The 2021 IIHF World U18 Championship was the 22nd such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Teams would have participated at several levels of competition. The competition also would have served as qualifications for the 2022 competition. All tournaments other than the top division tournament were cancelled by the IIHF on November 18, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States finished without a medal for the first time since 2003.
Top Division
The tournament was held from April 26 to May 6, 2021, in Frisco and Plano, United States.
Officials
The following officials were assigned by the International Ice Hockey Federation to officiate the 2021 World U18 Championships.
Referees
Adam Kika
Riku Brander
Lukas Kohlmüller
Sergey Yudakov
Christoffer Holm
Micha Hebeisen
Sean Fernandez
Sean MacFarlane
Jacob Rekucki
Stephen Reneau
Peter Schlittenhardt
Andrew Wilk
Linesmen
Nikita Polyakov
David Klouček
Tommi Niittylä
Dāvis Zunde
Roman Slavikovskii
Kevin Briganti
Nick Briganti
Jake Davis
William Hancock
Patrick Richardson
Preliminary round
All times are local (UTC–5).
Group A
Group B
Playoff round
Winning teams were reseeded for the semifinals in accordance with the following ranking:
higher position in the group
higher number of points
better goal difference
higher number of goals scored for
better seeding coming into the tournament (final placement at the 2019 IIHF World U18 Championships).
Bracket
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Bronze medal game
Gold medal game
Final standings
Statistics
Scoring leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus–minus; PIM = Penalties In MinutesSource: IIHF
Goaltending leaders
(minimum 40% team's total ice time)
TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SA = Shots against; Sv% = Save percentage; SO = ShutoutsSource: IIHF
Awards
Best players selected by the Directorate: Best Goaltender: Benjamin Gaudreau Best Defenceman: Aleksi Heimosalmi Best Forward: Matvei Michkov Source: IIHF
Media All-Stars: MVP: Matvei Michkov Goaltender: Sergei Ivanov Defencemen: Aleksi Heimosalmi / Brandt Clarke Forwards: Connor Bedard / Matvei Michkov / Samu Tuomaala Source: IIHF
Division I
All lower division tournaments were cancelled by the IIHF.
Group A
The tournament was to be held in Spišská Nová Ves, Slovakia, from April 5 to 11, 2021.
Group B
The tournament was to be held in Asiago, Italy, from April 18 to 25, 2021.
Division II
Group A
The tournament was to be held in Tallinn, Estonia, from April 4 to 10, 2021.
Group B
The tournament was to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria, from March 21 to 27, 2021,
Division III
Group A
The tournament was to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, from March 29 to April 4, 2021.
Group B
The tournament was to be held in Kockelscheuer, Luxembourg, from March 28 to April 3, 2021.