Latvia secured the Deutschland Cup title on November 8, 2026, in Düsseldorf with a 6–2 victory over Austria, finishing the tournament with 11 points after three consecutive wins, according to tournament organizers and the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation.
The team became tournament winners for the second time in its history.
Playing without defenseman Kristiāns Rubīns, who returned to his club, and forward Rodrigo Ābols under an agreement with Swiss club Bern, the Latvian roster leaned heavily on younger players against Austria, LSM reported. Goaltender Gustavs Dāvis Grigals faced pressure from the opening minutes, successfully weathering an early Austrian power play.
Bruno Osmanis opened the scoring at the 9:41 mark of the first period, beating Austrian goaltender Nicolas Wieser under the pads after receiving a pass from Kristaps Skrastiņš, as detailed by Sportacentrs.com.
Latvia extended its advantage in the second period when Krastenbergs scored his second of the match at 26:51 during a power play, assisted by Toms Andersons and Rihards Melnalksnis.
Austria responded in the second half of the middle frame as Benjamin Baumgartner scored at 31:52 on a power play with assists from David Maier and Thimo Nickl, followed by Vinzenz Rohrer scoring with assists from Baumgartner and Mario Huber within two minutes of each other. The second period ended with Latvia holding a 5–2 lead.
After a scoreless opening portion of the third period, Raimonds Vītoliņš tallied his first international goal for the senior national team at 51:25, converting a feed from Emīls Veckaktiņš after a board battle initiated by Patriks Zabusovs. Toms Andersons missed a breakaway opportunity one minute later.
The final score stood at 6–2, with Latvia outshooting Austria 30 to 31 in shots on goal (13–7, 11–16, and 6–8 across the periods). The match also featured 28 to 37 faceoffs, 17 to 7 blocked shots, and 8 to 18 penalty minutes (2–4, 6–14, and 0–0). Grigals registered 29 saves for the victory, while Wieser recorded 24 saves for Austria. Following the match, Toms Andersons and Benjamin Baumgartner were named best players.
Latvia finished the tournament atop the standings with eight points under the event’s scoring format, following an overtime win against Slovakia (3:2) and a victory over host Germany (3:1). The tournament results comprised Latvia defeating Slovakia 3:2 in overtime on November 5, Germany defeating Austria 3:0, Slovakia defeating Austria 6:1 and Germany defeating Latvia 3:1 on November 7, and Latvia defeating Austria 6:2 alongside Germany defeating Slovakia 4:3 on November 8.
In the final standings, Latvia placed first with eight points (two regulation wins, one overtime win, zero overtime losses, zero regulation losses, and a 12:5 goal differential), Germany placed second with six points, Slovakia placed fourth with four points, and Austria placed fourth with zero points. The Deutschland Cup serves as a key international testing ground ahead of the 2027 IIHF World Championship.
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