 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Denmark |
| Cities | Herning Esbjerg |
| Venues | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Dates | 6–16 November |
| Teams | 10 |
| Official website | |
| www.iihf.com | |
The 2026 IIHF Women's World Championship will be the 25th edition of the Top Division of the Women's Ice Hockey World Championship organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The tournament will be contested in Herning and Esbjerg, Denmark from 6 to 16 November 2026.[1]
Host selection
The following two countries chose to bid:
Due to scheduling issues, the hosts announcement was delayed to October 2025.[2] On 3 October 2025, Denmark was awarded the hosting rights at the Semi Annual Congress in Nice, with Herning and a then-unknown second city hosting the tournament,[3][4] later announced to be Esbjerg. This marks Denmark's second time hosting after 2022.
Participants
Ten teams will take part in the competition for the seventh time. Hungary and Norway were immediately relegated back to Division I after only appearing in the 2025 edition. They will be replaced by Division I champions Austria, who will make their debut in the top division, and runners-up, Denmark, who secured their immediate promotion back to the top division. Denmark would later be awarded the hosting rights as well.
| Qualification | Host | Dates | Vacancies | Qualified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top eight in 2025 |  České Budějovice | 9–20 April 2025 | 8 |  United States Canada Finland Czechia Switzerland Sweden Japan Germany |
| Promoted from Division I |  Shenzhen | 13–19 April 2025 | 2 |  Austria Denmark (H) |
Summary of qualified teams
| Team | Qualification method | Appearance(s) | Previous best performance[a] | Rank[5] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total[b] | First[b] | Last[b] | Streak[b] | ||||
| United States |
First in 2025 | 25th | 1990 | 2025 | 25 | Champions (Eleven times)[c] | 1 |
| Canada |
Second in 2025 | 25th | 25 | Champions (Thirteen times)[d] | 2 | ||
| Finland |
Third in 2025 | 25th | 25 | Runners-up (2019) | 3 | ||
| Czechia |
Fourth in 2025 | 10th | 2012 | 9 | Third place (2022, 2023) | 4 | |
| Switzerland |
Fifth in 2025 | 21st | 1990 | 16 | Third place (2012) | 5 | |
| Sweden |
Sixth in 2025 | 24th | 5 | Third place (2005, 2007) | 6 | ||
| Japan |
Seventh in 2025 | 12th | 7 | Fifth place (2022) | 7 | ||
| Germany |
Eighth in 2025 | 19th | 8 | Fourth place (2017) | 8 | ||
| Austria |
Top two in Division I | 1st | Debut | 13 | |||
| Denmark |
4th | 2021 | 2024 | 1 | Tenth place (2021, 2022, 2024) | 10 | |
Groups composition
The serpentine system was used to organise the groups (rankings in brackets).
|
|
Venue
Two venues will be used for the tournament. When Denmark was awarded the hosting rights, it was announced that Herning and an unknown second city would host the tournament.[3][4] That city would be Esbjerg, as they were announced as the secondary host on 22 December 2025, with the Granly Hockey Arena as the venue.[6][7][8]
Herning had previously hosted the 2022 edition while also hosting the men's edition in 2018 and 2025.
Overview of venues
- The KVIK Hockey Arena in Herning is the main venue for the tournament, similar to 2022. The arena was built in 1987, but was renovated in 2018 as it was used as a training facility for the 2018 IIHF World Championship. The venue hosts Herning Blue Fox in the Danish league.
- The Granly Hockey Arena in Esbjerg is the secondary venue for the competition. The facility organised the 2011 World Women's Curling Championship and the 2015 European Curling Championships. The venue was built in 1974 and is home to Esbjerg Energy.
| Venue | Rounds | Games |
|---|---|---|
| KVIK Hockey Arena | Group B, Relegation game, Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Final | 17 |
| Granly Hockey Arena | Group A, Quarterfinals | 12 |
| Venues in Denmark | ||
|---|---|---|
| Herning | Esbjerg | |
| KVIK Hockey Arena | Granly Hockey Arena | |
| Capacity: 4,120 | Capacity: 4,200 | |
 |
 | |
Format
The teams were split into two groups, using the serpentine system. The top four teams will advance to the knockout phase, while the bottom teams will play the relegation playoff. During the knockout stage, there will be a re-seeding after the quarterfinals.[9]
Preliminary round
The groups were based on the final rankings from the previous tournament.
All times are local (UTC+1).[10]
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Czechia |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | Switzerland |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | Germany |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | Austria |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Relegation playoff |
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.
