2026 IIHF World Championship

Main article: 2026 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships
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)
Tournament details
Host country  Switzerland
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Dates15–31 May
Teams16

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.

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: 12,000 Capacity: 9,009

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

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1  United States 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Quarterfinals
2   Switzerland (H) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Finland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Germany 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5  Latvia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualified for the 2027 IIHF World Championship
6  Austria 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7  Hungary 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8  Great Britain 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegated to the 2027 Division I A
First match(es) will be played: 15 May 2026. Source:
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  v  Germany
United States  v   Switzerland
16 May 2026
Great Britain  v  Austria
Hungary  v  Finland
Switzerland  v  Latvia
17 May 2026
Great Britain  v  United States
Austria  v  Hungary
Germany  v  Latvia
18 May 2026
Finland  v  United States
Germany  v   Switzerland
19 May 2026
Latvia  v  Austria
Hungary  v  Great Britain
20 May 2026
Austria  v   Switzerland
United States  v  Germany
21 May 2026
Finland  v  Latvia
Switzerland  v  Great Britain
22 May 2026
Germany  v  Hungary
Finland  v  Great Britain
23 May 2026
United States  v  Latvia
Switzerland  v  Hungary
Austria  v  Germany
24 May 2026
Great Britain  v  Latvia
Finland  v  Austria
25 May 2026
United States  v  Hungary
Germany  v  Great Britain
26 May 2026
Hungary  v  Latvia
United States  v  Austria
Switzerland  v  Finland

Group B

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1  Canada 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Quarterfinals
2  Sweden 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Czechia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Denmark 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5  Slovakia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualified for the 2027 IIHF World Championship
6  Norway 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7  Slovenia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8  Italy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegated to the 2027 Division I A
First match(es) will be played: 15 May 2026. Source:
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  v  Sweden
Czech Republic  v  Denmark
16 May 2026
Slovakia  v  Norway
Italy  v  Canada
Slovenia  v  Czech Republic
17 May 2026
Italy  v  Slovakia
Denmark  v  Sweden
Norway  v  Slovenia
18 May 2026
Canada  v  Denmark
Sweden  v  Czech Republic
19 May 2026
Italy  v  Norway
Slovenia  v  Slovakia
20 May 2026
Czech Republic  v  Italy
Sweden  v  Slovenia
21 May 2026
Canada  v  Norway
Denmark  v  Slovakia
22 May 2026
Canada  v  Slovenia
Sweden  v  Italy
23 May 2026
Denmark  v  Slovenia
Slovakia  v  Czech Republic
Norway  v  Sweden
24 May 2026
Denmark  v  Italy
Slovakia  v  Canada
25 May 2026
Czech Republic  v  Norway
Slovenia  v  Italy
26 May 2026
Norway  v  Denmark
Sweden  v  Slovakia
Czech Republic  v  Canada

Playoff round

There was a re-seeding after the quarterfinals.

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 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		WSF1vWSF2Swiss 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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