The Ukraine national ice hockey team secured its second consecutive victory at the World Championship in Division IA, defeating the French national team—a participant in the 2026 Olympics and the highest-ranked opponent in the last 20 years, the NOC of Ukraine reported on Wednesday, UNN writes.
Details
World Hockey Championship matches continue in Poland. Following their success in the game against Lithuania, the Ukrainians faced the tournament favorite. France holds 13th place in the world rankings and only last year dropped out of the elite division. Furthermore, this victory served as revenge for the defeat in the Olympic qualifiers (2:7).
The third-round match ended with a score of 3:2 in favor of Ukraine. Artem Grebenyk scored the first goal against the French national team. Ihor Merezhko scored the second goal. Danylo Trakht sent the winning puck into the opponents' net.
This victory was historic: the last time Ukraine beat France at the World Championship was back in 2004 (6:2). It is also the team's highest-ranked success since 2005, when the Ukrainians defeated Denmark in the elite division.
Thanks to this triumph, Ukraine earned 6 points and rose to second place in the tournament standings after three rounds. Our national team continues the fight for promotion to the elite division of world hockey.
Addendum
The Ukraine national ice hockey team secured its first victory at this year's World Championship in Division IA, beating the Lithuanian team with a score of 2:1 (1:0, 1:1, 0:0) over the weekend. This was the team's first victory at the tournament following an opening defeat to Poland (2:3).
The next game will take place on May 7 at 17:00—Ukraine's opponent will be Kazakhstan. On May 8, the Ukrainians will play against Japan.