| 6 November 2026 15:00 | Austria | v | Czech Republic | Granly Hockey Arena, Esbjerg |
| 6 November 2026 19:00 | Switzerland | v | United States | Granly Hockey Arena, Esbjerg |
| 7 November 2026 19:00 | Germany | v | Austria | Granly Hockey Arena, Esbjerg |
| 8 November 2026 15:00 | United States | v | Germany | Granly Hockey Arena, Esbjerg |
| 8 November 2026 19:00 | Czech Republic | v | Switzerland | Granly Hockey Arena, Esbjerg |
| 9 November 2026 19:00 | Austria | v | United States | Granly Hockey Arena, Esbjerg |
| 10 November 2026 15:00 | Czech Republic | v | Germany | Granly Hockey Arena, Esbjerg |
| 10 November 2026 19:00 | Switzerland | v | Austria | Granly Hockey Arena, Esbjerg |
| 11 November 2026 15:00 | Germany | v | Switzerland | Granly Hockey Arena, Esbjerg |
| 11 November 2026 19:00 | United States | v | Czech Republic | Granly Hockey Arena, Esbjerg |
Group B
| Pos | Team | 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 | Finland |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | Sweden |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | Japan |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | Denmark (H) |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Relegation playoff |
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
| 6 November 2026 15:00 | Sweden | v | Canada | KVIK Hockey Arena, Herning |
| 6 November 2026 19:00 | Denmark | v | Finland | KVIK Hockey Arena, Herning |
| 7 November 2026 19:00 | Japan | v | Denmark | KVIK Hockey Arena, Herning |
| 8 November 2026 15:00 | Finland | v | Sweden | KVIK Hockey Arena, Herning |
| 8 November 2026 19:00 | Canada | v | Japan | KVIK Hockey Arena, Herning |
| 9 November 2026 19:00 | Denmark | v | Canada | KVIK Hockey Arena, Herning |
| 10 November 2026 15:00 | Finland | v | Japan | KVIK Hockey Arena, Herning |
| 10 November 2026 19:00 | Sweden | v | Denmark | KVIK Hockey Arena, Herning |
| 11 November 2026 15:00 | Canada | v | Finland | KVIK Hockey Arena, Herning |
| 11 November 2026 19:00 | Japan | v | Sweden | KVIK Hockey Arena, Herning |
Relegation playoff
| 13 November 2026 11:00 | A5 | v | B5 | KVIK Hockey Arena, Herning |
Knockout stage
There will be a re-seeding after the quarterfinals.
Qualified teams' seedings
Quarter-finalists are paired according to their positions in the groups: the first-place team in each preliminary-round group plays the fourth-place team of the other group, while the second-place team plays the third-place team of the other group.
Semi-finalists are paired according to their seeding after the preliminary round, which is determined by the following criteria. The best-ranked semi-finalist plays against the lowest-ranked semi-finalist, while the second-best ranked semi-finalist plays the third-best ranked semi-finalist.
| Rank | Team | Grp | Pos | Pts | GD | GF | Seed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TBD | A | 1 | |||||
| TBD | B | 1 | |||||
| TBD | A | 2 | |||||
| TBD | B | 2 | |||||
| TBD | A | 3 | |||||
| TBD | B | 3 | |||||
| TBD | A | 4 | |||||
| TBD | B | 4 |
Classification rules: 1) position in the group; 2) number of points; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored for; 5) seeding number entering the tournament.[11]
Bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
| 13 November | ||||||||||
A1 | ||||||||||
| 15 November | ||||||||||
B4 | ||||||||||
| 13 November | ||||||||||
B2 | ||||||||||
| 16 November | ||||||||||
A3 | ||||||||||
| 13 November | ||||||||||
B1 | ||||||||||
| 15 November | ||||||||||
A4 | ||||||||||
| 13 November | ||||||||||
| Third place match | ||||||||||
A2 | ||||||||||
| 16 November | ||||||||||
B3 | ||||||||||
Quarterfinals
| 13 November 2026 15:00 | TBD | v | TBD | KVIK Hockey Arena, Herning |
| 13 November 2026 15:00 | TBD | v | TBD | Granly Hockey Arena, Esbjerg |
| 13 November 2026 19:00 | TBD | v | TBD | KVIK Hockey Arena, Herning |
| 13 November 2026 19:00 | TBD | v | TBD | Granly Hockey Arena, Esbjerg |
Semifinals
| 15 November 2026 15:00 | TBD | v | TBD | KVIK Hockey Arena, Herning |
| 15 November 2026 15:00 | TBD | v | TBD | Granly Hockey Arena, Esbjerg |
Third place game
| 16 November 2026 15:00 | TBD | v | TBD | KVIK Hockey Arena, Herning |
Final
| 16 November 2026 19:00 | TBD | v | TBD | KVIK Hockey Arena, Herning |
Final standings
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Champions | |
| 2 | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Runners-up | |
| 3 | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Third place | |
| 4 | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fourth place | |
| 5 | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 6 | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 7 | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 8 | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 9 | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 10 | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Relegated to the 2027 Division I A |
Notes
References
- "IIHF moves the women's world hockey championship to November in 2026". sportsnet.ca. 3 October 2025. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
- Press, The Canadian (2 June 2025). "IIHF, PWHL not aligned over scheduling of 2026 women's world hockey championship". TSN.
- "Danmark bliver vært for kvindernes VM i ishockey i 2026 – Danmarks Ishockey Union".
- "Nyt VM i ishockey på vej til Herning". www.herning.dk.
- https://web.archive.org/web/20251004152526/https://www.iihf.com/en/static/68779/iihf_world_rankings_women
- "Esbjerg bliver værtsby nummer to for Kvindernes VM i november – Danmarks Ishockey Union".
- "Esbjerg bliver værtsby nummer to for Kvindernes VM i ishockey • EsbjergLiv.dk". 22 December 2025.
- https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2026/ww/news/72449/iihf_women_s_world_championships_2026_heads_to_(1)
- "New Format for Women's World Championship Beginning in 2026". thehockeynews.com. 28 September 2024. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
- "2026 IIHF Women's World Championship game schedule released". iihf.com. 9 June 2026.