PalaItalia & Fiera Milano

Latvia – France 5-2 (2-1, 3-0, 0-1)

The Latvian men’s hockey team won a ticket to the 2026 Milan and Cortina Olympic Games in Riga on Sunday. Latvian ice hockey players defeated France in the decisive game of the tournament held at home with a score of 5:2 and will participate in the second Winter Olympics in a row.

After the restoration of independence, this was the ninth qualification tournament for Latvia, having secured participation in the Olympic Games six times. In the 2026 Olympic Games, the hockey tournament will take place in Milan.

Eduards Tralmaks, Roberts Bukarts, Rodrigo Ābols, Mārtiņš Dzierkals and Kristiāns Rubīns, who also had two assists, scored goals for the Latvian national team. Jānis Jaks also assisted in two goals.

The goal was guarded by Kristers Gudlevsky, who saved 17 of 19 shots. Gudļevskis was recognized as the best player of the Latvian national team in this match.

The most valuable player of the tournament was awarded to the captain of the Latvian hockey team, Kaspars Daugaviņš.

Denmark 4 Norway 1 (0-1, 2-0, 2-0)

The triumph at the 2024 Men’s Final Olympic Ice Hockey Qualification Group F held in Aalborg marks a significant milestone for Denmark, as it confirms their participation in the upcoming Games in Milan. This achievement represents Denmark’s second appearance at the Olympics, following their debut in Beijing just two years prior.

Slovakia 3 Kazakhstan 1 (2-0, 1-1, 0-0)

The Slovak national ice hockey team has successfully qualified for the Olympic Games scheduled to take place in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. In a crucial match during the final Olympic qualification tournament held in Bratislava, Slovakia secured a victory against Kazakhstan with a score of 3:1, thereby finishing at the top of the D-group without conceding any points.

This upcoming Olympic Games marks the seventh time that Slovak hockey players will compete in the main tournament. Their Olympic history includes appearances in Lillehammer in 1994, Turin in 2006, Vancouver in 2010, Sochi in 2014, Pyeongchang in 2018, and Beijing two years ago. Furthermore, Slovakia participated in the Olympic Games in 1998 in Nagano and in 2002 in Salt Lake City, but unfortunately, they were unable to advance to the main tournament during those occasions.