World Cham­pi­onship 2026: Austria to face USA, SUI, FIN, GER, LAT, HUN and GBR in Group A in Zurich

Under the slogan “Time to shine”, the Ice Hockey World Championship returns to Switzerland after 17 years. The Swiss last hosted the tournament in 2009, with Bern and Kloten as the venues. In 2020, the tournament was due to take place in Zurich and Lausanne, but like many other major sporting events, it had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2026, the wait will finally be over. 64 games are scheduled across 17 days. In addition to the preliminary-round games, Zurich will also host two quarter-finals, both semi-finals and the medal games. Fribourg will stage the Group B preliminary-round games and two quarter-finals.

The group allocations are based on the world rankings, in which Austria were in 13st place as of 21 April 2025, and on the preference of the organising committee. The final tournament schedule is due to be determined this summer.

Both the IIHF and the organising committee expect strong interest thanks to the short travel time between the two venues in Zurich and Freiburg. From a logistical perspective, the train journey of just under one and a half hours offers many advantages.

Phased ticket sales
Ticket sales for the 2026 World Championship will take place in stages: official pre-sales of the Game Day Package will begin in September 2025 – when the schedule is announced – before individual game tickets finally become available from February 2026. The first tickets are already on sale with Venue Packages, the Preliminary Round Package and the Final Round Package Zürich.

2026 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship

15–31 May 2026, Switzerland
Defending champions: USA
Group A, Zurich: USA, Switzerland, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Austria, Hungary, Great Britain
Group B, Freiburg: Canada, Sweden, Czechia, Denmark, Slovakia, Norway, Slovenia, Italy