2026 IIHF World Championship

The 2026 IIHF World Championship was 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.

Finland won the title for the fifth time, beating the host, Switzerland 1–0 in overtime, marking Switzerland's third consecutive loss in the final. Norway claimed its first IIHF medal after defeating Canada 3–2 in overtime and finishing third.

The tournament featured a number of upsets, most notably Norway's win over Canada in the bronze medal game, after having come within one game of relegation to Division I in both the 2024 and 2025 editions.

Host nation bid

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. No votes were needed, due to Kazakhstan's bid withdrawal earlier.

Venues

Participants

Sixteen teams took 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 were 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.

Summary of qualified teams

Seeding

Seeding in the preliminary round was based on the 2025 IIHF World Ranking, at the end of the 2025 IIHF World Championship, using the serpentine system "to allocate a maximum of two teams to separate groups".

Marketing

Mascot

The mascot of the tournament was a Swiss cow called Cooly. Cooly was originally the mascot of the 2009 IIHF Men's World Championship, the last men's world championship to have been hosted in Switzerland, and has since been the mascot of other sporting events in Switzerland, including the 2014 European Athletic Championships.

Slogan

The slogan of the tournament was "Time to Shine".

Official song

"Time to Shine" by Swiss musician Bastian Baker was released on 6 October 2025 as the official song of the 2026 IIHF World Championship. Baker is an ice hockey fan and a former player from Lausanne.

Match officials

16 referees and linespersons were announced on 17 April 2026.

Rosters

Each team's roster consisted of at least 15 skaters (forwards and defencemen) and two goaltenders, and at most 22 skaters and three goaltenders. All 16 participating nations, through the confirmation of their respective national associations, had to submit a "Long List" no later than two weeks before the tournament, and a final roster by the Passport Control meeting prior to the start of the tournament.

Preliminary round

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

Group A

Group B

Playoff round

Teams were reseeded after the quarterfinals.

Final

Final standings

Teams finishing fifth in the preliminary round were ranked ninth and tenth, teams finishing sixth were ranked 11th and 12th, and so on.

Statistics

Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalties in Minutes; POS = Position Source:

Goaltending leaders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, are included in this list.

TOI = time on ice (minutes:seconds); SA = shots against; GA = goals against; GAA = goals against average; Sv% = save percentage; SO = shutouts Source:

Awards

The awards were announced on 31 May 2026.

Media All Stars

Individual awards

Notes

External links