2026 IIHF World Championship

The only bidders were Kazakhstan and Switzerland.

Switzerland was originally slated to host in 2020 but the tournament was cancelled 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.

Sixteen teams will take part in the competition for the 28th time. France and Kazakhstan, after taking part in the top division for three and four years respectively, were relegated to Division I after finishing last in their groups at the 2025 edition. They will be replaced by Division I champions Great Britain, who secured their immediate promotion back to the top division, and runners-up, Italy, who secured their promotion back to the top division after last appearing in 2022.

More information Qualification, Host ...

Qualification	Host	Dates	Vacancies	Qualified
Top fourteen in 2025	Herning / Stockholm	9–25 May 2025	14	United States   Switzerland (H)  Sweden  Denmark  Canada  Czechia  Finland  Austria  Germany  Slovakia  Latvia  Norway  Slovenia  Hungary
Promoted from Division I	Sfântu Gheorghe	27 April – 3 May 2025	2	Great Britain  Italy

Close

Summary of qualified teams

More information Team, Qualification method ...

Team	Qualification method	Appearance(s)				Previous best performance[A]	WR
		Total[B]	First[B]	Last[B]	Streak[B]
United States	First in 2025	68th	1931	2025	40	Champions (1933, 2025)	1
Switzerland	Second in 2025	50th	1930		28	Runners-up (1935, 2013, 2018, 2024, 2025)	2
Sweden	Third in 2025	81st	1931		70	Champions (Ten times)[C]	4
Denmark	Fourth in 2025	24th	1949		23	Fourth place (2025)	8
Canada	Fifth in 2025	68th	1930		46	Champions (22 times)[D]	3
Czechia	Sixth in 2025	33rd	1993		33	Champions (1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2010, 2024)	5
Finland	Seventh in 2025	73th	1939		70	Champions (1995, 2011, 2019, 2022)	6
Austria	Eighth in 2025	33rd	1930		5	Third place (1931, 1947)	11
Germany	Ninth in 2025	62nd	1930		19	Runners-up (1930, 1953, 2023)	7
Slovakia	Tenth in 2025	30th	1996		30	Champions (2002)	9
Latvia	Eleventh in 2025	33rd	1933		29	Third place (2023)	10
Norway	Twelfth in 2025	41st	1937		20	Fourth place (1951)	12
Slovenia	Thirteenth in 2025	12th	2002		2	Thirteenth place (2002, 2005, 2025)	15
Hungary	Fourteenth in 2025	13th	1930		2	Fifth place (1937)	16
Italy	Top two in Division I	30th	1930	2022	1	Fourth place (1953)	18
Great Britain		16th	1930	2024	1	Runners-up (1937, 1938)	17

Close

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]

16 referees and linespersons were announced on 17 April 2026.^[10]

The groups were announced on 4 June 2025,^[11] with the schedule being revealed on 19 August 2025.^[12]

Group A

Main article: 2026 IIHF World Championship Group A

More information Pos, Pld ...

Pos	Team v t e	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

Close

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		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

Main article: 2026 IIHF World Championship Group B

More information Pos, Pld ...

Pos	Team v t e	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

Close

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		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

There was a re-seeding after the quarterfinals.