Pool A: Sweden & Switzerland

Welcome back for part two of four of the IIHF U18 Women's World Championship preview. We're looking at the Pool A teams. If you haven't yet, go check out part one, which goes over Canada and Hungary, the first of which is looking for back-to-back gold and the other fighting to not be relegated. If you've already read part one, enjoy part two!

Sweden

In the history of the IIHF U18 World Championship, three teams have multiple Gold Medal Game appearances. Two are obvious in Canada and the USA, and the third is Sweden, who have been to two Gold Medal Games in the last seven tournaments. While, at the senior level, Sweden has yet to solidify themselves as a top four team—a spot they used to hold—at the U18 level, they're a team to be taken seriously.

In 2022, the first tournament after COVID cancelled the 2021 tournament, they very nearly upset a Team USA squad who now can say that they had four Olympians on the roster. Sweden actually held a 2-1 lead going into the third period. While the upset didn’t happen in Madison, Wisconsin, it did happen back home in Ostersund, Sweden, where the host team won 2-1 and earned their second gold medal appearance. In 2024, Sweden ran into a Czech team of destiny and lost in the quarterfinal. However, the very next tournament in 2025, Sweden very nearly pulled another upset. But they ultimately lost 2-1 to the USA, with their offence unfortunately having struggled all tournament to get going.

Forwards

While Sweden will not have Edit Danielsson, who had four goals in six games at the 2025 U18 Worlds, they are bringing back some players who should be able to take that next step to being the offensive difference-makers Sweden lacked last year. The name that immediately pops off the roster is Tilde Sundnäs Grillfors, who I personally believe was the third-best player on Sweden last year. She’s very fast and skilled, but just didn’t quite have the finishing touch Sweden needed to get past the USA. Grillfors leads the SDHL in U18 goal scoring, with six goals in 28 games, which I know doesn’t look like a lot. However the SDHL is a pro league, where the majority of players taking top-six spots or even top-nine spots are a fair bit older than 17.

Danielsson scored seven goals in 32 SDHL games and went on to have four goals at the U18 Worlds. It was the same for Hilda Svensson, who led the Swedes in goal scoring at the 2024 Worlds, with four goals at U18 Worlds and seven goals in the SDHL. Based on history and her skill, it’s easy to imagine Grillfors is one of Sweden’s top scoring threats. The other Swedish forward to watch out for is Inez Nygren, who plays for Luleå HF in the SDHL. She’s tied with Grillfors in U18 SDHL points with nine points and has five goals to go along with her four assists.

Last but not least, for returning players who can make a big impact for Sweden. it’s hard to overlook Ebba Hesselvall. She’s an '09 birth year, which means she gets to come back for the 2027 U18 Worlds. It maybe feels like a lot of pressure to put on a 16-year-old, but she was already on the team as a 15-year-old last year and put up four points in six games, tying her for third on Sweden in points with Grillfors.

Hesselvall is also in her first year in the SDHL with a respectable three goals, which, in the context of being a 16-year-old, is rather decent. With her success already at the U18 Worlds, she should be considered a threat. Finding someone at the first U18 Worlds who can make an impact is a bit of a hard task, but I think I found a dark horse: Moa Stridh. The 5’11” forward is coming out of Frölunda’s system and is already making an impact at the U18 level for Sweden, as she scored three goals against Czechia in December exhibition games.

Defenders

Ever since Mira Jungåker was the driving force for the Sweden squad at the 2023 U18 Worlds on their way to a silver medal at home, Sweden has been looking for that next elite blueliner. At the 2025 U18 Worlds, their prayers were answered and Ebba Westerlind showed up. With six points in six games, Westerlind tied Danielsson for the team lead in points. She’s a dynamic blueliner who'll get the puck moving up the ice and then be a pain in the offensive zone for the opposing team as well. The tournament Jungåker had in 2023 was exemplary and maybe shouldn’t be the standard, but if anyone will have close to that impact, it’s going to be Westerlind.

Sweden has their potential Jungåker from 2023, but do they have a Jenna Raunio? I’ll be honest, I’m not very familiar with the Swedish U18 system, and apart from Westerlind, no one really stood for Sweden on the blueline at the 2025 U18 Worlds. If there’s a returning player who we could see step up in a big way, I’d put money on Selma Karlsson, who is in her first full time season with Brynäs IF and was very good for their second-tier team last season. The U18 Worlds rookie who I can see stepping up is Elsa Blårand out of Linköping HC, who, at 15 years old, has already played 21 games this season in the SDHL in a very defensive-heavy system.

Goalies

Sweden has a long history of developing high-end goalies, especially at the U18 level. From Lisa Jönsson to Felicia Frank to Maja Helge, Sweden has had great goalies who give them a chance every game to win. Swedish goaltending lives up to its fierce reputation at the U18 level. Now usually these goalies come with some sort of resume from the SDHL, but this year, none of Thea Holmberg, Meja Engelin, nor Elsa Åkermark have any SDHL regular season experience.

For the first time in a while, the goalie position is somewhat open at least. Engelin has at least been backing up in the SDHL from time to time and was on Sweden’s U18 Worlds team last tournament. She also comes from the vaunted Frölunda HC development system, which gave Sweden Maja Helge last tournament. The other goalie who I believe will fight for that number one spot is Thea Holmberg. In the U18 Four Nations Tournament in December 2025, she was given two of the three starts, only allowing one goal against per game. Strong showings like that tend to earn the coaches' attention.

Expectations this time around should be relatively high. Sweden has proven themselves to be a legitimate threat that can keep games close enough possession-wise, so if they can find some offence, they’ll be hard to beat even by superpowered Canadian and American teams. Last tournament was a disappointment for them to not even leave with a medal, but with the players they’re bringing back this time around, they should be prepared to improve on last year.

