Czechia Set To Host 2027 U-18 Women's World Championships In January

The U-18 World Championships are heading back to the location of the 2025 World Championship tournament dropping the puck in Czechia this January.

The eight-nation event will take place from January 8-16, 2027 at RT Torax Arena in Ostrava-Poruba, Czechia.

"We would like to build on the successful women's championship in České Budějovice last year," says Lucie Valentová, general secretary of the IIHF Women's U-18 World Championship in a translated statement. "One of the main goals is to promote women's hockey in general and attract new young players to hockey. It will also be a huge motivation for the girls themselves to fight for a medal in front of their home audience. At the same time, Ostrava is known for having great fans, and we would like to confirm and show that at the IIHF Women's Under-18 Ice Hockey World Championship," 

Czechia enters as the reigning U-18 World Championship bronze medalists. Several key members of Czechia's roster from last season have advanced to the NCAA ranks or aged out, but they still have a strong core returning. The group is headlined by Ohio State commit Dana Březinová, netminder Lili Chmelařova, Adéla Mynaříková, Lucie Šindelářová, and defender Ellen Jarabková, who made her senior national team debut at the Women's Euro Hockey Tour this Fall, scoring her first career senior goal. They also have a group of intriguing young prospects who are likely to make the step including forward Rozálie Šalé.

"The opportunity to play the World Championship at home is a huge motivation for the entire team," said Czechia head coach Dušan Andrašovský.

"We want to build on the successful championships from previous years. Defending the medal is a big challenge for us, but I believe that thanks to the support of the Ostrava audience, we will be able to fight for the highest ranks,"  

Czechia will join Canada, Hungary, and Slovakia in Group B, while USA, Sweden, Switzerland, and Germany will play in Group A.