One down, two to go. Playing business-like hockey, Finland grabbed a two-goal first-period lead and marched to a 4-1 win over Czechia on Thursday, advancing to the semi-finals at the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.
Sakari Manninen and Lenni Hameenaho stepped up with a goal and an assist apiece. Anton Lundell and Konsta Helenius also scored for Finland.
"I’ll take every opportunity I can to represent Finland," said Lundell. "We have good depth on the team. All four lines can score goals. But the next game will be even tougher, so we have to get ready for that one."
It’s a refreshing change of pace for Suomi, ending a streak of three straight quarter-final exits versus Canada (2023), Sweden (2024), and the U.S. (2025). In 2022, the Finns made history with their first Olympic gold in Beijing and Worlds gold in Tampere. That was the last time they won this tournament, and they're hungry for more.
Assistant captain Filip Hronek scored for Czechia, which heads home empty-handed for the second straight year. Still, the overall outlook is bright. The Czechs won gold in 2024 and bronze in 2022, and are also seeing a renaissance in international junior hockey.
Hronek's defence partner Michal Kempny analyzed the game: "In the first period, they were checking very well, and they had speed coming into our zone. We had a hard time breaking the puck out cleanly. In the second period, we had a problem to get the momentum in the game on our side. The execution on Finland's side was pretty good. We had some shots, some chances, but overall, the better team won."
Finnish starting goalie Justus Annunen made 25 saves for the win. Czechia’s Josef Korenar had 24 stops.
Coach Antti Pennanen’s squad had six straight preliminary-round wins before bowing 4-2 to host Switzerland in the fight for first place in Group A. They responded appropriately in this quarter-final.
Manninen opened the scoring at 7:33. In the neutral zone, Jesse Puljujarvi got the puck away from Jiri Tichacek and broke in over the blue line for the nice dish to his Geneve-Servette teammate, who made no mistake. The 34-year-old Manninen’s greatest claim to fame is scoring the golden goa versus Canada in Tampere in 2022.
Finland's Henri Jokiharju praised Manninen: "I think he's been really good the whole tournament. Really solid, and you can trust him, PK, power play, anywhere you want. He's a great player."
At 14:32, Lundell doubled the lead, going to the net to convert the juicy rebound from Hameenaho ‘s shot from right wing for his fourth goal of the tournament. A 24-year-old member of Finland’s latest Olympic bronze team, Lundell already owns U18 and World Junior gold – not to mention two Stanley Cup rings with Florida – and is seeking his first World Championship gold.
Just 1:35 into the second period, Finland capitalized off the rush again. Mikael Granlund pivoted to feed the puck up to captain Aleksander Barkov, and the Florida superstar powered in on a 2-on-1, setting up Helenius for a well-placed one-timer. For the top Buffalo prospect, it was his first-ever goal in his second Worlds.
Moments later, Annunen was there to stymie blueliner Tomas Cibulka in a prime scoring position in the slot. Cibulka, a 22-year-old Worlds rookie who plays for his native Ceske Budejovice, shook his head in dismay. It was a frustrating evening for coach Radim Rulik's team.
The Czechs got some life with an extended man advantage midway through the second period. Hronek cut the deficit to 3-1 at 11:51, hammering a one-timer set up by Dominik Kubalik high past Annunen's blocker.
Czechia kept on pushing in the third period. Nearing the five-minute mark, Cibulka rang the puck off the cross bar. But there would be no comeback. Hameenaho put the game away at 15:31, beating Korenar five-hole on a breakaway.
"It's good," Jokiharju said. "4-1, I think, is pretty clean. Couple breakdowns sometimes, but we have a good goalie out there and fully trust in him. So I think it was a clean win."
This was just the fourth time the Finns and Czechs have faced each other in a World Championship quarter-final since the IIHF began using the playoff system in 1992.
In 2010, the late Czech forward Jan Marek scored the 2-1 shootout winner on goaltender Pekka Rinne in Cologne. In 2015, Jaromir Jagr stepped up with two goals, including the third-period winner, as the Czechs prevailed 5-3 in Prague. And in 2021, Finland won 1-0 with Jussi Olkinuora’s 28-save shutout in Riga.
