May 2, 2025, marked the final game of the 2025 Ice Hockey World Championships. Despite coming into the competition with high hopes, Croatia had an underwhelming tournament, failing to secure a win in the five games they played.
Suffering heavy defeats in the first two games of the championship, Croatia were already on the back-foot, losing to South Korea 5-2 and Estonia 6-2.
However, despite the two heavy defeats to start the championship, Croatia looked to get back on the front foot against China.
Fighting back from two goals down and being in the match right until the end the Croatian faithfull were hopeful to get on the board, however, a last minute goal by China’s Yan Juncheng would break the hearts of the Red, White and Blue faithful handing them their third defeat losing the game 3-4.
Whilst the championship didn’t go as planned, in the darkness, there were some shining lights providing positives to build on for the next tournament.
Rendulic Borna
Croatian captain Rendulic Borna stood from the front, leading the way for his team, proving to be a scoring powerhouse of the competition, finishing with three goals and four assists, ranked the third highest scorer.
Marinkovic Karlo, Malencia Nikolas, Idzan Vito
Fighting alongside him was Marinkovic Karlo, who ended the championship with two goals and four assists (ranked number nine on the scoring list), alongside them were Malencia Nikolas (two goals, two assists) and Idzan Vito (one goal, three assists).
While the competition wasn’t a defensive masterclass, the potent attack from the Croatians always left those who watched it with enjoyment and excitement for what was to come.
Despite the underwhelming 2025 championship, it wasn’t all gloom for the Croatians, whose attack was a shining light, providing excitement and hope for the 2026 Ice Hockey World Championships.
