Swiss team an early 3-0 lead over Hungary.
His three goals in just 4:45 of game time, marking the quickest hat trick in tournament history.
That marked the start of a six-goal second period for Switzerland, who capped off the victory with two more tallies in the third.
Switzerland finished out the victory having outshot Hungary 48-10. Swiss goaltender Leonardo Genoni recored his 14th career Worlds shutout in the win.
Czechia def. Slovakia, 3-2
A late goal from Czechia captain Roman Cervenka made the difference in a back-and-forth game against Slovakia.
Daniel Vozenilek opened scoring for Czechia in the first period before both teams traded goals to end up tied through 40 minutes of play.
Czechia then scored his late go-ahead goal on a shot from Martin Kaut that ricocheted in off Cervenka's skate.
The goal stood after review, and Czechia goaltender Josef Korenar shut Slovakia down the stretch to come away with the win.
Germany def. Austria, 6-2
Lukas Reichel scored twice in a surge of four straight goals that helped carry Germany to its second win of the tournament.
Latvia's Leon Wallner opened scoring early in the second period before Reichel answered with his first of the day just over a minute later.
Reichel followed that up with what would ultimately stand as the deciding goal on a third-period power play.
Germany outshot Austria 34-17 as Philipp Grubauer made 15 saves in the win.
The win put Germany into the top four in Group B, although the team's hopes of a knockout round berth will depend on how Austria and the United States perform down the stretch.
Norway def. Sweden, 3-2
Defensive issues on the Swedish power play sealed a Saturday loss to Norway.
Norway started out the game with an opening power-play goal from Noah Steen.
Sweden evened things up on their own power-play opportunity early in the second, then tied the game again with a Lucas Raymond goal early in the third.
Both times, Norway answered those tallies with shorthanded goals that ultimately made the difference in the 3-2 loss.
Sweden outshot Norway 34-14 in the loss as Norwegian goaltender Henrik Haukeland made 32 saves.
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