The 1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (1998 WJHC) were held in Helsinki and Hämeenlinna, Finland.

Home team Finland was the winner, defeating Russia 2–1 in the gold medal game, thanks to the goaltending of Mika Noronen and the overtime heroics of Niklas Hagman.

Canada had its five-year title streak broken with its worst placing to date (8th).

Canada would miss out on gold seven years in a row before beginning their 2005–2009 streak of five straight championships.

(Eastern European Time – UTC+2) Germany lost the two game total goal series 17–3 and was relegated for the 1999 World Juniors The second tier was held in Sosnowiec and Tychy Poland, from December 28 to January 4.