The Czechs trailed early but rallied to beat plucky Latvia 4-2 at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship on New Year's Eve. Blueliner Max Psenicka tallied the eventual winner early in the second period, with Maximilian Curran earning his second assist on the play.

Coach Patrik Augusta's squad is unbeaten in three games since dropping its opener 7-5 to Canada.  The Czechs wrap up Group B with eight points. They can finish second in the group if Canada defeats Finland in the last preliminary-round game.

"We've got confidence, we're playing our game, we're trying to do our best, and we'll see what's going to happen," said Czech defenceman Adam Jiricek. "The sky's the limit. We're ready for the quarter-finals and we will see what team we're going to get."

Latvia finishes fourth in Group B and will face the winner of the U.S.-Sweden game in the quarter-finals.
 

Final shots favoured the Czechs 29-10. The score might have been more lopsided if not for Latvian goalie Nils Maurins' strong play. Czech backup Matyas Marik earned his second tournament win.

"They probably had more energy," said Latvia's Bruno Osmanis, who had two assists. "We had the game yesterday [6-3 over Denmark], but I don't think that's an excuse. I think we just should have played a little bit better defensively. I think we could have done that and helped our goalie."

The Czechs carry a three-year medal streak into the quarter-finals (2023 silver; 2024 and 2025 bronze). It is the longest such streak in the nation’s modern-day history. Czechoslovakia once captured four straight medals (1982, 1983, 1985 silver; 1984 bronze).

"The teams before us are a huge inspiration to us," said Curran. "So we just want to continue the streak and hopefully win a medal."

Both Latvian goals came on the power play.

The Latvians showed great patience with their puck movement on their first 5-on-4 advantage, and it paid off. From the left faceoff circle, Osmanis found Kristers Ansons back door, and the HK Mogo forward tucked the puck in at 6:00.

Seconds later, forward Samuel Drancak – newly inserted into the Czech lineup – almost tied it up, but his shot off the rush rang off the post.

The Czechs equalized at 10:04. Defenceman Tomas Galvas cut behind the Latvian net with speed and centred the puck to Tomas Poletin, who shoveled his own rebound past Maurins. Galvas is contending to lead all tournament defenders with seven points so far.

Just 1:15 later, Jiricek’s one-timer off a nice no-look pass from Vaclav Nestrasil gave the Czechs a 2-1 lead on the power play.

"I scored a couple of goals in the OHL season too [with the Brantford Bulldogs], so I feel confidence," said Jiricek, who has goals in three straight World Junior games. "I'm trying to shoot and go for the net."

Like Drancak, Latvia’s Martins Klaucans had the goalie beaten moments later but hit the post. Maurins held down the fort at the other end during a late-period Czech push.

Czechia kept plugging away. At 5:31 of the second period, Psenicka made it 3-1 with a bad-angle shot that deflected in off the leg of Latvian blueliner Harijs Cjunskis, fighting for body position in the crease. Maurins pushed Cjunskis away in annoyance.

The Latvians never quit in the third period. Markuss Sieradzkis cut the deficit to one goal with a tremendous power-play one-timer at 7:39.

Of the Latvian power play, Osmanis said: "We practiced it a lot before the tournament, and we have many plays we have trained for. The coach is smart and knows what he wants from us. And everyone from our [unit of] five knows what we're going to do on the ice when we step out. So I think we have a great chemistry, and it works well right now."

The door was open for the underdogs to tie it up as the Czechs took back-to-back minors with under 10 minutes to go, yielding a 5-on-3 Latvian advantage for six seconds. But coach Artis Abols' boys couldn't bulge the twine this time.

Maurins was pulled in the dying moments to no avail. Nestral added an empty-netter with 1:17 left.

The gap between these nations has narrowed. In 2022, Latvia earned an historic 5-2 upset over the Czechs with a Ralfs Bergmanis hat trick to make the World Junior quarter-finals. (That game took place in Edmonton, which will co-host next year’s tournament with Red Deer.) The Czechs won their three previous meetings with Latvia: 5-1 (2006 WJC), 10-2 (2010 WJC, and 4-2 (2013 WJC).

The Latvians have twice finished seventh under Abols (2022, 2025) and hope to take the next step in this year’s playoffs by upsetting a medal contender. They fell 3-2 to Sweden in the 2025 quarter-finals.