World Juniors: Norway and Germany will battle for relegation

The semifinals of the World Junior Championships were determined on Tuesday when the quarterfinals took place.

There were some stunning upsets, tough games, and a lot of amazing plays made. On Thursday, Team USA will face Finland while Sweden will take on Czechia.

Those aren't the only World Juniors games taking place on Thursday though. There is another piece of business that needs to be taken care of.

The team being relegated needs to still be decided. The last-place team of Group A in Germany will face the last-place team of Group B in Norway.

Norway and Germany are going to battle to avoid relegation on Thursday

The winner will be in it next year and the loser will have to work their way back up to this top level in future seasons following relegation.

Germany already has a big win in this tournament. They defeated Finland who is still alive with a chance to win it all. Norway didn't get a single win.

The Germans have been coming along nicely as a hockey country in recent years. You'd think that they'd have the upper hand in this game based on the pedigree of each team.

Team Norway knows that this is the case though and we've seen teams with chips on their shoulders shock people in this tournament. Expect them to play at their best.

Germany needs to bring everything they have to stay alive in this game. They are close to breaking out and becoming a quarterfinal team in the coming years so they need to win this game.

If they had earned one more point in this tournament, they would have avoided this game altogether. Staying at the top level would help them become one of those pesky teams that create upsets as well.

The talent pool to do so is there. They must show it on Thursday. This game will be the first one of the day as the two semi-final games will follow it. Both of these teams play hard and deserve respect but only one can stay and avoid relegation.