Setting the table for elimination play to begin with more upsets and close calls.
July 15, 2026 by Aidan Thomas and Rhea Patney in Recap
Wednesday marked the final day of pool play at the World Junior Ultimate Championships in Logroño, Spain. Here’s a recap of some of today’s biggest games before the bracket gets underway tomorrow.
Women’s Division
Great Britain’s Run
No. 12 seed Great Britain officially punched its ticket to the quarterfinals with an 11-8 upset win over no. 7 Czechia. After opening the tournament with a heartbreaking 12-11 loss to no. 5 New Zealand, it felt like we knew they were about to go on an incredible run.
The Czech Republic jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but Great Britain weathered the storm. After calling a timeout, they came out with a hold and a break, then added another hold and four straight breaks to take a commanding 7-4 halftime lead. Despite earning two breaks in the second half, the Czech Republic couldn’t complete the comeback.
Isabella Wirszyla shined for Great Britain with four assists, while Tabitha Adams added four goals. Along with Amy Flynn (2 assists, 1 goal) and Mollie Williams (3 assists, 1 goal), the quartet kept the break train rolling.
Great Britain will face no. 4 Canada in the quarterfinals tomorrow. Let’s see if they can pull off their biggest upset yet.
USA Upset by Canada
No.2 United States took an unprecedented second loss of the tournament, falling 12-10 to Canada. The loss sends the Americans into a quarterfinal matchup with top-seeded Italy tomorrow.
The USA came out firing, building an early 4-1 lead, but Canada responded and eventually took halftime 7-6. The teams traded blows throughout the second half, with neither side able to create much separation. Canada’s defense generated numerous under blocks, but USA’s deep game was tough to stop.
The USA broke at the 80:40 mark after Lillian Hodges got a run-through block on an errant Canadian strike throw. She immediately launched a flick, and Alice Rieger barrel-rolled to secure the catch. Rieger quickly dished it to Amelia Welsh, who uncorked a bladey flick to Nora Luloff, who skied for the score. The goal made it 11-10 at time cap, with Canada leading in a game to 12.
The USA then earned another chance when a media review on Fischer’s throw into the end zone awarded possession back to the Americans. But they couldn’t capitalize, turning it over on a difficult inside flick. Canada wasted no time going the other way. Kathy Huang caught the reset and ripped a huge backhand huck to Maeva Breton, who made a chest-high layout grab on the goal line before dishing to Amelia Rae for the game-winning score.
Bracket Preview Games
We got a preview of what could be coming in the bracket with a pair of tightly contested matchups. No.6 Japan edged out no.8 Belgium 11-10, while no.1 Italy defeated no.3 France by the same score. Both games featured long stretches of offensive holds.
For Italy, Arianna Ascari (3 assists) and Agata Benzi (1 assist, 3 goals) were instrumental. Benzi made perhaps the play of the day, leaving her downfield defensive assignment to poach into the backfield and record a callahan that tied the game at 10-10. She then caught the game-winning break on universe point, finishing a beautiful seven cut in the end zone.
For Japan, Rio Kobayashi (4 assists, 1 goal) was the difference-maker. After a Belgium turnover on the goal line, she found Ai Imamoto for the game-winning hold on universe. Despite the loss, Belgium‘s Maiwenn Le Duc was extraordinary. The division leader in goals (19), she finished with five assists and three goals.
Expect to see more games like these as the bracket gets underway tomorrow. Seven of the top eight seeds advanced to the bracket, but Great Britain shook up the field by earning a spot over New Zealand.
Mixed Division
Chalk Holds in the Mixed Division
There wasn’t much drama in the mixed division today, as every game went according to seeding. No.7 Switzerland took down no.12 Austria 13-6, no.5 France beat no.13 Hong Kong 13-2, no.6 Colombia defeated no.14 Ireland 13-4, and no.8 Australia topped no.11 Spain 13-6. All expected results.
Stat leaders from the winning teams included France’s Louna Guennoune, who finished with three goals and three assists. For Switzerland, Ayun Gruetter posted one assist and three goals, while Nino Stauffer added three assists and a goal. Emiliano Bermudez Orozco led Colombia with three assists. Australia’s Angus Carson (2 assists, 1 goal) and Moriah Reimers (2 assists, 1 goal) also had strong performances.
USA Continues Its Reign
Top-seeded United States remains unbeaten after a 13-7 win over no.4 Singapore.
The game opened with four straight holds before the USA earned back-to-back breaks and never looked back. The Americans added three more breaks in the second half to steadily pull away.
