Qualification for the men's ice hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics was determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2023 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships. A total of 12 men's hockey teams qualified. The hosts (Italy) along with the top eight teams in the world ranking received automatic berths into the Olympics, while all other teams had an opportunity to qualify for the remaining three spots.
Qualified teams EventDateLocationVacanciesQualifiedHosts24 June 2019 Lausanne12023 IIHF World Ranking2 June 20237Final qualification tournaments29 August – 1 September 2024 Bratislava1 Riga2 Aalborg1 Total 12
Notes
Qualification seeding To qualify directly, a nation had to be ranked in the top eight following the 2023 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships. In the IIHF World Ranking system, ranking points from the most recent year were weighted at full value, and points from each preceding year were worth 25% less.
Qualified directly to Olympic tournament Entered in Final Olympic qualification Entered in Round 3 Entered in Round 2 Entered in Round 1 (cancelled) Did not enter Olympic qualification
Qualifying seedTeamWC2023(100%)WC2022(75%)OLY2022(75%)WC2021(50%)WC2020(25%)Total11600116010401200120041502142012001200116011204080315201120116010601160405041500110010601120104039405156010209401100102038356144010401100960110038007146010601000104010003775814001120960102010603735913601000112010009603690101520940920920940361011134096010209009003500121280880880880920327013130090086084080032401412608608408408803175151320860700940840317016126092080078078031351712208008207407402990Host1160840740820860297018124078078072072029501912008206608608202945201140740720760760280521118070076070066027902211207206406607002645231100760600680680263024108068068064064025802510406009005004802535261060660620600600247027102064058062062024002810005805605805602285299806205005605802245309205605405405402170319605405205205002140 8805204204604601950328604804804404201925 900560—4805201710338004203803403401655347404003604003601600357603404603003001585368403603202002201505 820440—4204401470377203004402402401455 780440—3604001390 6402803002802601280386602203401401601190 700320—260280114039600160400100100109540560220280180180107041580200260160140104042680240—22020010204344080240120120770 540120—40—650 500100—8080635440460—38038063045520140———625 480100—6060600 360—320320510 460————460 420————420
Olympic qualification Round 1 The round was cancelled. It was meant to be held between 8 and 12 November 2023, and consist of two groups of five teams. Teams entered in Group N were United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyzstan, Hong Kong, Kuwait and Georgia, while teams entered in Group O were Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Bosnia and Herzegovina, South Africa and Iran.
Chinese Taipei, Thailand and South Africa accepted invitations to compete in Round 2. Georgia also entered Round 2 after the withdrawal of Mexico.
Olympic qualification Round 2 Twelve countries played in three tournaments to determine qualifiers for the next round. The three tournament winners were ranked by their qualification seedings and entered the next round as qualifier seven, eight and nine.
Group K
The Group K tournament was held in Reykjavík, Iceland, from 14 to 17 December 2023.
All times are local (UTC±0).
Group L
The Group L tournament was held in Tilburg, Netherlands, from 15 to 17 December 2023. Mexico was entered into this group but withdrew and was replaced by Georgia.
All times are local (UTC+1).
Group M
The Group M tournament was held in Belgrade, Serbia, from 14 to 17 December 2023.
All times are local (UTC+1).
Olympic qualification Round 3 Twelve countries played in three tournaments to determine qualifiers for the next round. Each tournament winner was ranked by their qualification seeding and entered the next round as qualifier four, five, or six. The tournaments were played between 8 and 11 February 2024.
Group G
The tournament was held in Budapest, Hungary.
All times are local (UTC+1).
Group H
The tournament was held in Cardiff, Great Britain.
All times are local (UTC+0).
Group J
The tournament was held in Sosnowiec, Poland.
All times are local (UTC+1).
Final Olympic qualification Twelve countries played in three tournaments to determine the qualifying teams for the Olympic tournament. The tournaments were played between 29 August and 1 September 2024. On February 12, 2024, the IIHF announced that Belarus was disqualified from Olympic qualification forcing the redrawing of the final round and admitting the best second place finisher from the previous round, Hungary.
Russia was likewise not allowed to participate in the Olympic tournament, so France took its place as the best-ranked second place team from the earlier round.
Group D
The tournament was held in Bratislava, Slovakia.
All times are local (UTC+2).
Group E
The tournament was held in Riga, Latvia.
All times are local (UTC+3).
Group F
The tournament was held in Aalborg, Denmark.
All times are local (UTC+2).
References