We have made it to the medal rounds, only two games left for the remaining teams. Welcome to another edition of 2026 World Junior Championship predictions, as today’s semi-final matchup features Team Canada and Team Czechia. We at Last Word On Hockey have been with your all tournament. Now, as we get to the games the decide the medals, Canada faces a familiar recent foe in Czechia. These two teams have faced each other in the eventual losers of the matchup, last five tournaments. Will Canada be able to avenge losses from the past two World Junior quarterfinals at the hands of the team from Czechia, or will Czechia maintain its string of success? Find out our thoughts next.
2026 World Junior Championship Semifinal 2 Predictions With Canada vs Czechia
Time: 8:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST), 5:30 Pacific
How to Watch TV: TSN, NHLN
Location: The home of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, the Grand Casino Arena (formerly the Xcel Energy Center), in St. Paul, Minnesota.
This rivalry has only gotten close recently. Canada does hold a decided 21-2-4 advantage over Czechia all time. However, Czechia has won three of last five meetings. Czechia is also riding a three-tournament medal streak. Of course, that first of those three medals was from 2023 when Canada defeated Czechia in the championship game. Fans may remember that was the tournament featuring Connor Bedard, who was the Most Valuable Player.
The Czechia team features six returning players from the roster that eliminated Canada last year. Moreover, there is lots of familiarity with these players. 16 of the Czechia play in the CHL, and Vaclav Nestrasil (Chicago Blackhawks prospect) plays in the NCAA, and Richard Zemlicka is in the USHL.
The Story for the Team from Czechia
As we said in our first predictions article for the Czechia – Canada matchup on Boxing Day, this is one of the best teams Czechia has sent to this tournament.
Czechia has played well in the tournament, thus far. Their only blemish was to Canada in that Boxing Day matchup, as Canada was hungry to show Czechia things would be different this time around. In addition, Czechia finished 2-1-0-1 in the preliminary round, to earn a favourable matchup in the quarterfinals. They did well to get by Switzerland 6-2 to earn their spot in today’s Semifinal 2.
One player that has led the offensive attack for Czechia is Vojtech Cihar, with two goals and seven assists. He is property of the Los Angeles Kings. Furthermore, he always seems to be involved when Czechia is buzzing. The Canadian defence will be keen to keep a close eye on him to avoid his impact on the scoreboard.
On defence, Adam Jiricek has had some big plays, including the overtime winner in the game against Finland. However, we want to call out Tomas Galvas’ play in the tournament. With three goals and five assists, he finds himself tied for fifth in tournament scoring. He seems to always be in the action, and Canada will need to not allow the Czechia defenceman to burn them if they jump up.
In net for Czechia, we would expect Michal Orsulak. He comes in with an .870 save percentage in the tournament, but did backstop Czechia to the quarter-final victory against Switzerland. Additionally, he currently plays for the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, and had gone undrafted his first go around for the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. A win today against Canada might put him firmly on some NHL teams’ radars.
The Canadian Revenge Story, Part II
If you are wondering, Part I was, of course, the Boxing Day game.
One player for Canada we would like to mention is Cole Reschny. He only has two goals and one assist in the tourney so far, but he seems to provide a resolve when the game is on the line. Moreover, he is just the type of unsung hero Canada needs to get them through the grind that is these tough, elimination battles.
Now, on the other end of the spectrum, Canada as a team has been scoring a lot. That is, 32 goals by our count. Therefore, the tournament leaderboard is riddled with Canadian content. So far, 31 players have six-or-more points in the tournament. For Canada they have nine of those players. The list includes Sam O’Reilly (two goals, four assists), Michael Misa (two goals, four assists), Tij Iginla (three goals, three assists), Cole Beaudoin (three goals, four assists), Porter Martone (four goals, three assists), Brady Martin (four goals, four assists), Michael Hage (two goals, seven assists), Gavin McKenna (three goals, six assists), and finally, the tournament leading scorer, defenceman Zayne Parekh (four goals, six assists).
It seems like for Canada, Jack Ivankovic will be between the pipes. And why not, in his two appearances, he is carrying a shiny .959 save percentage. The Nashville Predator prospect has done fabulous to step in for Carter George, and Team Canada. However, we do like to add our roster to disclaimer to please check social media for the latest lineup updates.
Prediction
Okay, well here it is. We think that Canada has adapted to the need to score goals, and we don’t see that trend stopping. This will be a good contest, but Canada’s high-end depth wins out.
Prediction: Canada 5 – Czechia 3
Main Photo Credit: Andy Devlin/ Getty Images
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