Milano Cortina 2026 Men’s Final Olympic Ice Hockey Qualification matchday 1: Latvia, Slovakia, Denmark get off to winning starts
All three qualifying group hosts began their campaigns with victory in pursuit of a spot at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
Ice Hockey
An array of National Hockey League (NHL) players helped all three group hosts get off to winning starts in the Men’s Final Olympic Ice Hockey Qualification on Thursday (29 August).
The first round of fixtures took place in Slovakia, Latvia and Denmark to contend the final ice hockey spots at the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026.
Twelve nations in three groups will face off to determine which three nations will head to Italy for the next Games, to be held in February 2026.
Home delight for Slovakia, Latvia and Denmark
Slovakia, who have more active NHL players than any other qualifying nation with seven, earned a hard-fought win on opening night. Their squad includes Simon Nemec of the New Jersey Devils and the Arizona Coyotes’ Patrik Koch, led by captain and Seattle Kraken forward Tomas Tatar.
Inspired by NHL prospect Milos Kelemen, Slovakia defeated Austria 2-1 thanks to a quickfire double from defender Martin Gernat and Kelemen, to the delight of the home crowd at the Ondrej Nepela Arena.
Another host nation powered by NHL talent was Latvia, who had an impressive evening on home ice and with a point to prove against Slovenia. Among their roster are American-based trio Rodrigo Abols, Uvis Balinskis and Zemgus Girgensons.
The Group E hosts battled to a 4-2 win against Slovenia at the Arena Riga, getting the job done early with a dominant display before shutting out the visitors in the final period.
The final hosts to take to the ice were Denmark, who faced off against underdogs Great Britain at the Aalborg Arena. Markus Holton gave the home team an early lead after 3:15, but GB took advantage of a power play to equalise thanks to star man Liam Kirk.
Britain held their own and withstood the Danish pressure, including a great penalty save from goaltender Ben Bowns in the second period to deny Lars Eller of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
However, Denmark were piling on the pressure and finally found a breakthrough in the final 15 minutes, with the Winnipeg Jets’ Nikolaj Ehlers restoring their lead from range before Eller got on the scoresheet to wrap up a 3-1 victory.
Japan's goaltender Yuta Narisawa in action against Norway in Aalborg, Denmark.
Big wins for Kazakhstan & France
Elsewhere, the opening match of the qualification tournament came in Bratislava, where Kazakhstan sealed an impressive 5-2 win against Hungary in Group D. Nikita Mikhailis of Kazakhstan opened the scoring with the only goal of the first period, before finishing it off with a brace in the final period to put his nation top of the group.
In Group E, France recorded the standout performance of the opening round with their emphatic 7-2 victory against Ukraine.
Seven different goalscorers gave the French a five-goal advantage at the halfway stage, and although their opponents persisted until the end, France were just too strong as they showed their quality against the lowest-ranked side left.
Over in Group F in Aalborg, Norway beat Japan 4-2 though were made to work for it. Japan stunned them by taking the lead through Nakajima Teruto in the opening period, and that would last until the 35th minute before Norway’s Ken Andre Olimb drew level.
From there on it became a tricky ask for the Japanese, as Norway’s strength and experience prevailed.
Men’s Final Olympic Ice Hockey Qualification – full schedule and how to watch live
Teams will play three games across four days, with a rest day between the second and third round of matches which concludes on 1 September. All matches will be streamed live by the International Ice Hockey Federation on YouTube (territorial restrictions apply).