Women’s national team loses A-World Championship debut to Czechia

22 years after their first World Championship appearance in Division III, the ÖEHV women’s national team took to the biggest stage for the first time: Austria lost 1:4 to Czechia after a tremendous fight in their opening game of the IIHF Women’s World Championship 2026 in Esbjerg, Denmark.

The team coached by head coach Alexander Bröms delivered a more than respectable performance, despite Czechia holding a clear 46:12 advantage in shots on goal. Defenceman Charlotte Wittich (Sabres St. Pölten) and forward Emma Pfeffer (Merrimack College) were unavailable. Around 30 travelling Austrians were also among the crowd at Hockey Arena Esbjerg.

Czechia, Europe’s top nation, awaited in the opening game: before the tournament, the Czechs were third in the IIHF World Ranking, ten places ahead of Austria. They won bronze at the World Championships in 2022 and 2023, while in 2024 and 2025 they narrowly missed out on another medal after finishing fourth. At the Olympic Games in Milan, they were narrowly beaten 0:2 by Sweden in the quarter-finals.

Dream start for ÖEHV women

Austria made a good start to the game and had their first power play as early as the 3th minute. In the 8th minute, the Austrians were rewarded following a powerful attack: Theresa Schafzahl set up captain Anna Meixner, who used her speed to skate around the Czech defence and slid the puck through goalkeeper Klara Peslarova’s legs to make it 1:0.

Czechia increased the pressure towards the end of the first period. Selma Luggin initially preserved the lead with several important saves, but she was beaten in the 19th minute: Austria were unable to clear the puck from their own zone, and Klara Hymlarova scored from captain Aneta Tejralova’s assist to make it 1:1. That was also the score at the first break, with the game still fairly evenly balanced in terms of shots on goal at 6:10.

Luggin was called upon again right at the start of the second period: in the 21th minute, she made a brilliant save to deny Adela Sapovalivova after a swift Czech attack.

Shortly afterwards, Austria had another opportunity to regain the lead on the power play: Theresa Schafzahl first found a good shooting opportunity, before Anna Meixner hit the post in the 23th minute. The Austrians were back on the power play in the 26th minute and again created good shooting opportunities, but were unable to find the net.

Unfortunate goal conceded

In the 32th minute, Austria successfully killed a penalty. Shortly afterwards, however, they conceded a bitter goal: Luggin initially stopped a long-range shot from Natalie Mlynkova in the 34th minute, but the puck deflected off Annika Fazokas and into the net to give Czechia a 2:1 lead. Shortly before the second break, Austria took another penalty and began the final period short-handed.

Luggin was immediately called upon again in the final period: in the 41th minute, she made a strong save from a good chance by Michaela Pejzlova. Czechia subsequently increased the pressure further and Austria went a long time without a single shot on goal in the final period. However, they battled hard and threw themselves in front of numerous shots.

But eventually the pressure became too great: in the 53th minute, Katerina Mrazova scored from Adela Sapovalivova and Natalie Mlynkova’s assists to make it 3:1 for Czechia, with Luggin having no chance of stopping the shot. It was the decisive moment.

With around 1:40 minutes remaining, Austria tried once more with six skaters and took Luggin off the ice. Mrazova capitalised in the 59th minute, scoring her second goal into the empty net to seal the 4:1 final score. Goalkeeper Selma Luggin, who made 42 saves, was named Austria’s best player.

Germany await tomorrow

The women’s national team face Germany, seventh in the world rankings, in their second group game on Saturday (19:00, live on ORF SPORT +). The top four teams from each group of five qualify for the quarter-finals.

Reactions to the game will follow shortly.

Match report

IIHF Women’s World Championship 2026
Austria – Czechia 1:4 (1:1, 0:1, 0:2)
Hockey Arena Esbjerg, Esbjerg, Denmark, attendance: 415

Goals:

• MEIXNER (Schafzahl) (07:03)
• HYMLAROVA (Tejralova) (18:55)
• MLYNKOVA (Cajanova, Mrazova) (33:27)
• MRAZOVA (Sapovalivova, Mlynkova) (52:22)
• MRAZOVA (58:41/EN)

Penalty minutes: 10 and 6, respectively

Austria: Selma Luggin (Magdalena Luggin); Fazokas – Matzka, Schröfl – Billa, Tekin – Mörtl, Nagy; Meixner – Lintner – Schafzahl, Dauböck – Hofbauer – Trummer, Picka – Grascher – Obermayr, Kutzer – Linzbichler – Beiter, Suppan

The remaining ÖEHV fixtures

• Saturday, 7 November, 19:00: Germany – Austria (ORF SPORT + from 18:55)
• Monday, 9 November, 19:00: Austria – USA (ORF SPORT + from 18:55)
• Tuesday, 10 November, 19:00: Switzerland – Austria (ORF SPORT + from 18:55)