There are two kinds of records that can be achieved—those you can anticipate, and those you can’t. You never know if a player will score, say, six goals in a game, but you can look at career records and the history of a tournament and see how the current year will stack up.

So this is where we are with the Women’s U18 World Championship that is about to start in Sydney and Membertou, Nova Scotia, on Canada’s beautiful east coast of Cape Breton.

Canada won gold last year. Since the tournament began in 2008 no other country has won gold besides the two North American nations. However, three times a European country has made it to the gold-medal game, which is more than the Women’s Worlds or the Olympics.

In 2018, Sweden upset Canada in the semi-finals and then won silver. In 2023, Sweden again won silver, but this time after upsetting the United States in the semis. And then, a year later, it was Czechia who stunned Canada and played for gold, settling for a silver.

Hungary won Division I-A last year and will play in Nova Scotia, their first appearance at the top level since 2014 and only their third ever (2013). Japan, meanwhile, finished last in 2025 and will play down in I-A this season. 

The record for most career WW18 tournaments is four, shared by 22 players. It is virtually impossible for anyone to play five, so this is a record that will continue to be equalled periodically. This year, three players will be joining these 22, including Switzerland’s Laure Meriguet, who is the only player at the tournament who also has senior Women’s Worlds experience. Last year she played in the WW and had one assist in six games as the Swiss finished a respectable fifth. 

The only other players playing number four are Nela Lopusanova and Lenka Karkoskova of Slovakia. Fans will be on record-alert watch for Lopusanova. She currently sits tied for fourth in all-time scoring with 26 points, the same number as Marie-Philip Poulin (CAN) and Adela Sapovalivova (CZE). Leading the list is Kendall Coyne Schofield, with 33 points, so Lopusanova is well within range to become the all-time scoring leader in the next ten days. 

Lopusanova also has 16 career goals, which is fifth on the list. Ahead of her are Haley Skarupa (USA, 17), Alex Carpenter (USA, 18), Caitlin Kraemer (CAN, 20), and Coyne Schofield (USA, 22). Again, Lopusanova is well within range to move up on this list, perhaps to the top. 

Two Americans are also almost certain to tie another impressive record. Defender Maggie Averill and forward Haley Box are both playing in their third WW18. They both won a gold medal in 2024 and a silver last year, so if they win another medal in Nova Scotia, which is very likely, they will join 24 others who have won three medals at this tournament.

In goal, American Morgan Stickney is returning, so she is also likely to tie another record for most medals by a goalie. She has a silver from last year, and currently nine other goalies have two WW18 medals. 

And, Slovakia’s Mariana Sumegova will be playing her third WW18, tying the record for most career events, currently shared by eleven others.

Amazingly, although there are 79 players who are returning to this event, only three are goalies—Stickney and Sumegova, and Sumegova’s backup last year, Zuzana Tomeckova.

One thing no team has ever done at the Women’s U18 is win “perfect gold.” That is, win the gold medal while never trailing in a game and never being tied after 0-0. Will this be the year? Maybe. Maybe not.

Of course, each game might provide fans with a record of some sort, for fastest two goals or most goals in a period, for instance, but the aforementioned are notable achievements we know are within the grasp of the players.