2026 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships

2026 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships

←  2025 2027  →

Map of the countries participating at the 2026 IIHF World Championships

The 2026 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships will be the 89th such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Teams will participate at several levels of competition based on their 2025 results. The competition will also serve as qualifications for division placements in the 2027 edition.

As in 2025, teams from Russia and Belarus will not be allowed to enter, as they remain suspended by the IIHF due to the countries' invasion of Ukraine. ^[1]

Championship (Top Division)

Further information: 2026 IIHF World Championship

The tournament will be held in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland, from 15 to 31 May 2026. ^[2]

Teams

•   Austria
•   Canada
•   Czechia
•   Denmark
•   Finland
•   Germany
•   Great Britain
•   Hungary
•   Italy
•   Latvia
•   Norway
•   Slovakia
•   Slovenia
•   Sweden
•    Switzerland – Host
•   United States

Division I

Further information: 2026 IIHF World Championship Division I

Group A

The tournament will be held in Sosnowiec, Poland from 2 to 8 May 2026. ^[3]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Kazakhstan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Promoted to the 2027 Top Division
2	France	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Ukraine	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Japan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Poland (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Lithuania	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegated to the 2027 Division I B

First match(es) will be played: 2 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

Group B

The tournament will be held in Shenzhen, China from 29 April to 5 May 2026. ^[3]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Romania	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Promoted to the 2027 Division I A
2	South Korea	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Estonia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	China (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Spain	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Netherlands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegated to the 2027 Division II A

First match(es) will be played: 29 April 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

Division II

Group A

The tournament will be held in Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates from 20 to 26 April 2026. ^[3]

Teams

•   Australia
•   Belgium
•   Croatia
•   Georgia
•   Serbia
•   United Arab Emirates

Group B

The tournament will be held in Sofia, Bulgaria from 6 to 12 April 2026. ^[3]

Teams

•   Bulgaria
•   Chinese Taipei
•   Iceland
•   Israel
•   Kyrgyzstan
•   New Zealand

Division III

Group A

The tournament will be held in Cape Town, South Africa from 13 to 19 April 2026. ^[3]

Teams

•   Bosnia and Herzegovina
•   Mexico
•   South Africa
•   Thailand
•   Turkey
•   Turkmenistan

Group B

The tournament will be held in Hong Kong from 13 to 19 April 2026. ^[3]

Teams

•   Hong Kong
•   Luxembourg
•   Mongolia
•   North Korea
•   Philippines
•   Uzbekistan

Division IV

The tournament will be held in Kuwait City, Kuwait from 12 to 18 April 2026. ^[4]

Teams

•   Armenia
•   Indonesia
•   Iran
•   Kuwait
•   Malaysia
•   Singapore

References

1. Kaplan, Emily (4 February 2025). "IIHF extends competition ban for Russia, Belarus". ESPN.com. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
2. Merk, Martin (27 May 2022). "To Tampere/Riga in '23, to Switzerland in '26". IIHF. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
3. "A report from the IIHF Congress". IIHF. 26 May 2025. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
4. "Recap: 2025 Semi-Annual Congress". IIHF. 4 October 2025. Retrieved 4 October 2025.

External links

• Official website