The final dress rehearsal: Austria host Slovenia

Most importantly: all players are fit and healthy! In fact, extremely fit, as Head Coach Roger Bader stresses: "We have had a very good conditioning programme over the past few weeks. Many players have already been with us for several weeks and you can see the progress. The team is in top condition and looking good on the ice."

Slovenia as the final warm-up opponent, after Canada in the previous two years, is a deliberate plan. Against our neighbours, the aim is to play exactly as they will next week in the opening World Championship games against Great Britain and Hungary. "Put the opponent under pressure, transition quickly with the puck, defend well and hopefully score goals," summarises Roger Bader.

Austria have won each of the last three meetings. They now want to continue that run and conclude their World Championship preparations with a victory.

"We have set out to play the way we want to play at the World Championship. We want to play the same ice hockey – not so complicated, even if we may have more time than we will at the World Championship. We have improved day by day, we have a young team and are looking forward to this game and the World Championship," explains David Maier.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PREPARATIONS

Austria vs. Klagenfurt
Sat, 09 May, 16:20, Heidi Horten-Arena, Klagenfurt
ÖEHV ticket shop, live on ORF SPORT +

Already played
Latvia vs. Austria 3:4 (0:1, 3:3, 0:0)
Wed, 8 April 2026, 18:30, Riga (LAT)
Austria scorers: Maximilian Rebernig (9), Benjamin Nissner (21), Luca Erne (29), Lucas Thaler (39/PP)
Latvia scorers: Karlis Ozolins (30.), Glebs Prohorenkovs (33./PP), Deniss Smirnovs (36.)
Game Sheet

Latvia vs. Austria 1:0 (0:0, 0:0, 1:0)
Thu, 9 April 2026, 18:30, Riga (LAT)
Latvia scorer: Oskars Lapinski (51.)
Game Sheet

Austria vs. Italy 3:2 (0:0, 2:1, 0:1, 1:0)
Thu, 16 April 2026, 19:00, Dornbirn
Austria scorers: Benjamin Nissner (27., 29./PP), Peter Schneider (65.)
Italy scorers: Bryce Misley (30.), Tommaso De Luca (55.)
Game Sheet

Austria vs. Czechia 1:5 (0:2, 1:1, 0:2)
Thu, 23 April 2026, 19:00, Steffl Arena Vienna
Austria scorer: Leon Kolarik (32.)
Czechia scorers: Michael Spacek (5.), Dominik Kubalik (8.), Daniel Tomasek (31.), Filip Kral (43.), Daniel Vozelinek (56.)
Game Sheet

Czechia vs. Austria 4:0 (1:0, 1:0, 2:0)
Fri, 24 April 2026, 17:30, Jihlava (CZE)
Czechia scorers: David Tomasek (18), Michael Spacek (28, 46/PP), Marcel Marcel (57)

Austria vs. Germany 3:4 (0:1, 1:1, 2:2)
Thu, 30 April 2026, 19:00, Zell am See
Austria scorers: Patrick Söllinger (26), Mario Huber (41), Thimo Nickl (47/PP)
Germany scorers: Stefan Loibl (5, 55), Alexander Blank (37), Daniel Fischbuch (48)
Game Sheet

Germany vs. Austria 5:2 (2:0, 1:0, 2:2)
Sat, 2 May 2026, 17:00, Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER)
Germany scorers: Maximilian Kastner (8), Alexander Blank (13), Alexander Karachun (40), Daniel Fischbuch (56/PP), Tim Brunnhuber (60/EN)
Austria scorers: Lucas Thaler (44), Mario Huber (48/PP)
Game Sheet

2026 IIHF ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

15 May 2026 - 31 May 2026, Zurich and Fribourg (SUI)
Defending champions: USA
Group A, Zurich: USA, Switzerland, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Austria, Hungary, Great Britain
Group B, Fribourg: Canada, Sweden, Czechia, Denmark, Slovakia, Norway, Slovenia, Italy

Schedule
Great Britain vs. Austria
Sat, 16 May 2026, 12:20, Swiss Life Arena

Austria vs. Hungary
Sun, 17 May 2026, 16:20, Swiss Life Arena

Latvia vs. Austria
Tue, 19 May 2026, 16:20, Swiss Life Arena

Austria vs. Switzerland
Wed, 20 May 2026, 16:20, Swiss Life Arena

Austria vs. Germany
Sat, 23 May 2026, 20:20, Swiss Life Arena

Finland vs. Austria
Sun, 24 May 2026, 20:20, Swiss Life Arena

USA vs. Austria
Tue, 26 May 2026, 16:20, Swiss Life Arena

Information on World Championship ticket sales at 2026.iihfworlds.com!
Link to World Championship tickets for Zurich and Fribourg (Ticketcorner.ch)
Link to individual Austria matches - (Ticketcorner.ch)
Link to World Championship packages including Austria matches - (Ticketcorner.ch)