Bodhi Weston led the USA with three assists and a goal, while Silas Bell chipped in two assists. For Singapore, Shawn Liu Chen Yu tallied three assists and a goal, while Reina Tan finished with two goals.
Bracket Preview
Similar to the women’s division, seven of the top eight seeds have made the bracket. The exception is Singapore, who missed out after losses to no.10 China, France, and Austria. 10-seed China secured the final spot in the bracket after a strong pool play performance.
In the first quarterfinal matchup, no.1 USA will go head-to-head against Colombia. The second matchup features Canada taking on China. In the third quarterfinal, Switzerland faces off against Australia. Finally, the fourth matchup pits Hungary against France. Quarterfinals upsets would buck the trends from pool play, with USA, Canada, and Hungary all building help goal differentials on the field.
Open Division
Tiebreakers Initiated in Pool E
After a chaotic Tuesday in all divisions, the Open division returned to some normalcy, at least in Power Pool E. Canada, who stunned the USA yesterday, made quick work of No. 11 Singapore (13-6) and No. 5 Japan (13-8) to clinch their spot atop the pool. The USA, for their part, also cruised on Wednesday, toppling No. 8 New Zealand (13-4) and No. 9 Czechia (11-1).
The other games caused some drama, as New Zealand squeaked past Japan in an extremely clean game on universe point. There were two total breaks. The first came just about 20 seconds into the contest on the game’s first throw, as a strong Japan pull pinned New Zealand deep and an attempted swing popped up and was collected by Hiroto Ouchi for the Callahan.
The last break came on double game point, as the two sides combined for 23 straight holds before Japan simply turfed a flick on universe point. New Zealand took advantage, and Billy Maui uncorked a huge hammer to the end zone, where Harris Coubrough came down with the two-handed jam to secure the 13-12 win.
That result, combined with Czechia’s ensuing 13-8 win over Singapore, sent New Zealand, Japan, and Czechia into a three-way tie for the final two bracket spots, where, unfortunately for the ninth-ranked Czechs, their 13-5 blowout loss to Japan was too much to overcome, as they loss the three-team tiebreaker on H2H point differential.
A Near Bracket Buster
Pool F had a fascinating dichotomy of results, as there was a three-way tie atop the pool with 4-1 records, and a three-way tie at the bottom (and thus for the final bracket spot) at 1-4. No. 7 Belgium upset No. 4 Germany 12-9 to start the day and handled No. 10 Colombia later, 12-8, to improve their mark to 4-1. No. 2 Italy also walloped Colombia (13-5) and held off France, 11-8. France, for their part, beat a feisty No. 14 Israel squad earlier in the day, 12-11, securing their 4-1 record. All three teams advanced to the championship bracket, with Italy claiming the pool on H2H point differential.
At the bottom, No. 14 Israel almost pulled off the stunner. Entering the day at 0-3 in Power Pool Play, Israel ran off three straight breaks against France to take a 9-8 lead. The upset was in sight, but France managed to squeeze out one more crucial break and then received and held on universe to put away Israel. The underdogs then did finish the job against No. 4 Germany, breaking to take an 8-7 lead and securing three straight holds to see out an 11-10 win on double game point.
That result, alongside two losses apiece from Colombia and Germany, was enough to set up a tiebreaker. However, with just one open spot, Germany’s earlier three-point win over Colombia was the deciding factor, and the fourth-ranked Germans avoided a stunning pool play exit, while Israel was denied true Cinderella status and headed to the ninth place bracket along with Colombia. It was, however, a tournament to be proud of for the Israel side who was led by Guy Halfon (18 assists) and a three-headed scoring monster of Guy Koren, Eyal Nissanov, and Shilo Solan, all whom notched at least ten goals.
Statistically, Belgium’s Pierjan Deforce led the way in the open division. His 29 goal contributions (22 assists, 7 goals) mirrored the stat line of Tomas Lopez Hoyos of Colombia, but Deforce did it in one less game. That duo led the division in assists, while Hoyos’ teammate, Juan Jose Ochoa Chaverra notched 16 goals for the Open Division lead.
Bracket Preview
By the end of pool play, despite a host of upsets and unexpected results, it was the top eight seeds who all survived in the open division, and they march on to the bracket.
No. 3 Canada (7-0 in the tournament) will take on a slumping No. 4 Germany in a quarterfinal between two teams that entered with medal aspirations. No. 7 Belgium and No. 5 Japan will do battle in a game that will guarantee the winner will break seed.
On the lower half of the bracket, No. 2 Italy and No. 8 New Zealand match up, while the top-ranked USA side take on No. 6 France.
