Ice hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics
The ice hockey competitions of the 2026 Winter Olympics will be played at two venues located in the Milan cluster: the PalaItalia and one of the Fiera Milano pavilions.
| Ice hockey at the Games of the Olympiad | |
|---|---|
 Hockey pictogram | |
| Venues | PalaItalia Fiera Milano |
| Dates | 5–22 February |
| No. of events | 2 (1 men and 1 women) |
| Competitors | 530 |
The men's tournament will have 12 teams competing, and the women's tournament 10.[1] Russia and Belarus are currently banned from competing in international championships through the IIHF's 2025 program due to their military aggression in Ukraine.[2] The decision on whether to expand the ban into 2026 has not been made, yet the current ban has effectively disqualified Belarus from competing and may impact the championship further.
Venues
edit| PalaItalia | Fiera Milano |
|---|---|
| PalaItalia | 
|
| Milan | Milan |
Men's tournament
editThe tournament will feature twelve countries, eight qualifying through the IIHF World Ranking, the host Italy, and three through qualifying tournaments. The format remains the same as the previous three Olympics; three groups of four compete in three games to determine seeding, each play every other team in their group, followed by four rounds of elimination games. Each group winner receives a bye into the second round, along with the highest ranked of the remaining teams. The remaining eight teams play an eliminating qualification game to advance to the quarter-final round. Each quarter-final winner advances to the semi-finals with the winners playing for the gold medal and the losers playing for the bronze.
On 2 February 2024, the IIHF announced that an agreement had been reached with the National Hockey League (NHL) for a break in its regular season to allow the league's players to participate in the Olympics for the first time since 2014. The NHL was originally scheduled to compete in 2022 as well but opted out due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]
Qualification
editQualification for the men's tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics was determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2023 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships. The top eight will be joined the hosts and three qualifiers.[1]
Participating nations
editThe groups were established following the 2023 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships.[4] Qualifiers one, two, and three, are the winners of the final qualification tournaments. Their designation will be determined by their qualification seeding.
| Group A | Group B | Group C |
|---|---|---|
Women's tournament
editTen countries will again compete in the women's tournament, six qualifying through the IIHF World Ranking, the host Italy, and three through qualifying tournaments.
Qualification
editQualification for the women's tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics will be determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2024 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships.[1]
Participating nations
editThe groups will be established following the 2024 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships. Qualifiers one, two, and three, are the winners of the final qualification tournaments. Their designation will be determined by their qualification seeding.
| Group A | Group B |
|---|---|
Qualification summary / Participating NOC's
edit| Nations | Men | Women | Athletes |
|---|---|---|---|
 Canada |
 |
|
48 |
 Czech Republic |
|
|
48 |
 Denmark |
|
25 | |
 Finland |
|
|
48 |
 Germany |
|
25 | |
 Italy |
|
|
48 |
 Latvia |
|
25 | |
 Russia[a] |
|
|
48 |
 Slovakia |
|
25 | |
 Sweden |
|
25 | |
 Switzerland |
|
|
48 |
 United States |
|
|
48 |
| Total: 12 NOCs | 12 | 7 | 436 |
- ^ a b c The participation of Russia is not yet confirmed and depends on if the team is allowed to return to the IIHF Championship program. If Russia is banned, France, as the highest-ranked second place team from the final Olympic qualification round, will join the men's tournament seeded 12th, while the highest-ranked team that finished second in the final Olympic qualifying tournament will be seeded 10th in the women's tournament.
References
edit- ^ a b c "Qualification System – XXV Olympic Winter Games" (PDF). Olympics.com. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
- ^ "Russia and Belarus not reincorporated into 2024/2025 IIHF Championship Season". iihf.com. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
- ^ "NHL players to return to Olympics in 2026 and 2030". CNN.com. 2 February 2024. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
- ^ "2026 Men's Olympic Winter Games & Qualification Tournament Program" (PDF). IIHF.com. Retrieved 2 December 2023.