The Czechs had the very unfortunate distinction of finishing tied for first, and actually finishing completely out of the medals. Coming into the final game against the Russians, the Swedes could lose or tie, and finish fourth, win by one or two goals and finish third, win by three and finish second, or win by four or more and be the champions. They led five to one after two, and played a scoreless third to clinch gold. ;Championship round
Played April 5 to the 12th in Füssen and Memmingen Germany. The hosts did not dominate, but still won all their games, to return to the top level.
First round
;Group 1
Team
GER
BLR
DEN
GBR
GF/GA
Points
1.
4:2
4:3
5:0
13:5
6
2.
2:4
6:3
4:0
12:7
4
3.
3:4
3:6
5:1
11:11
2
4.
0:5
0:4
1:5
1:14
0
;Group 2
Team
POL
ITA
HUN
FRA
GF/GA
Points
1.
4:1
5:4
2:1
11:6
6
2.
1:4
4:1
3:1
8:6
4
3.
4:5
1:4
5:1
10:10
2
4.
1:2
1:3
1:5
3:10
0
Final round
;Championship round
Team
GER
ITA
POL
HUN
BLR
DEN
GF/GA
Points
1.
5:2
4:0
4:1
21:8
10
2.
2:5
2:0
9:1
18:11
6
3.
0:4
5:8
6:6
20:23
5
4.
1:4
2:1
12:9
20:23
4
5.
0:2
8:5
1:2
17:16
4
6.
1:9
6:6
9:12
22:37
1
;7th place
Germany was promoted to Group A of the IIHF World U18 Championships. The remaining seven nations were joined by Group C winner Austria to form Group B of the IIHF World U18 Championships.
Group C
Played March 16 to the 20th in Zagreb, Croatia. On final day the host Croats had to face Yugoslavia to determine who would be relegated. Because of the expansion of the top tier to ten teams, it did not matter in the end, but it was a very tense affair at the time.
First round
;Group 1
Team
AUT
SLO
ROM
YUG
GF/GA
Points
1.
5:3
15:3
13:1
33:7
6
2.
3:5
9:1
10:0
22:6
4
3.
3:15
1:9
6:3
10:27
2
4.
1:13
0:10
3:6
4:29
0
;Group 2
Team
LAT
LTU
EST
CRO
GF/GA
Points
1.
6:1
7:0
10:4
23:5
6
2.
1:6
4:1
7:6
12:13
4
3.
0:7
1:4
4:2
5:13
2
4.
4:10
6:7
2:4
12:21
0
Placing round
Austria was promoted to Group B of the IIHF World U18 Championships. No nation was relegated, the remaining Group C nations would take part in Division I of the 1999 U18 European Championships.
Group D
Played from March 3–9 in Luxembourg. Two new entrants participated this year, the hosts, and Kazakhstan. The Kazakhs switched from playing in the Asian junior tournament, to the European. There was no shadow of a doubt that they were a much better team than was suited for this level, scoring over 150 goals in five games. The Dutch were the only ones to lose by less than fifteen to the Kazakhs. Leading the team, a young Nik Antropov scored 54 points. Considering that the South Koreans scored 92 in one game in the Asian tournament, it is hard to imagine just how many more points Antropov could have scored if they had stayed put.
First round
;Group 1
Team
NED
BEL
BUL
ISR
GF/GA
Points
1.
7:3
12:0
12:0
31:3
6
2.
3:7
12:1
8:0
23:8
4
3.
0:12
1:12
3:2
4:26
2
4.
0:12
0:8
2:3
2:23
0
;Group 2
Team
KAZ
ESP
ISL
LUX
GF/GA
Points
1.
19:2
63:0
39:0
121:2
6
2.
2:19
4:1
17:2
23:22
4
3.
0:63
1:4
4:2
5:69
2
4.
0:39
2:17
2:4
4:60
0
Final round
;Championship round
Team
KAZ
NED
BEL
ESP
GF/GA
Points
1.
14:1
20:1
53:4
6
2.
1:14
4:1
12:18
4
3.
1:20
5:3
9:30
2
4.
1:4
3:5
6:28
0
;Placing round
Team
BUL
ISR
ISL
LUX
GF/GA
Points
1.
9:2
5:2
17:6
6
2.
4:4
4:1
10:8
3
3.
2:9
4:4
10:15
3
4.
2:5
1:4
5:13
0
Kazakhstan was promoted to the newly titled Division I of the 1999 U18 European Championships.