Switzerland

Ever since Switzerland was promoted to the IIHF U18 World Championships in 2014, it’s been a constant battle of avoiding relegation. In the 10 U18 World tournaments Switzerland has participated in since the 2014 promotion, Switzerland has had to avoid relegation eight times. Recently there’s been a push from Switzerland to invest more in its youth women’s hockey programs, which has seen Lara Stalder's return to Switzerland and the creation of the EV Zug women’s hockey team, similar to the creation of the Frölunda women’s hockey program in Sweden.

At the 2025 U18 Worlds, Switzerland received hope for the first time in a long time: their team made the quarterfinals, didn’t have to play in a relegation game, and finished fifth in the tournament ahead of Finland. Their results were promising, too, as they took Czechia to overtime, beat the upstart Slovakians 5-3, and had arguably the closest or second-closest loss to Canada in the round robin phase. If the Switzerland senior national team is hoping for reinforcements to prevent them from never contending for a Worlds or Olympic medal again, they need some players to start showing promise sooner rather than later.

Forwards

The bad news for Switzerland is at the 2025 U18 Worlds their highest point-getter had three points in four games and their highest goal scorer had two goals. Only one player hit the three-point mark and a different player hit the two-goal mark. Jael Manetsch led Switzerland in points and has aged out of the U18 program. The silver lining is Norina Müller led the team in goals (albeit two goals, but that's better than one), and she’s coming back for another go at U18 Worlds. Out of all the forwards on the team, it looks like she’s Switzerland’s best hope at finding that offensive spark.

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It's not just because she led the team in goals, it’s also because she’s having a very good year in Switzerland’s elite women’s league. She has 28 points in 24 games for third-best on HC Fribourg-Gottéron Ladies, behind Jenna Suokko and Ann-Frédérique Guay. After having 18 points in 24 games last season, Müller was asked to take on a bigger role, and has she ever, ensuring HC Fribourg-Gottéron Ladies at least has a top line that works. After being named a top three player for Switzerland at the 2025 Worlds, being first in goals, second in shots on goal, and averaging 21:45 a game, Müller is going to step up once more.

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Müller isn’t going to be able to do this on her own, though, and she'll need some support. If anyone is ready for a breakout U18 Worlds on Switzerland, it looks like Hannah Estermann fits the bill. The 5’8” center, entering her second U18 Worlds, is the only forward on the roster playing in the men’s U18 elite level and improving on her U17 season. Another option, though I'm less confident on this player, is Alicia Fausch, who has spent the last three seasons in Canada with the OHA Mavericks program. She hasn’t been very productive, but she’s at least very familiar with playing against top Canadian competition as well as North American ice. One last name as a potential offensive producer is Livia Tschannen, who has a respectable 10 points in 24 games with HC Fribourg-Gottéron Ladies in her first full season in the Swiss elite women’s league.

Defenders

Believe it or not, Switzerland’s blueline at the 2025 U18 Worlds was maybe their biggest strength. They definitely were successful at getting pucks through to the net. Sonja Inkamp won’t be back, but Switzerland is getting back their top-two blueliner in Laure Mériguet. At the 2025 U18 Worlds, Mériguet was second on the team in ice time and finished with one goal as well as one assist while ending up with a +3 in goal differential. She was so impressive for Switzerland that, a few months later, Mériguet was making her senior national team debut at the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Hockey Championships. And she has also been named to the 2026 Swiss Olympic team!

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An intriguing name who could see a lot of minutes and a bit role on the blueline is Miriana Bottoni. She recently has seen a full time role in the Swiss Elite women’s league with HC Davos Ladies after graduating from the U17 men’s level, where she was quite productive, and will be in her third U18 Worlds. The other name to keep an eye on is Sarina Messikommer. She has the markings of a blueliner who is going to be put in a bigger role. At the 2025 U18 Worlds, Messikommer averaged 14:47 minutes a game and is currently part of the men’s elite U18 program with EHC Dübendorf U18. She's maybe a bit on the shorter side but won’t be lacking in strength.

Goalies

Switzerland is coming into the 2026 U18 Worlds a bit blind with how their goalies are going to perform. Last tournament, Amaya Iseli played every single minute of every single game and Stella Zagnoli backed her up every game. Both have aged out, leaving the Swiss coaching staff to decide between Lia Rubin, Anne-Eugénie Gendre, and Norina Schrupkowski. They all offer intriguing resumes so far this season as well, making none of them the obvious pick. Schrupkowski is the only returning goalie out of the three; she was on the 2025 U18 Worlds roster and has played 16 games in between the U18/U16 Swiss men’s development system.

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Rubin has played 25 games this season, with 15 coming in the Swiss women’s league and the other 10 coming in the men’s U18 program. I'm aking a shot in the dark here, but Gendre is my pick to take over the number one spot. She’s the number one goalie for HC Fribourg-Gottéron Ladies, with 20 games played. And while I hate using Goals Against Average, we don’t get many stats out of the Swiss women’s league. She’s only allowing two goals against per game compared to a league average of 2.61 goals against per game.

While it’d be great to see Switzerland become a legitimate threat at the U18 level, because the more good teams the better, I don’t think this is the year we see the Swiss take that big step forward like Sweden and Czechia have. At the very least, Switzerland needs to avoid being relegated. That would be not ideal for their program. In order to call the tournament a success, I think it’s fair for the Swiss to set the bar at finishing third in Pool A and not getting thoroughly blown out in the quarterfinals. If they do that, we'll see the future of the Swiss senior national team.