2026 IIHF World Championship

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==

Sixteen teams will take 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 will be 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. Summary of qualified teams ==Seeding==

The seedings 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 while allowing the organizers, "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 is 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 is "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 Laussane. ==Match officials==

16 referees and linespersons were announced on 17 April 2026. ==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 Group B ==Playoff round==

There will be a re-seeding after the quarterfinals. Final ==Notes==