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 ZurichFribourgSwiss Life ArenaBCF ArenaCapacity: 10,000Capacity: 7,500
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. Qualification Host Dates Vacancies Qualified Top fourteen in 2025 Herning / Stockholm 9–25 May 2025 14 (H) Promoted from Division I Sfântu Gheorghe 27 April – 3 May 2025 2
Summary of qualified teams TeamQualification methodAppearance(s)Previous best performanceWR First in 2025 77th19202025 40 1 Second in 2025 58th192028 2 Third in 2025 84th192076 4 Fourth in 2025 24th 1949 23 8 Fifth in 2025 79th192046 3 Sixth in 2025 33rd199333 5 Seventh in 2025 72nd193966 6 Eighth in 2025 38th19285 11 Ninth in 2025 70th192819 7 Tenth in 2025 34th19332910 Eleventh in 2025 30th1996 30 9 Twelfth in 2025 41st193720 12 Thirteenth in 2025 12th20022 15 Fourteenth in 2025 15th19282 16 Top two in Division I 33rd193020221 18 20th1924 2024 1 17
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".
Group A (Zurich) (2) (3) (7) (8) (11) (12) (18) (19)
Group B (Fribourg) (4) (5) (6) (9) (10) (13) (17) (20)
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.
Referees Linesmen Christian Ofner Taylor Burzminski Jesse Gour Jiří Ondráček Riku Brander Mikko Kaukokari Lukas Kohlmüller André Schrader Marcus Wannerstedt Tomáš Hronský Tobias Björk Christoffer Holm Cedric Borga Michael Tscherrig Nolan Bloyer Sean MacFarlane Brian Birkhoff Mitchell Gibbs Jiří Ondráček Lukáš Rampir Onni Hautamäki Tommi Niittylä Patrick Laguzov Danny Beresford Renārs Davidonis Njaal Søstumoen Oto Durmis Gustav Jonsson Anders Nyqvist Dominic Schlegel Shane Gustafson John Rey
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
15 May 2026 3–1 1–3 16 May 2026 2–5 1–4 4–2 17 May 2026 1–5 4–2 0–2 18 May 2026 6–2 1–6 19 May 2026 1–3 5–0 20 May 2026 0–9 4–3 (GWS) 21 May 2026 1–7 4–1 22 May 2026 6–2 4–0 23 May 2026 4–2 9–0 2–6 24 May 2026 0–6 5–2 25 May 2026 7–3 6–3 26 May 2026 1–8 4–1 4–2
Group B
15 May 2026 5–3 4–1 16 May 2026 2–1 0–6 3–2 (OT) 17 May 2026 1–4 2–6 4–0 18 May 2026 5–1 3–4 19 May 2026 0–4 4–5 (GWS) 20 May 2026 3–1 6–0 21 May 2026 6–5 (OT) 1–5 22 May 2026 3–1 3–0 23 May 2026 4–0 2–3 3–2 24 May 2026 3–2 (GWS) 1–5 25 May 2026 1–4 5–1 26 May 2026 4–3 (OT) 4–2 2–3
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.
Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM POS Sven Andrighetto 10 4 11 15 +12 6 F Macklin Celebrini 10 6 8 14 +13 4 F Denis Malgin 10 5 8 13 +12 2 F Roman Josi 10 5 7 12 +15 6 D Nico Hischier 10 6 5 11 +10 2 F Lucas Raymond 8 5 6 11 +4 0 F Sandis Vilmanis 8 4 7 11 +7 4 F Timo Meier 9 3 8 11 +10 6 F Aleksander Barkov 10 3 8 11 +5 2 F Rūdolfs Balcers 8 7 3 10 +6 2 F GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalties in Minutes; POS = Position Source: IIHF.com
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.
PlayerTOIGAGAASASv%SO Leonardo Genoni 430:42 4 0.56 133 97.08 3 Kristers Gudļevskis 416:52 10 1.44 186 94.62 2 Henrik Haukeland 483:45 14 1.74 225 93.78 3 Devin Cooley 341:06 10 1.76 151 93.38 0 Justus Annunen 489:38 12 1.47 169 93.37 1 TOI = time on ice (minutes:seconds); SA = shots against; GA = goals against; GAA = goals against average; Sv% = save percentage; SO = shutouts Source: IIHF.com
Awards The awards were announced on 31 May 2026.
Media All Stars Position Player Goaltender Leonardo Genoni Defenceman Roman Josi Defenceman Henri Jokiharju Forward Macklin Celebrini Forward Sven Andrighetto Forward Aleksander Barkov MVP Roman Josi
Individual awards Position Player Goaltender Henrik Haukeland Defenceman Roman Josi Forward Macklin Celebrini
Notes
References
External links Official website