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Italy's star goalkeeper, Damian Clara, couldn't prevent their final World Cup defeat. © ANSA / PETER SCHNEIDER
Crushing defeat and relegation: Italy's sad World Cup exit
Italy fought, battled, and trembled for a long time at the Ice Hockey World Championship in Switzerland – but now it's official: The Azzurri are relegated from the top division! The relegation showdown turned into a nightmare.
25 May 2026
From the World Cup arena in Fribourg
From:
Alexander Foppa
This evening is a real blow to Italian ice hockey. In their very last group game, the relegation battle against Slovenia, the Blue Team delivered a truly disappointing performance. Italy lost 1-5 and thus leaves the World Championship venue in Fribourg as a relegated team. The 2027 World Championship in Germany will take place without Damian Clara and his teammates.
In their final tournament game, Italy essentially had their fate in their own hands. A win would have allowed the Azzurri to overtake Slovenia at the last minute and climb to safety from second-to-last place. But their chances of a major upset were short-lived – only when Pietroniro put the Blue Team in the lead at the start of the second period.
Complete break-in after the guide gate
But then, for inexplicable reasons, Italy completely collapsed. Suddenly, Jukka Jalonen's team played inaccurately, unfocused, without proper organization, and above all, extremely nervously. Unnecessary penalties practically handed the victory to their opponents. Italy didn't need a second invitation and, driven by the outstanding Marcel Mahkovec, who was involved in four of Italy's five goals, pulled away.
This brings to an end a World Championship for Italy that could hardly have been more difficult – one marked by defeats, bad luck, and mishaps. Against the top teams Canada and Sweden, the Azzurri were completely outmatched, while in the other matches they played bravely. Against Denmark in particular, they should have achieved more than a single point.
The highlights of the game
| Pietroniro's shout of joy | After Mantenuto won a face-off, the puck went via Purdeller to Pietroniro on the right side, who scored the crucial opening goal with a wrist shot into the near top corner (23rd minute). The Italian-Canadian shouted out his joy – and with him, hundreds of Italian fans in the arena. |
| The top talent meets | Slovenia's most dangerous player, the 22-year-old Török, scored the equalizer immediately (23rd minute). He was set up by Mahkovec, who had previously stolen the puck from Di Perna. Török, by the way, earns his living in Finland's top league, where he tallied 47 points last season. |
| Double Drozg | Clara initially made several brilliant saves, but then a Ljubljana trio put Slovenia on the path to victory: Blaz and Mahkovec each provided the assists, and Drozg scored twice. First, he scored on a rebound (31st minute), then he made goalie Clara look foolish with a shot under the crossbar (40th minute). Italy was playing shorthanded on both occasions. De Luca was suspended for the 1-2 goal, and later Saracino was sent off for a retaliatory foul. |
| The Man of the Match | Trivellato and his teammates never managed to contain Mahkovec in particular. After providing three assists, he scored Slovenia's fourth goal himself (48'). Jezovsek then further increased the score (52'), at which point one couldn't help but feel sorry for Clara. |
After the match, the Azzurri went directly back to their team headquarters in Marly, just outside Fribourg. They will travel home on Tuesday morning, after which everyone will begin their summer holidays. For the federation's leadership, however, the work is just beginning: they must learn the lessons from this relegation.
Slovenia – Italy 5:1
SLO: Horak (Us), Gregorc-Golicic, Crnovic-Magavac, Stebih-Cosic, Percic-Simcic; Mahkovec-Torok-Sabolic, Langus-Ticar-Kuralt, Ograjensek-Maver-Drozg, Sodja-Bericic-Jezovsek.ITA: Clara (Fadani); Zanatta-Pietroniro, Trivellato-Di Perna, Spornberger-Nitz, Buono-Gios; De Luca-Misley-Bradley, Saracino-Frycklund-Zanetti, Frigo-Mantenuto-Purdeller, Mantinger-Deluca-DiGiacinto.
Gates: 0:1 Phil Pietroniro (22.34), 1:1 Matic Török (28.09), 2:1 Jan Drozg (30.03), 3:1 Jan Drozg (39.54), 4:1 Marcel Mahkovec (47.18), 5:1 Zan Jezovsek (51.24)
Viewers: 4.436
The table
| Pos | Country | Games | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Canada | 6 | 17 |
| 2. | Norway | 6 | 13 |
| 3. | Czechia | 6 | 13 |
| 4. | Slovakia | 6 | 11 |
| 5. | Sweden | 6 | 9 |
| 6. | Slovenia | 7 | 6 |
| 7. | Denmark | 6 | 5 |
| 8. | Italy | 7 | 1 |
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