2020 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

The 2020 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (2020 WJC) was the 44th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. It began on 26 December 2019, and ended with the gold medal game being played on 5 January 2020. Canada defeated Russia 4–3 to win the gold medal and their 18th world junior hockey championship. This marks the fourth time that the Czech Republic hosted the WJHC.

On April 16, 2018, it was announced that Ostrava and Třinec, in the Moravian-Silesian Region in the northeast corner of the Czech Republic, would be the host cities. It is the second time that Ostrava has been the primary host of the tournament and the first time that Třinec is hosting in any capacity. Ostrava has also twice co-hosted the senior Ice Hockey World Championships.

Match officials
The following officials were assigned by the International Ice Hockey Federation to officiate the 2020 World Junior Championships.

Referees
 * 🇨🇦 Michael Campbell
 * 🇷🇺 Ivan Fateev
 * 🇸🇪 Andreas Harnebring
 * 🇫🇮 Lassi Heikkinen
 * 🇨🇿 Oldřich Hejduk
 * 🇨🇦 Fraser Lawrence
 * 🇺🇸 Sean MacFarlane
 * 🇷🇺 Sergey Morozov
 * 🇨🇿 Vladimír Pešina
 * 🇩🇪 André Schrader
 * Michael Tscherrig
 * 🇫🇮 Kristian Vikman

Linesmen
 * 🇺🇸 Riley Bowles
 * 🇫🇮 Markus Hägerström
 * 🇨🇦 Chad Huseby
 * 🇨🇿 Vít Lederer
 * 🇸🇪 Ludvig Lundgren
 * 🇩🇪 Jonas Merten
 * 🇸🇪 Tobias Nordlander
 * David Obwegeser
 * 🇷🇺 Nikita Shalagin
 * 🇸🇰 Šimon Synek

Seeding
The seedings in the preliminary round are based on the 2019 tournament's final standings using the serpentine system. On 6 January 2019, the IIHF announced the groups. With Germany being promoted from Division I A after winning the 2019 Division I A Tournament.


 * Group A (Třinec)
 * (1)
 * (4)
 * (5)
 * (8)
 * (9)


 * Group B (Ostrava)
 * (2)
 * (3)
 * (6)
 * (7)
 * (11-Promoted)

Format
The preliminary round is a two group of five teams each internal round-robin format, followed by a three-round playoff. In the round-robin, three points are allotted for a regulation win, and two points for an overtime or shootout win. One point is allotted for an overtime or shootout loss.

The four highest-ranked teams from each group of the preliminary round advance to the quarterfinals while the last-place team from each group will play a best-of-three series, the loser relegated to Division IA for 2021, being replaced by the winner of Division IA. All other teams will retain their Top Division status for the 2021 edition.

Preliminary round
All times are local (Central European Time – UTC+1).

Relegation round
Note: was relegated to the 2022 Division I A

Playoff round
Winning teams were reseeded for the semi-finals in accordance with the following ranking, this was a change the IIHF implemented during their 2019 annual congress. To determine this ranking, the following criteria were used in the order presented:
 * 1) higher position in the group
 * 2) higher number of points
 * 3) better goal difference
 * 4) higher number of goals scored for
 * 5) better seeding coming into the tournament (final placement at the 2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships).

Scoring leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus–minus; PIM = Penalties In Minutes Source: 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 = Shutouts Source: IIHF

Awards
Source: IIHF
 * Best players selected by the directorate:
 * Best Goaltender: 🇨🇦 Joel Hofer
 * Best Defenceman: 🇸🇪 Rasmus Sandin
 * Best Forward: 🇨🇦 Alexis Lafrenière

Source: IIHF
 * Media All-Stars:
 * MVP: 🇨🇦 Alexis Lafrenière
 * Goaltender: 🇨🇦 Joel Hofer
 * Defencemen: 🇸🇪 Rasmus Sandin / 🇷🇺 Alexander Romanov
 * Forwards: 🇸🇪 Samuel Fagemo / 🇨🇦 Barrett Hayton / 🇨🇦 Alexis Lafrenière

Group A
The Division I Group A tournament was played in Minsk, Belarus, from 9 to 15 December 2019.

Group B
The Division I Group B tournament was played in Kyiv, Ukraine, from 12 to 18 December 2019.

Group A
The Division II Group A tournament was played in Vilnius, Lithuania, from 6 to 12 January 2020.

Group B
The Division II Group B tournament was played in Gangneung, South Korea, from 27 January to 3 February 2020.

Division III
The Division III tournament was played in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 13 to 19 January 2020.