Men’s Final Olympic Ice Hockey Qualification: Latvia, Denmark, Slovakia qualify for Milano Cortina 2026
Group hosts Latvia, Denmark and Slovakia all booked their spots at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
Ice Hockey
Latvia, Slovakia and Denmark have booked their place in men’s ice hockey for the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026.
The three hosts won all their games at the 2024 Men’s Final Olympic Ice Hockey Qualification (29 August - 1 September) across the three groups in Riga, Bratislava and Aalborg respectively.
Latvia, led by Rodrigo Abols of the Philadelphia Flyers, defeated France 5-2 on Sunday (1 September) to reimain unbeaten, while Slovakia were able to rely on their National Hockey League star power in a 3-1 win over Kazakhstan.
Denmark overcame a nervous start but eventually prevailed 4-1 over Norway to maintain their unblemished record as well.
Here is how the final round of qualifying matches for Milano Cortina 2026 unfolded.
Latvia blow France away in Riga
Latvia were the first team to book their place at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, blitzing past France in a straight shootout for Milano Cortina.
France stunned the hosts with an early goal courtesy of Charles Bertan after just 21 seconds, the tournament’s top scorers with their 13th goal. It would however prove unlucky, setting off a spark in Latvia who hit their stride, turning it around within eight minutes to go into the first break 2-1 up.
From there on, it was all Latvia and the hosts took complete control of affairs. Three new goal scorers got in on the action: Rodrigo Abols of the Philadelphia Flyers added a third, before Martin Dzierkals and Kristians Rubins killed the game off in the second period with the fourth and fifth goals.
France pulled one back late on, but it was already Latvia’s win and their ticket booked to Milano Cortina after a resounding week on home soil.
Denmark come back to break Norwegian hearts
The all-Scandinavian clash between world number 11 Denmark and world number 12 Norway brought a fascinating tactical battle between two of the top nations in Aalborg.
It was Norway who silenced the Aalborg Arena in similar vein to France, as the Minnesota Wild’s Mats Zuccarello brought them in front after 26 seconds. For much of the game they were in control while Denmark looked nervous, and it was not until the 37th minute that they would equalise thanks to Nicklas Jensen.
Jensen would turn it around 119 seconds later to the joy of the Danish fans, whose faces went from agony to ecstasy in a matter of minutes. And if Jensen was the hero of the second period, then the hero of the third was Patrick Russell who gave them breathing space with his close range rebound.
Norway had to go all out to stand any chance of qualifying, but when Russell won the puck back on the halfway mark and faced an empty net, it was only going to end one way. Denmark had to fight but fight they did, a spirited performance to turn it around and book their trip to the Games in less than 18 months.
Slovakia power past Kazakhstan in Bratislava
Beijing 2022 bronze medallists Slovakia were the strongest team going into the Olympic qualifiers and had a point to prove, ensuring they would be at Milano Cortina 2026 with their 3-1 home win against Kazakhstan.
The national team’s National Hockey League star power really came to their benefit in the decisive match in Bratislava, as Anaheim Ducks prospect Pavol Regenda doubled Slovakia’s lead after Robert Lantosi’s power play opener.
It was the home team in control for much of the game, and they hammered home their advantage as Adam Liska scored the third of the evening.
Nikita Mikhailis pulled one back for Kazakhstan, his fourth goal in three appearances and a testament to an excellent campaign for the Kazakhs. But Slovakia were just too strong for the competition and powered to victory, qualifying for their eighth consecutive Winter Olympic Games.
Slovenia, who were already eliminated from the Final Olympic Qualifiers, ended their campaign with a win.
Austria, Great Britain, Slovenia bow out with victory
Elsewhere on the final day of Olympic qualification, Austria pulled off a superb comeback to defeat Hungary 4-3 in a shootout.
After going behind 3-0 in the first period, Detroit Red Wings starlet Marco Kasper led his nation to pull back and equalise with 44 seconds of normal time remaining. Shootout strikes from Dominic Zwerger and Lukas Haudum secured the win for Austria to go out on a high.
Great Britain ended their campaign with a deserved 3-2 win against Japan in Aalborg. GB raced into a 3-0 lead in the opening period, before Japan managed to reduce the deficit down to one in the second. The Brits would hold on through a tight finish for a positive final result in Group F.
Finally in Riga, Slovenia produced an impressive display to defeat Ukraine 6-2, going three goals ahead after half an hour. Ukraine looked to be mounting a comeback but the Slovenians made sure of their final day win thanks to goals from Jan Urbas, Ziga Jeglic and Anze Kuralt to see out the result.