2026 Men's World Floorball Championships

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2026 Men's World Floorball Championships
Tournament details
Host countryFlag of Finland.svg  Finland
Venues3 (in 1 host city)
Dates4 December – 13 December
Teams16
Tournament statistics
Matches played48
  2024
2028  

The 2026 Men's World Floorball Championships will be the 16th edition of this competition. It will held from 4 to 13 December 2026 in Tampere, Finland. It will be the fourth time that Finland hosts the men's championship, most recently in 2020. [1]

Contents

Host nation Finland will defend the championship title won at the 2024 tournament.

Host selection

Finland and Czech Republic both had expressed an interest in this event. [2] In 1 December 2022, the Finnish Floorball Federation announced a bid for 2026. The bid had support from the Finnish government and the federation had already sent preliminary letters to Denmark and Latvia about a possible co-host. [3] On 24 March 2023, Finland officially sent an application for the tournament. [4] During January and February, the Finnish Floorball Federation stated that they had a lot of interest from multiple cities, but chose Tampere due to their arenas and fans. The negotiations with Denmark and Latvia for a potential joint bid never materialized to an official bid as Finland submitted a solo bid. [5] [4] Finland was given the hosting rights on 24 May 2023 at a meeting in Malmö. [1] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Preparation

After a bid for the 2026 men's and 2027 women's was announced, the Finnish Floorball Federation announced they wanted to do a two-year project, with sponsors and organisation in mind. [3]

Qualification

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Host
Qualified
Registered 2026 Men's World Floorball Championships Countries.svg
  Host
  Qualified
  Registered

A total of 16 national teams will participate in the final tournament. Finland qualified automatically as the host nation. The remaining 34 registered national teams will compete for qualification through regional qualifiers. [11]

Two European qualification divisions will be held in Liepāja, Latvia, from 3 to 7 February 2026. The third European division will take place in Trenčín, Slovakia, from 5 to 8 February. In the first and third divisions, eight teams will compete, divided into two groups. The group winners, the winners of the matches between the second-placed teams, and the best losing second-placed team will qualify. The second division will consist of six teams, of which the top three teams will qualify.

The Asia–Oceania qualification was held from 13 to 19 January in Wellington, New Zealand. Ten teams in two groups competed for four qualification spots. [12] [13] Solomon Islands and Hong Kong will participate for the first time. In the Americas qualification, the national teams of the United States and Canada will face each other in Austin, Texas, from 20 to 22 March 2026. [14]

Qualified teams

SlotsQualifiedWR2024Appearance(s)Previous best performance
TotalStreakLast
Host nation1Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 2nd1st1616 2024 Champions (2008, 2010, 2016, 2018, 2024)
European Qualification 13+1
European Qualification 23
European Qualification 33+1
Asia-Oceania Qualification4Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand 13th14th66 2024 13th place (2020)
Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 17th81 2022 12th place (1996)
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 23rd51 2018 13th place (1998 – Division B)
Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines 12th11th44 2024 11th place (2024)
Americas Qualification1

Venues

The three arenas are situated in Tampere. The quarterfinals onwards will be in the Nokia Arena. [1] [15]

Tampere
Nokia Arena
Capacity: 13,000
Hakametsä Ice Hall
Capacity: 7,000
Kauppi Sports hall
Capacity: 1,300
Nokia Arena May 2022 3.jpg Hakametsa I ulkoa.jpg Kauppi Sports Center 1.jpg

Tournament format

In the group stage each team plays each other once, while the second stage of the event includes play-offs and placement matches.

The two best teams of group A and B go directly to the quarter-finals. Teams placed third and fourth in group A and B and the teams placed first and second in group C and D go into the first play-off round (played before the quarter-finals).

References

  1. 1 2 3 "IFF CB Meeting News 2/2023: WFC hosts awarded, Future of Floorball status and upcoming events". IFF Main Site. May 24, 2023.
  2. "IFF Central Board meeting 7/2022 — 11.11.2022 as a physical meeting in Zurich, Switzerland" (PDF). 15 November 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-05-02. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  3. 1 2 "Hallitustiedote: Suomi hakee miesten vuoden 2026 MM-kisoja - selvitystyö salibandyn kehityssuunnista alkaa". Suomen Salibandyliitto. December 1, 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Salibandyn miesten MM2026-kisoja haetaan Tampereelle ja naisten MM2027-tapahtumaa Turkuun". Suomen Salibandyliitto. March 24, 2023.
  5. "Salibandyn miesten MM2026-kisoja haetaan Tampereelle ja naisten MM2027-tapahtumaa Turkuun | Suomen Salibandyliitto ry". www.sttinfo.fi.
  6. "Miesten salibandyn MM2026-kisat".
  7. "Salibandy sai täysosuman – miesten MM-kisat pelataan Tampereella 2026 ja naisten MM-turnaus Turussa 2027". Etelä-Suomen Sanomat. May 24, 2023.
  8. "Events and Organisers 2023-2026". IFF Main Site.
  9. ""Harvinaista herkkua" – Tampere järjestää miesten MM2026- ja Turku naisten MM2027-kisat | Suomen Salibandyliitto ry". www.sttinfo.fi.
  10. Tiira, Jaakko (May 24, 2023). "MM-kisat Suomeen! Nokia-areena toimii päänäyttämönä". Ilta-Sanomat.
  11. "35 teams registered for WFC 2026 & 20 teams for U19 WFC 2026". IFF Main Site. 14 February 2025. Retrieved 11 January 2026.
  12. "Singapore qualify for WFC 2026!". International Floorball Federation (IFF). 17 January 2026. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  13. "Philippines and Japan are the final AOFC teams to qualify for WFC 2026!". International Floorball Federation (IFF). 18 January 2026. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  14. "IFF Central Board meeting 1/2025" (PDF). Retrieved 11 January 2026.
  15. "Tampereella järjestetään miesten Salibandyn MM-kisat vuonna 2026 [Tampereen kaupunki - Ajankohtaista]". www.tampere.fi. May 25, 2023.