Anton Frondell scored the shootout winner as Sweden beat Finland 4-3 in the early 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship semi-final. The Swedes will face the winner of the Canada-Czechia semi-final in Monday’s gold medal game in St. Paul, Minnesota.

"This game was crazy," said Frondell, who failed to score twice in the shootout before going five-hole on Finnish goalie Petteri Rimpinen on the 16th shot taken in total.

This was payback time for the Swedes, who fell 4-3 in overtime to Finland in the 2025 semi-finals in Ottawa. Sweden, which last made the final in 2024, has won just two gold medals in tournament history (1981, 2012).

"It was more like the hockey gods were on our side this year," said Swedish coach Magnus Havelid about the semi-final.

Finland's gold-medal drought dating back to 2019 continues. It settled for the silver medal against the U.S. last year.

Finland outshot Sweden 36-33. In a battle of starters, Swedish World Junior first-timer Love Harenstam outduelled Rimpinen, who has played every game for the Finns.
 

In regulation time, Ivar Stenberg and Eddie Genborg had a goal and an assist apiece for Sweden, and Linus Eriksson added a single.

"The shootout is like a lottery," said Stenberg. "It's a lot of pressure. My shootout was not good, but I'm happy we have the other guys who helped us to win."

Atte Joki, Jasper Kuhta, and Joona Saarelainen replied for Finland. As in the 4-3 quarter-final overtime win over the U.S., Finland rallied from multiple deficits, but here it wasn't enough.

"I'm very proud of our team," said Finnish coach Lauri Mikkola. "Every guy put everything on the ice. It's a great team we have here."

Sweden faced some adversity as forward Lucas Pettersson sat out due to illness. Viggo Bjorck’s brother Wilson slotted back into the lineup on the fourth line, while Casper Juustovaara moved up to play with Berglund and Loke Krantz.

This semi-final featured weird goals and defensive blunders at both ends.

Just 36 seconds in, Sweden’s top line drew first blood. On the rush, Eriksson got the puck from Frondell and fired a wrister in off the outstretched glove of Rimpinen, who would have liked a do-over. That continued a trend of teams scoring on their first shot, at which Sweden has excelled in Minnesota.

Finland tied it up at 16:26. Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju found Joki in the middle of the ice and he used William Hakansson as a decoy, zinging the puck through the Swedish defenceman’s legs on an attempted shot-block and fooling Harenstam.

Stenberg made it 2-1 Sweden at 1:20 of the second period with an extra attacker on a delayed penalty call. As the Swedes worked the puck around the Finnish zone, the high-ranked 2026 NHL draft prospect accepted a drop pass from Genborg in the middle and sent the puck sailing past Rimpinen.

Kuhta knotted the score just 50 seconds later on a bizarre sequence. In a net-front scramble, he winged the puck off the glass, and Alfons Freij tried to bat the puck away in mid-air as it came out front. Instead, the Swedish defender put the puck in off his goalie's back.

"We never give up," said Kuhta of his Finnish teammates. "So that's one of our keys. Even being an underdog, it's like even better for us."

At 14:07, Genborg made it 3-2 Sweden, hustling behind the goal line to follow up on his own rebound. He flung the puck out and it ricocheted off the side of the net and Rimpinen's skate over the goal line.

The Finns hemmed Sweden in and nearly equalized in the middle frame's last minute. First, Daniel Nieminen rang the puck off the cross bar, and then two Swedish defenders had their sticks break, but Harenstam finally smothered the puck. Berglund finished the period by levelling Leo Tuuva with a big hit at centre ice.

In the third period, a penalty parade ensued. The Swedes missed capitalizing on a wide-open net as their power play dried up for the second consecutive game. Finland kept coming and Saarelainen barged to the net, evading Leo Sahlin Wallenius's check, to tie it up on his fourth goal of these World Juniors at 14:01.

During the 10-minute overtime, Viggo Bjorck failed to score on three breakaways, and then took a late slashing minor. Kiviharju hit a cross bar with the man advantage, but the Finns couldn't cash in.

Looking ahead to the bronze medal game, Kuhta said: "The tournament is not over yet. We're still competing for a medal. We've got to focus and recover so we are ready tomorrow."

The Swedes lost the 2024 final 6-2 to the Americans on home ice in Gothenburg. It would be delicious revenge to come out on top in Minnesota – even though they'll face an opponent other than America.

"At the World Junior Championship, a lot of things happen, and now we are on the winning side," Havelid said. "It's good for us, but we have to regroup tonight. Eat a lot of food, drink a lot of water, and be ready for tomorrow."