2026 IIHF World Championship

Tournament details
Host country	Switzerland
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Dates	15–31 May
Teams	16
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The 2026 IIHF World Championship will be hosted by Switzerland from 15 to 31 May 2026, as the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced on 27 May 2022 in Tampere, Finland.

Host nation bid

The only bidders were Kazakhstan and Switzerland.

Switzerland was originally slated to host in 2020 but the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions, while Kazakhstan hasn't hosted any tournaments.

In the end, on 27 May 2022, IIHF Congress awarded Switzerland rights to host the competition.^[1] No votes were needed, due to Kazakhstan's bid withdrawal earlier.

Venues

Zürich	Zürich Fribourg	Fribourg
Swiss Life Arena		BCF Arena
Capacity: 11,200		Capacity: 9,009

Participants

Qualified as hosts

•   Switzerland

Automatic qualifier after a top 14 placement at the 2025 IIHF World Championship

• TBD
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Qualified through winning a promotion at the 2025 IIHF World Championship Division I

• TBD
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