2026 IIHF World Championship

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2026 IIHF World Championship
Eishockey-Weltmeisterschaft der Herren 2026 (in German)
Championnat du monde de hockey sur glace 2026 (in French)
Campionato mondiale di hockey su ghiaccio maschile 2026 (in Italian)
2026 IIHF World Championship logo.svg
Tournament details
Host countryFlag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Dates15–31 May
Teams16
←  2025
2027  →

The 2026 IIHF World Championship will be hosted by Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland from 15 to 31 May 2026, as the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced on 27 May 2022 in Tampere, Finland.

Contents

Host nation bid

The only bidders were Kazakhstan and Switzerland.

Switzerland was originally slated to host in 2020 but the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions, while Kazakhstan has not hosted any tournaments.

In the end, on 27 May 2022, IIHF Congress awarded Switzerland rights to host the competition. [1] No votes were needed, due to Kazakhstan's bid withdrawal earlier.

Venues

Zürich Fribourg
Swiss Life Arena BCF Arena
Capacity: 12,000Capacity: 9,009
Swiss Life Arena 2022.jpeg BCF Arena.jpg

Participants

Qualified as hosts
Automatic qualifier after a top 14 placement at the 2025 IIHF World Championship
Qualified through winning a promotion at the 2025 IIHF World Championship Division I

Seeding

The seedings in the preliminary round was based on the 2025 IIHF World Ranking, at the end of the 2025 IIHF World Championship, [2] using the serpentine system while allowing the organizers, "to allocate a maximum of two teams to separate groups". [3]

Preliminary round

The groups were announced on 4 June 2025, [4] with the schedule being revealed on 19 August 2025. [5]

Group A

PosTeam
PldWOTWOTLLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1Flag of the United States.svg  United States 000000000 Quarterfinals
2Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland (H)000000000
3Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 000000000
4Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 000000000
5Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia 000000000Qualified for the 2027 IIHF World Championship
6Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 000000000
7Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 000000000
8Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 000000000Relegated to the 2027 Division I A
First match(es) will be played: 15 May 2026. Source: [ citation needed ]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best-ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament
(H) Host
15 May 2026
Finland  Flag of Finland.svg v Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
United States  Flag of the United States.svg v Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland
16 May 2026
Great Britain  Flag of the United Kingdom.svg v Flag of Austria.svg  Austria
Hungary  Flag of Hungary.svg v Flag of Finland.svg  Finland
Switzerland  Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg v Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia
17 May 2026
Great Britain  Flag of the United Kingdom.svg v Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Austria  Flag of Austria.svg v Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary
Germany  Flag of Germany.svg v Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia
18 May 2026
Finland  Flag of Finland.svg v Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Germany  Flag of Germany.svg v Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland
19 May 2026
Latvia  Flag of Latvia.svg v Flag of Austria.svg  Austria
Hungary  Flag of Hungary.svg v Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
20 May 2026
Austria  Flag of Austria.svg v Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland
United States  Flag of the United States.svg v Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
21 May 2026
Finland  Flag of Finland.svg v Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia
Switzerland  Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg v Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
22 May 2026
Germany  Flag of Germany.svg v Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary
Finland  Flag of Finland.svg v Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
23 May 2026
United States  Flag of the United States.svg v Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia
Switzerland  Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg v Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary
Austria  Flag of Austria.svg v Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
24 May 2026
Great Britain  Flag of the United Kingdom.svg v Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia
Finland  Flag of Finland.svg v Flag of Austria.svg  Austria
25 May 2026
United States  Flag of the United States.svg v Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary
Germany  Flag of Germany.svg v Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
26 May 2026
Hungary  Flag of Hungary.svg v Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia
United States  Flag of the United States.svg v Flag of Austria.svg  Austria
Switzerland  Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg v Flag of Finland.svg  Finland

Group B

PosTeam
PldWOTWOTLLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 000000000 Quarterfinals
2Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 000000000
3Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czechia 000000000
4Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 000000000
5Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia 000000000Qualified for the 2027 IIHF World Championship
6Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 000000000
7Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia 000000000
8Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 000000000Relegated to the 2027 Division I A
First match(es) will be played: 15 May 2026. Source: [ citation needed ]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best-ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament
15 May 2026
Canada  Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg v Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
Czech Republic  Flag of the Czech Republic.svg v Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark
16 May 2026
Slovakia  Flag of Slovakia.svg v Flag of Norway.svg  Norway
Italy  Flag of Italy.svg v Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Slovenia  Flag of Slovenia.svg v Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic
17 May 2026
Italy  Flag of Italy.svg v Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia
Denmark  Flag of Denmark.svg v Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
Norway  Flag of Norway.svg v Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia
18 May 2026
Canada  Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg v Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark
Sweden  Flag of Sweden.svg v Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic
19 May 2026
Italy  Flag of Italy.svg v Flag of Norway.svg  Norway
Slovenia  Flag of Slovenia.svg v Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia
20 May 2026
Czech Republic  Flag of the Czech Republic.svg v Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
Sweden  Flag of Sweden.svg v Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia
21 May 2026
Canada  Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg v Flag of Norway.svg  Norway
Denmark  Flag of Denmark.svg v Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia
22 May 2026
Canada  Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg v Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia
Sweden  Flag of Sweden.svg v Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
23 May 2026
Denmark  Flag of Denmark.svg v Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia
Slovakia  Flag of Slovakia.svg v Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic
Norway  Flag of Norway.svg v Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
24 May 2026
Denmark  Flag of Denmark.svg v Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
Slovakia  Flag of Slovakia.svg v Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
25 May 2026
Czech Republic  Flag of the Czech Republic.svg v Flag of Norway.svg  Norway
Slovenia  Flag of Slovenia.svg v Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
26 May 2026
Norway  Flag of Norway.svg v Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark
Sweden  Flag of Sweden.svg v Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia
Czech Republic  Flag of the Czech Republic.svg v Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada

Playoff round

There was a re-seeding after the quarterfinals.

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finals Final
 
          
 
 28 May
 
 
1A
 
30 May
 
4B
 
 
 
 28 May
 
 
 
1B
 
31 May
 
4A
 
 
 
 28 May
 
 
 
2A
 
30 May
 
3B
 
 
 
 28 May
 
 Third place
 
2B
 
31 May
 
3A
 
 
 
 
 
 

Final

31 May 2026
20:20		WSF1vWSF2 Swiss Life Arena, Zürich

References

  1. ↑ "IIHF – To Tampere/Riga in '23, to Switzerland in '26". IIHF International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  2. ↑ "IIHF World Rankings; Probable Groups For 2026". thehockeynews.com. 25 May 2025. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
  3. ↑ "IIHF Sport Regulations (pgs4,5)" (PDF). iihf.com. 9 April 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
  4. ↑ "Groups for the 2026 IIHF WM announced". iihf.com. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
  5. ↑ "The Game Schedule for the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship is here!". iihf.com. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
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