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U18 World Championships

Hungary Earns Promotion to U18 Women's World Championship With Division 1A Sweep

For the first time since 2024, Hungary will play in the top division of the U18 Women’s World Championship.

Hungary Earns Promotion to U18 Women's World Championship With Division 1A Sweep
Hungary's Boroka Batyi celebrates her goal against Italy. Photo via Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation.

For the first time since 2024, Hungary will play in the top division of the U18 Women’s World Championship. 

The 2025 U18 Division 1A Women’s World Championship was held from Jan. 5 to 11 in Budapest, Hungary. The six teams involved saw a series of close games as they fought for ascension to the top division, and battled to avoid relegation to Division 1B.

Hungary posted three shutouts and won all five of their games in regulation to earn promotion. Austria was relegated to Division 1B for next year after suffering three one-goal losses.

Next year, Japan will play in Division 1A after their relegation from the top division, as will Denmark, who earned promotion from Division 1B.

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Final Standings

  1. Hungary (Promoted)
  2. Italy 
  3. Germany 
  4. Norway 
  5. France 
  6. Austria (Relegated)

Hungary

The home team allowed only two goals across five games, one to France and one to Germany. Helga Milibák earned two shutouts, while 16-year-old Noémi Zoé Takács earned one shutout and was named Goaltender of the Tournament. 

Brown University commit Boglarka Bahiczki-Toth was the team’s top scorer with one goal and six points across five games. She scored the game-winning goal in Hungary’s 1-0 win over Austria and was named the tournament’s Top Defender.

15-year old Réka Hiezl had the game-winner and the insurance goal against France, while Krisztina Weiler potted two against Norway. 16-year-old Petra Polónyi scored one goal against Italy and the game-winner over Germany. All three finished with five points.

Italy

After placing second in this tournament last year, Italy started on a good note, earning wins over Austria and France. They suffered a 4-0 loss to Hungary, but came back with a 2-1 win over Norway and a 3-0 shutout of Germany. For the third year in a row, Italy narrowly missed promotion with a second-place finish.

Manuela Heidenberger, who plays for HPK in the Auroraliiga, tied for the tournament’s scoring lead with four goals and eight points.  

Matilde Fantin turned 18 just a few days before her fourth U18 tournament and became the all-time leader in D1A scoring. The Penn State commit had three goals and five assists in five games and was named the tournament’s Top Forward.

Goaltender Anna Corte Sualon earned all four of Italy's two wins, turning away 93 of 98 shots.

Germany

Germany, who suffered relegation from the top division in 2024, started strong: they scored four goals in two games straight, beating Norway and Austria. Then they lost by one goal to France and Hungary and suffered a 3-0 shutout to Italy, eventually finishing the tournament in third place.

15-year-old Alexandra Boico was the star for her squad in her international debut. She scored a natural hat trick against Austria, the first goal in Germany’s loss to France, and the team’s only goal in their 2-1 loss to Hungary. Her five goals led the tournament.

France

After avoiding relegation to Division 1B last year, France avoided it again this year by the skin of their teeth. France began the tournament with losses to Hungary and Italy before earning a 4-3 comeback victory over Germany. Then they lost in overtime to Austria and in regulation to Norway. Had their game against Germany gone to overtime, they would have been relegated.

Armelle Chabert scored four of France’s ten goals in the tournament, while 15-year-old Maeva Sadoun earned her first point by scoring the game-winner over Germany.

Goaltender Liv Wegmuller started four games for France, finishing with a .915 save percentage. She earned a win after she replaced Louna Ivaldy six minutes into their game against Germany.

Norway 

Norway won promotion to Division 1A last year for only the second time in the team's history and they managed to stay up again this year. They suffered a loss to Germany and a shutout to Hungary before earning a comeback win in overtime against Austria. They lost 2-1 against Italy, then earned a regulation win against France.

Kajsa Bråten, who plays in the second league in Sweden, was the star for Norway. She scored the team's first two goals against Germany as well as the overtime winner against Austria, and added three assists to lead Norway in scoring.

Miriam Toet-Uddveg, who also plays in the NDHL, scored with an empty net and four seconds on the clock to force overtime against Austria, and scored twice in Norway’s 5-3 victory over France.

Austria

After a middle-of-the-pack finish in last year's Division 1A tournament, Austria went down early in 2025, collecting an overtime win, an overtime loss, and three regulation losses. Although they didn’t win much, they did compete: four of their five games were won by a single goal.

16-year-olds Emma Lintner and Vanessa Picka scored seven of Austria's nine goals. Lintner scored four goals and one assist, potting the overtime winner against France. Picka had three goals and three assists, including the primary assist on Lintner’s overtime goal.

16-year-old Kiara Matt played all five games for Austria, finishing with a .887 save percentage. 

Austria will play in Division 1B in 2026 for the first time since 2020.

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